A Service of The Arrow           Sunday October 17, 1999 1:52 PM

By Serena Atkinson

Arrow Staff

Whoever said looks aren't everything has never performed in a marching band in front of hundreds of spectators.

“People hear with their eyes,” says FHS band teacher Allen Slater. “If people play and look great, they will be great. But if they look terrible and they play great, people will think the performance was a bust.”

Slater has headed the marching band program at FHS for more than a decade. With his musical experience and a lot of creative thinking, he choreographs all of the band's snazzy routines. He has had no classes to guide him, and yet he manages to continually conjure up visually stimulating half-time performances.

“Marching Band is just like a stew, everything has to go together or it has no appeal,” says junior tubist Mike Laukaitis.

Band members agree that Slater has a reputation for cooking up one heck of a stew.

The secret of a successful half-time routine is how the band looks. The uniforms the band members wear are unique to any other uniform at FHS. According to senior Katie Briggs, the uniforms are the best part of band.

“Everyone wishes they could have one of our hot, hot, hot uniforms to wear, and why wouldn't they want one?” said Briggs.

“Marching band is fun, but you need to put a lot of work into it and do your best,” said junior Sarah Riebe. “In the end it's all worth it.”

News | Features | Opinions | In-Depth | Sports | A & E | Backpage

Contact us: Submit feedback, send a letter to the editor.

The Arrow is Copyright © 1999 by The FHS, a High school Newspaper.

This page has been accessed times since 2/27/98