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Pirate
Marching Band is
grand champion at MWSC
The Platte Count Pirate Pride Marching Band
and Color Guard has proven itself again.
This past Saturday, the 97-member group participated
in the Missouri Western State College Homecoming parade
competition in St. Joseph.
Earning 103 points out of a possible 115, the band secured
a first place victory in the 4A class competing against
bands from Kearney, Excelsior Springs, St. Joseph-Lafayette,
and Savannah. the bank with the overall highest point
total earns the title of Grand Champion. Platte County's
103 points earned them this title, nudging out 5A bands
from Raytown South, Liberty, and St. Joseph-Central.
The band received a new Grand Championship trophy from
Richard Yeager, parade coordinator of the Missouri Western
parade. Missouri Western had to have a new trophy made
for this event as the previous trophy was retired this
past year by the Lee's Summit High School band, who had
won the title three consecutive years in a row.
Platte County is working toward a similar goal this year
at Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville. If
the Platte County band can earn a Grand Champion title
this year, they will retire the Northwest trophy as they
have already earned the title the previous two years.
"I feel very confident about the band's ability
to achieve this milestone," states band director
Jay Jones. "The band has proven it has the ability,
the question is how badly they want it."
The band has two weeks to prepare for this event. Retiring
a grand Champion trophy would be a Platte County first.
"My hope is that we keep all this in perspective,"
said Jones. "We are competing against ourselves and
our past record, not other bands. If we keep our focus
on ourselves, I think the final result will be what we
all want."
The band and color guard encourage everyone to go to
Maryville on Oct. 20 to support them in their quest for
history.
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