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Sports

Trenton High School Hosts 21st Band Invitational

The Trenton Band Invitational at Trenton's Farrar Stadium saw lots of bands, lots of music, and lots of fun.

The marching band played host for the band competition in its 21st year, and it just keeps getting bigger.

The Trenton Band Invitational was held Saturday afternoon on a surprisingly beautiful day and presented 15 high school marching bands from the area to well over an estimated 1,000 attendees.

"We've had just a great turnout today with a lot of bands, some even from outside of Downriver," said Trenton High School Band Boosters vice president Deb Scola. "We had over 100 volunteers today that really did a great job."

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For those unfamiliar with the annual Trenton event, the biggest band competition of its kind in the Downriver area, it started 21 years ago under the suggestion of then-new-director Mike Kurilko. Each school presented is separated into groups according to school size and the winner is presented with trophies and bragging rights.

Six judges score the bands on the musical performance and efficiency, march performance, and visual effect.

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The winner of the class B division was Westland John Glenn High School. The winner of the class C division was Kennedy High School. The winner of the class AA division was Chippewa Valley High School, and the winner of the largest class, class A, was Southgate Anderson High School.

Trenton High School with its 155-member marching band, the largest in school history, as the hosts, did not compete but did perform as the finale to the day's events just before the awards ceremony.

"It's bad form to be in the competition that you host," explained Scola. "But it's a lot of the bands first real performance of the school year and great experience."

Entrance fee for each band is $150 and Trenton, in return, gives the school $150 worth of raffle tickets so they also can raise some money off the event. On top of band fees, Trenton's band program brings in the money from concessions and gate fees from the day. It's the largest fundraiser of the year for the program, according to Scola.

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