Helias band marches toward new season

The Marching Crusaders band perform their preview show Saturday for their fans in attendance at Helias Catholic High School to kick off a new school year.
The Marching Crusaders band perform their preview show Saturday for their fans in attendance at Helias Catholic High School to kick off a new school year.

The Helias Band Program is continuing to grow, and those involved with the program were excited to show their fans what they can expect this marching season.

Saturday morning, the students gave a preview of their field program, Omnia, at Ray Hentges Stadium.

Omnia is Latin for "all things." The program features a varity of themes and music including Gustav Holst's "The Planets," which many should recognize.

Thanks to recent donations, the band is working with updated equipment and electronics.

"We don't want to get left behind as the activities in band continue to evolve," band director Tom Smyth said. "All the students have put in quite a bit of time to make this a reality. Thanks to the electronics, we'll get to feature a clarinet solo in this program. It allows us to feature softer instruments."

Smyth said it's one thing to just learn how to play an instrument, but it's another to play that instrument and move around at the same time.

"I remind the kids that you'll be performing before more people at the football games than at any other time of the year," he said. "We're there to make it more exciting for the fans."

Smyth said there were about 25 students at the May 2015 Helias band concert when he was formally introduced as the incoming director.

By 2017, there were 52 students in the band; this year, there are 67.

The band program has come full circle for the seniors who have been involved all four years of their school careers.

"It gets you excited to see what the future will bring," said Lucas Wolters, who plays alto saxophone.

The routines the band did Saturday are what they will be performing at all home football games and at contests. The band is planning to go to three competitions this year - Blue Springs, O'Fallon and St. Charles.

"I love doing this, and it's so much fun," said Jacob Ehmke, who plays snare drums. "When I first started, we didn't do many movements in our program, and now, almost the entire show we're moving."