Bands tout their growth at state fair competition

Four Wayne County schools made up a quarter  of Indiana State Fair Band Day’s Sweet 16 finalists.

All four of those schools — Centerville, Hagerstown, Northeastern and Richmond — placed in the top 12 of 34 entrants.

Richmond’s James Bond-themed show, “From Richmond With Love,” led the county with seventh place.

Dan Merkamp, who retired from RHS after the contest, said he was very pleased with the students’ performance after a fun summer. He worked at RHS for four years and has taught for 36.

“I thought the growth from the beginning of the summer was tremendous, and we handled a lot of adversity through the summer really well,” Merkamp said.

In general, Merkamp said his students were great to work with, the senior class knew how to lead, and the band received wonderful community and parent support.

The Marching Red Devils were just 0.337 points ahead of Centerville’s eighth-place “Rocky Road” that blended songs from “The Nutcracker” ballet and two films, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” and “The Greatest Showman.”

Departing Centerville Blue Regiment director Chris Glover described the summer as “amazing.”

“This group, there’s a lot of them that are rookies, and it’s just been amazing to see the growth,” Glover said.

Band Day is a special event for many students, including Centerville’s Raegan Jones.

“I think that the fair is more exciting because there’s more people and there’s just like more energy and you can just feel the energy in the air,” Jones said.

Hagerstown’s Appalachian-themed “Bad Moon Rising: Strange Tales from the Hills,” finished 10th.

“I feel like this is the last contest,” said Hagerstown student Kinsley Becker. “You want to do your best for this. This is the big day.”

Director Kendra Sanders said she’s grateful for her students’ hard work plus support from staff, parents, community members and industry professionals who collaborated to get their show to that level.

Watching Golden Tiger student leaders step up as mentors was the best part of Sanders’ summer.

She said she’s extremely proud of her students and hopes they take away great memories of the whole season.

“Seeing students mature and become amazing people and performers make this all worth it in the end,” Sanders said. “…Band is more than just a placement but also the friendships they made while we created music.”

Continuing Wayne County’s rich music education tradition, Hagerstown senior Savannah Cross won the $1,000 music education scholarship, from Paige’s Music and Central Indiana Track Show Association, given at the state fair. Centerville’s Tasha Jordan won the same award in 2025. Jordan worked with CSHS’ band this summer and soon begins her sophomore year at Ball State University. 

Northeastern’s blend of Beethoven and Mahler symphonies, called “The Edge of Darkness,” earned 12th.

The Marching Knights’ new director, Reid Knuth, said he was pleased with his students’ results and called the day a good experience.

This was Knuth’s first Band Day after teaching in Ohio, so he wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but discovered it was similar to other band contests he’d attended.

“The kids fought through the heat and just did a great job,” Knuth said. “I’m really proud of them.”

Lincoln Middle/High School finished 28th in the morning contest of 34 bands with its “Zoinks!” show that combined “Scooby-Doo” and KISS rock tunes.

The final week was emotional for director Ryan Schunk, who accepted a job teaching music at Muncie’s Northview Elementary. He spent 18 summers with the Marching Eagles as a student, instructor and then director.

Schunk was proud of his 11 students earning the most points since he’s been the director. He was pleased with their emphasis on music technique, receiving the 25th highest music score in preliminaries. Lincoln finished sixth of the 11 Class A smallest bands. Schunk said the bands with lower scores all had more members.

“The kids had fun, and the parents and community loved it,” Schunk said of the music and “Scooby-Doo” inspired props. “It was a good last show for me to end on, and ending on a high note was what I preferred. That’s how I’m going to remember it.”

Franklin College’s TheStatehouseFile.com and Free Press Indiana contributed to this article.