Source: Jennifer Aldridge / iONEDigital
INDIANAPOLIS — Three high school marching bands have dropped out of the 74th Indiana State Fair Band Day competition after students tested positive for COVID-19.
The Anderson High School Marching Highlanders, Elwood Junior-Senior High School Marching Panthers and Hagerstown Junior-Senior High School Golden Tiger Marching Band will miss Friday’s event, according to school administrators. The competition begins at 8 p.m. at the Hoosier Lottery Grandstand.
Anderson High School band director Richard Geisler informed parents and students on Thursday that the school’s bands would not compete in the event because of the number of students in quarantine.
“Although we share in the disappointment that we will not be able to perform at the State Fair, you band directors and staff are EXTREMELY proud of the students this season,” Geisler wrote.
The Anderson marching band has won a state-record seven first-place awards at the Indiana State Fair Band Day competition with championships in 1957, 1958, 1959, 1986, 2010 and 2019.
Elwood Schools Superintendent Dr. Joe Brown told parents in an email on Wednesday that three students tested positive for COVID-19 who were close contacts of other students who tested positive.
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