Adair Band Takes Second At State

The Adair County High School Marching Band had a big weekend as they traveled to Meade County and then to Louisville to compete in the Kentucky Music Educators Association's State Competition last Saturday.
The Adair County Band made their 24th consecutive appearance in the state competition and was looking to capture their 19th State Championship, however after a wonderful performance the band was notched out of the top spot and brought home second place trophy for the second year in a row.
With their second place finish, the Adair County Band under the direction of Tom Case is continuing their dominance of high school marching band programs in the state of Kentucky.
The first part of the competition took place at Meade County High School for the semi-finals, where the Adair Band competed against 15 other bands for the one of the top four spots to go onto the finals.
Adair County was the last band to perform and closed out the semi-finals with an awesome performance that placed in the number one position with a score of 92.03.
Adair County was trailed by last year's state champion Bourbon County by 0.80 points heading into the finals at Papa John's Stadium in Louisville.
ìWe were excited to be in first place after semi-finals, and I am proud of the students for maintaining such a strong focus leading up to the finals run,î said Case.
Heading to the finals along with Adair County and Bourbon County was Russell County and Boyle County.
During the finals competition, Adair County would once again be the last to perform and repeated their excellent performance from earlier in the day and had the crowd cheering through the entire show.
However, the strength of the Adair County show somehow fell short as the judges picked them as the second place finisher with a score of 90.75 behind Bourbon County with a score of 91.21.
ìIn finals, three judges had us, and three judges had Bourbon County but in the end, they edged us out by four tenths of a point, and although it hurts, we have no problems with the result. Bourbon County is a great band with a great band director,î stated Case. (Bourbon County's band is directed by Adair County Band alumni, Eric Hale.)
For those who where not able to catch the Adair County Marching Band's 2009 ìWater Danceî show, there is an encore performance tonight at 7:00 p.m. at Booster's Field.
Now that the competition season is over Adair County Marching Band will continue their practice efforts for their upcoming appearance in the 2009 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City on the 26th of this month.
ìWe are very excited about the rest of the school year, and even more excited about the potential of next year's band,î commented Case.
Case talked about the past and future of Adair County Marching Band saying, ìWhenever there is change, it's never easy and I feel like the students in this band built a symbolic bridge from Adair's rich legacy with its past and has connected it with our band's future.î
ìI'd like to thank the people of Adair, our superintendent Mr. Treece, our Board of Education, our high school principal Mr. Young, and our incredible band boosters for their support for our program,î Case continued.
Photo: The Adair County Marching Band once again secured the second place position at the Kentucky Music Educators Association's state competition. (Photo By Lawrence Harris)