Submitted photos
Above, the Juniata County Marching Band performs during one of its shows. At left, Juniata County Marching Band members Haley Mummah (from left), Jessica Maben, Slone Smith and Riley Apple share a laugh during a busy performance schedule.

Editor’s note: This is the second in a series of stories featuring high school marching bands from across the Juniata Valley.

MIFFLINTOWN — Dietrick Field might be more than 200 miles from Broadway, but the Juniata County Marching Band made certain to remind fans of the stage to give their regards.

“I’m always excited to put our work on the field for people to see and enjoy,” said Juniata County Marching Band director Brad Eargle, who is entering his ninth season. “The kids work so hard to make it happen, so it’s really satisfying to share that with people.”

The band’s show includes “Work Song” and “At the End of the Day” from “Les Miserables,” “I Have a Dream” and “Mamma Mia” from “Mamma Mia” and “The Phantom of the Opera” from “The Phantom of the Opera.”

The band has 80 students involved, including drum majors Addison Benner and Lexie Gilson, both seniors.

“They’re great,” Eargle said. “Addison was a drum major last year, so she brings all of that experience, and Lexie has quickly grown into a strong leader as well.

“Both are strong musicians, and they have great confidence in front of the band,” he added. “They’re also really dedicated to the program and connected with all of the students in the band.”

Eargle said this year’s band camp went extremely well, even in a heat wave.

“We had great weather and the students worked hard to put the show together,” Eargle said. “We have a lot of new members this year, so we put in some extra time working on marching and playing fundaments and it really paid off by the end of camp.

“By the end of camp, we had learned the entire show and cleaned a lot of it up to get it ready for performance,” he added.

Eargle said the band focuses on building camaraderie during camp. His favorite is the section competition.

“We award a section of the day each day to a group that works extra hard,” Eargle explained. “There are silly competitions between the sections, and we do a spirit week during the second week of camp.

“This year for Section Marching Day, the trumpets came dressed as parts of a hamburger,” he added. “It’s all just fun stuff to build the relationships that are so important for an ensemble to work well together. I buy the winning section French fries at the first home game. This year, the percussion section came away as winners.”

The band also held a friends and family preview show for the first time at the end of camp. “We had a great turnout for that, which was awesome to see,” Eargle said.

The band also spent a night playing the National Anthem at a Harrisburg Senators baseball game on the day after camp.

Get in the spirit with the Juniata County Marching Band’s pregame show at home, while they also perform at halftime at away games.