December 21, 2025 Local Stories in and Around St. Joseph, Illinois

Get to know to know SJO Senior Marching Band member Maya Hewkin

My favorite thing about marching band is the connection between the students. Being in band is like being a part of a huge family, and I’ve met all of my best friends from being involved in marching band

My favorite memory from marching band was a competition last year where we won every award for our class. I forget which competition it was exactly, but we received the awards for best winds, best percussion, best color guard, and first place for our class.

My favorite piece to perform was last year’s marching show, “Captiv.” The music wasn’t necessarily better than any other I’ve performed, but last year’s show was the first one where I got the chance to march the bass clarinet. The music felt special to me because it was very different from what I had played before.

Last year’s show had my favorite costume. I liked the way that it looked more than other costumes, but it also felt like the most practical in a way. The costume wasn’t very hot, so there weren’t many issues with people overheating in costume, but it was very easy to layer under it and stay warm during cold performances.

The biggest misconception people have about marching band is that it isn’t very physically taxing. It’s hard carrying an instrument around! Especially for people like me who play big instruments, being able to march in time, while carrying an unwieldy instrument, and also having enough breath support to sound good is physically very difficult.

in Life, People
Banner
Related Posts

10 things you don’t know about me… Tracie Trotter

October 25, 2024

October 25, 2024

We asked the owner of Wyldewood Cellars to tell us 10 things about herself. Here are her responses. 1. What...

Spartan Spotlight… Kendall Ayers

April 8, 2020

April 8, 2020

Kendall Ayers has plans to travel after graduating from high school. The St. Joseph-Ogden senior plans to take a vacation...

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...

‘I have absolutely loved portraying her’

April 3, 2022

April 3, 2022

Sophia McDade loves everything about the Addams Family production. The senior, who is acting in her second show with the...

Giving back: PVO helps out Abernathy family with fundraiser

October 15, 2019

October 15, 2019

The Prairieview-Ogden community knows how to come together. And tonight is no exception. Corey Abernathy, who was an assistant coach...

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...

Food pantry in need of donations

August 23, 2019

August 23, 2019

The shelves are almost bare at the St. Joseph Community Food Pantry. The pantry, housed in the St. Joseph Church...

Cummings hopes to continue work as trustee

December 7, 2020

December 7, 2020

Village Trustee Terri Cummings has big goals for the village. Short term, Cummings hopes to contribute to the betterment of...

Heritage marching band modifies season

July 15, 2020

July 15, 2020

The Heritage Performing Arts department announced that their marching band season has been canceled. Band Director Justin Lee said that...

Senior Spotlight… Hannah Rajlich

June 18, 2019

June 18, 2019

Every week we ask an SJO senior five questions. This week we talked to Hannah Rajlich. This post is sponsored...

Wagner shines positive light on St. Joseph Grade School

May 7, 2019

May 7, 2019

Michelle Wagner is an optimist by nature. That optimism now permeates St. Joseph Grade School, where Wagner is completing her...

Kids Say…

August 1, 2019

August 1, 2019

Students from PVO South tell us if they would like to be a farmer. This post is sponsored by Longview...

Haley’s lofty vision with SJO baseball has become reality

April 16, 2019

April 16, 2019

Josh Haley didn’t do anything elaborate after he achieved a coaching milestone earlier this month. For the St. Joseph-Ogden High...

Giving back: Short wins St. Joseph Chamber Citizen of the Year

April 16, 2019

April 16, 2019

Tim Short loves St. Joseph. He and his wife, Amy, moved to St. Joseph in 1992 and never thought of...

Wentzloff brings Lurch to life in Addams Family

April 3, 2022

April 3, 2022

Lili Wentzloff knows how to portray a character with few words. She is portraying Lurch, the butler of the creepy...

Comments
Leave a Reply