Carter Duke
Writer
It all started with Band
Camp in the summer when
the Marlow High School
Band started marching.
The band worked all
the way up until Oct. 10th,
at the OSSAA regional
marching contest at the

Cameron University foot-
ball field in Lawton, Okla-
homa.

The best score a band
could receive is a rating
of one, but the MHS band
participated for comments
only.
The experience gained

from this event has the po-
tential to make the MHS

band earn the coveted rat-
ing of a one in upcoming

years.
One student that enjoyed

the contest and the experi-
ence it brought is senior

Maggie Wheeler.
Wheeler plays the bass
drum in the drumline for
the MHS band.

“I did fairly well stay-
ing in line, great on keep-
ing time and step, and very

well on playing overall,”
commented Wheeler.
Wheeler has also noticed
some leaders emerging in

the band from the experi-
ence they gained from the

2022 competition.
“From last year to this

year, we gained lots of peo-
ple with leadership skills to

show responsibility, kind-
ness, motivation, and so

much more,” said Wheeler.
Another person that went
to the contest is sophomore
Colton Bratcher.
Bratcher has played the
trumpet for the band for
four years, joining in sixth
grade.

“I think the band sound-
ed great,” said Bratcher.

Bratcher has some ideas

on how the band can im-
prove.

“One thing we could
definitely improve on is
memorizing our music so
we don’t need our music
flip folders,” commented
Bratcher.

Students are not the only

ones that have contrib-
uted to the band and have

an opinion on how they
played.
Marlow Band Director
Matthew Pitts thinks that
the performed well at the
competition.
“The sound that the band
is producing is powerful,

the instrumentation is ex-
ceptional for a school this

size and the talent level of
the students is excellent,”
shared Pitts
Pitts has some things that
he would like to change in
order to improve for the
next year.
“Now that we have some
experience under our belt,
it will be a priority for us to
learn all of our songs and a
large majority of the show
during Band Camp,” said
Pitts.
The Pride of Outlaw
Country will continue to
exceed expectations as
they will always come up
with a show and will seek a
rating of one next year.