January 1, 2026 Local Stories in and Around St. Joseph, Illinois

Get to know Senior SJO Marching Band member Bryce Collins

The community surrounding Marching Band is filled with some of the most talented, passionate, and downright amazing people I’ve ever met. We are all so dedicated to this art and put our hearts and souls into putting forward the best performance we can, while still maintaining a bond so tight it makes us feel like family.


My favorite moment of this experience was Junior year when we put our medieval-monarch themed show Captiv on the field, and specifically at the Metamora Band Invitational, we placed first in and achieved every caption award in our class, something that our school had never achieved before. Being part of our school’s history might be one of the coolest moments of my life and seeing the look on all of our first-year marcher’s faces that showed that this was something they never wanted to quit gave me so much happiness.


My favorite show is impossible to pick since they’ve all been absolutely fantastic, but if a particular answer is required, honestly this year has been my favorite. Sure, this hasn’t been our absolute best season, but the music is fantastic. Mr. Hess, our band director, picked a very brass-heavy show that utilizes our 7 person trumpet section very well and has been an absolute blast playing.


This year’s uniform doesn’t really compare to my freshman and junior year shows. Freshman year’s uniform was unique as we were dressed up like Beethoven and had these absolutely atrocious grey wigs that really encompassed the classical music era. But last years show where we had archer hoods and satchels reinforced our theme perfectly.


The biggest misconception is that we’re all weird. Sure there are a couple of outliers as with any other group, but for the most part, we’re all just having fun and not worrying about what people think about us. That’s really the best part of the band too. We’re all a little off in our own sense and we’re not afraid to express that so it makes us all super friendly with each other.

in Life, People
Banner
Related Posts

‘Nadirah knew that growing up in St. Joe was just the beginning of her journey through the world’

December 9, 2020

December 9, 2020

Nadirah Edwards left an impression on everyone who met her. Whether it was her kind smile and brilliance at a...

‘St. Joseph is better because of Dixie Hackler’

January 20, 2020

January 20, 2020

Dixie Hackler always had a smile on her face. Always made time for others. And always made sure others knew...

Abbeyfield property for sale

February 8, 2019

February 8, 2019

The former Abbeyfield building in St. Joseph could have a new use soon. “We have several people looking at the...

Ceremony to honor Edwards scheduled for Thursday

December 9, 2020

December 9, 2020

A Gift of Hope Flag raising ceremony will be held on Dec. 10 at 4 p.m. at the St, Joseph-Ogden...

SJO football clinches playoff berth with win at BCC

October 10, 2024

October 10, 2024

The St. Joseph-Ogden football team can beat teams in multiple ways. Kodey McKinney can drop back and unleash accurate passes...

Get to know Senior SJO Marching Band member Allegra Pearman

October 21, 2022

October 21, 2022

My favorite thing about marching band is the very end of the show when the dust settles and the cheering...

10 things you don’t know about me… Amy Gibbons

December 18, 2019

December 18, 2019

How did you come up with the name for your salon? 192 is actually the St. Joseph exit number. I...

‘He was the kind of person everyone was happy to see’

July 19, 2025

July 19, 2025

Sam Shonkwiler was full of life. He would walk in a room and people would call his name. He had...

‘It has been an honor to care for you and your families’

December 21, 2022

December 21, 2022

Patients of Dr. Jeanelle Murphy got some not so jolly news at the beginning of December. Their doctor is leaving...

5 things you don’t know about me… Henry Rubach

August 8, 2019

August 8, 2019

Henry is in the running for the title of Little Prince! He is six years old. We asked him to...

10 things you don’t know about me… Noreen Acton

August 13, 2019

August 13, 2019

Every week we ask an area resident to share 10 things about themselves that we may not know. This week...

Franzen finds freedom in music

October 4, 2019

October 4, 2019

Dakota Franzen is an inspiration. Marching Band Director Chuck Hess said Franzen’s efforts to be the best he can be...

10 Things You Don’t Know About Me… Laura Mabry

February 27, 2019

February 27, 2019

Each week we ask an area resident to tell us 10 things about themselves. This week we asked Laura Mabry...

Kids say…

August 26, 2019

August 26, 2019

Every week we ask students at local schools three questions related to farming. This week we spoke to students at...

It takes a Christmas village

December 10, 2024

December 10, 2024

Roberta Morris’ childhood dream was to be an architect. Instead, she worked as a pipe fitter at the Clinton Nuclear...

Comments
Leave a Reply