It's all about preparation

Hanahan High School Band Director Gretchen Bowles' voice pours from a loud speaker with authority as she instructs her students on how to march in formation:

"Let me hear your percussion. I can't hear the second line."

"Get up on those platforms."

"Remember, everything we do out here is just in preparation."

Forty-five members of the Hanahan High School Marching Band have been preparing since the last week of July for those first games and competitions of the school year.

But several members admit that the road to the first performances can be quite exhausting.

Four weeks before school opens, band members are rehearsing. The pressure is turned up several notches during band camp, which is a week long and starts at 8 a.m. and ends at 8 p.m.

Being a member of Hanahan High School's Marching Band isn't for the faint of heart.

Just ask Joey Weast, 16, a junior at Hanahan and the band's drum major.

"It's very exhausting, but it's rewarding," he says. "It feels good to look back over the day and see how far you've come."

Band members agree: The first year for any band member is usually the toughest. One has to get used to the rigorous schedule and band culture in addition to learning music and marching formations. First-year members must also survive "rookie camp," which is a week ahead of band camp.

None of these things deterred Anna Sanderson, 13, from joining the marching band.

It took a lot of determination to cope with the 100-degree July/August weather, but Sanderson an eighth-grader at Hanahan Middle School, persevered and now she looks forward to competitions and playing on the field for half-time during football season.

Sanderson joined the marching band because she wanted to perfect her skills on the clarinet. She has high aspirations for her career in marching band.

"I feel like I'm going to stay with it," she says. "Hopefully I'll be captain or drum major one of these days. That would be cool."

For many, band is not just extracurricular activity. It's an opportunity to make new friends and to forge friendships that will last throughout high school and beyond.

That's what Band Captain Tiffani Brown, 17, has come to appreciate about her experience in the marching band.

"We have fun even though there's a lot of work," Brown says. "Most of my closest friends are in band,"

Reach Jasiri Whipper at 745-5863 or jwhipper@postandcourier.com.