Piece of the Pie
Cherries and chocolates and citrus pies too, the Butler High School Golden Tornado Marching Band welcomed back its fans with its annual Pie Festival on Wednesday evening.
Spectators filled the stands at Art Bernardi Stadium where they grabbed one of more than 2,000 slices of pie, a scoop of ice cream and a drink. Proceeds, which include the $5 entry fee and a percentage of the 50-50 raffle, go back into the band program.
The band played their first song in their brand new uniforms on the field's brand new turf.
“Generally, it's our very first performance in front of people,” said Jeff Kroner, Butler's head band director.
Kroner said the pie festival is a decades-old tradition that is used to raise funds and is a time to prepare for the upcoming season.
Then Butler's cheerleading and football teams had their seniors announced.
Eric Christy, Butler High School's head football coach, reminded spectators of an obvious role reversal.
“We get to be halftime for the band tonight,” he said.
Kroner said the event serves as a great trial run for new band members. He said about 25 percent of this year's band played for their first time in front of a large crowd of Butler fans.“In a football game, we're under a time constraint, where this is really based upon our time schedule,” he said. “The kids that are in the band for the first time, this is it. This will be a good way for them to work through their jitters.”The trumpets blared, the drums thrummed and the flags were waved as the band performed its halftime show.Stacey Dunkel recorded the show on her phone as her daughter Zoe Walaschek, a freshman, was on the field playing clarinet. She said this is Zoe's first year in band. “I thought they were good,” Dunkel said. “It's nice to see how much the community supports the band and the team.”
Dunkel said Zoe is very happy to be involved with such a great group of students and leaders.“(The directors) have been wonderful with the kids,” she said.After they were finished, they formed back into their lines and marched back to Butler Intermediate High School. Their friends, family and fans followed, notably less organized.Drum Major Maddy Burke, who is a senior, said the jitters were definitely there, but were also expected with a large number of new members. “The sound was good for sure, especially considering that we haven't really practiced since Friday,” Maddy said.
Drum Major Grace Benkart, also a senior, said the older kids will step up and help the first years find their rhythm.“It's definitely nerve-racking for them,” Grace said. “I remember when I was a freshman I was super nervous.”Drum Major Andrew Arbanas, a senior, said the band had a lot of first timers out on the field, but they also had some seasoned members, too. “I think our soloists did a great job tonight,” Andrew said.Sequinette Co-captain Lea Codispot, a senior, said band members had to come early if they wanted to eat some pie before putting on their new uniforms.
“I'm sad,” Lea said. “I think it's more special to be in the festival as a senior.”Sequinette Co-captain Harper Murphy, also a senior, said leading the group gave her a new perspective on the festival.“You get to see everything in motion, not just one part of it,” Harper said.Back at the school, Kroner told the band the performance wasn't perfect, but that's why they were there, to improve.“It was clean, and the audience loved it,” he said. “We're only going to get better.”
