For the first time in years, St. Pius X High School in Crystal City has a marching band.
The band, established this school year, is called the Marching Lancers and has played at football games and in competitions.
Band director Doug Shaffer said the band has had a tremendous first year.
The 25-member marching band won honors in each of the three competitions in which it has performed, he said.
■ In the Rock Bridge Invitational, held Oct. 5 in Columbia, St. Pius placed third overall in its class.
■ The band also competed in the Bands of America St. Louis Regional on Oct. 25 at The Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis and placed seventh in its class, which included marching bands from Missouri, Oklahoma, Illinois and Kentucky.
■ In the Ste. Genevieve Marching Festival on Oct. 26, the Marching Lancers placed second in their class while winning awards for percussion and music execution.
“I’m ecstatic,” Schaffer said. “At the risk of sounding too corny, at our postseason meeting, I straight up told the kids if we were this successful our first year, how successful will we be when we know what we’re doing?”
Schaffer said St. Pius had marching bands in the past, but not for years, and he doesn’t think the school’s prior marching bands participated in competitions.
“Years ago they had a marching band that was more of a pep band that would play at football games. They were not in competitions,” he said.
Schaffer said he had wanted to start a marching band ever since he arrived at St. Pius.
“It’s my second year at St. Pius, 12th year in education,” he said. “Last year was my first year here, and there was no marching band. It was, honestly, a rebuild (of the overall band program). We did a lot through concert band. I felt marching band was the next step.
“Philosophically, I feel a band program should have three aspects: concert band, marching band and jazz band. They had jazz band in the past, and I brought it back.”
Members of the Marching Lancers said they are glad the school now has a marching band.
Joe Ortmann, 17, a senior from Festus who plays the trumpet, said he enjoys playing in the marching band and taking part in the competitions.
“It was something different,” Ortmann said. “It got us out there playing on the road.”
Sofie Wilson, 15, a sophomore from Barnhart, plays the flute and said she also likes performing with the new band.
“I got to solo a bunch. I got to hang out with my friends a lot,” she said. “We went to Columbia for a band competition. It was a wonderful experience to share with my friends.”
Schaffer agrees that students benefit from taking part in marching band.
“There’s a lot to be said for working together in a competition,” Schaffer said. “When done correctly, a marching band is a very large family. I think we achieved that this year.
“Sofie brought up the trip to Columbia. It was five hours on the bus, two runs (performances) at the competition and lunch at the mall in Columbia. By the time it was all said and done, we spent 11 hours together. When you’re together that long, you will create a memory.”
Schaffer said the marching band gives St. Pius students the chance to participate in something offered at most other area schools.
“When you look around us, all the surrounding schools have marching bands,” he said. “I wanted to make sure our kids didn’t feel like they had to go to a (class) 5A school to get a 5A opportunity.”
Jim Lehn, the St. Pius president, estimated the cost to add marching band was “$5,000 to $10,000.”
“That’s for competitions (entry fees), uniforms, travel,” Lehn said. “It might be more.”
He praised Schaffer for starting the marching band at St. Pius.
“We didn’t have someone with the knowledge to run it (before Schaffer arrived),” he said.