Last summer, three Grants Pass High School students, Sierra Sparrow, Bryce Dole and Johnny Thornton, participated in the Oregon Crusaders.
The Oregon Crusaders is a major league marching band. “It is like the NFL of Marching bands,” stated Thornton.
During their tour, the three students spent fourteen hours per day rehearsing, in addition to rehearsing in Portland on weekends all year before the summer tour, when they performed 19 shows in 16 different states.
Even while they toured, they practiced when they weren’t performing.
The physical toll, waking up and “practically getting beat to a pulp” was the hardest part for both Dole and Sparrow.
Thornton added, “Not getting Little Caesars pizza was hard enough.”
The students were on a strict 5,000 calorie diet, and all of them lost over ten pounds by the end of summer.
“Hard practice and auditioning were the major steps to take,” according to Sparrow, but Dole felt that, “learning our fundamentals and being really prepared to apply the information given to us” was one of the most difficult parts.
Though it was a rigorous program, there were some good things about the summer.
Sparrow especially remembers the relationships she formed. She stated, “I hardly remember the practicing days at all.”
The students also remember particulary playing in several different professional football stadiums: they played in the home stadiums of the Denver Broncos, the Atlanta Falcons, and the Indianapolis Colts, and in the Alamo Dome located in San Antonio, Texas, among others.
Thornton said his favorite part was some combination of performing and traveling.
“Waking up in a different state every morning was one of my favorites as well,” adds Sparrow.
This wasn’t just a marching experience, but also a chance for each one of these students to figure themselves out a little more.
“I learned how to dig down deep and see how much I am really made of and see how great I can become at just one thing,” Dole explained.
“You learn how to do laundry and not catch things on fire,” Thornton added. “If I had an extra ten years, I would march every single day.”