March 14, 2026 Local Stories in and Around St. Joseph, Illinois

Get to know Senior SJO Marching Band member Bryce Collins

The community surrounding Marching Band is filled with some of the most talented, passionate, and downright amazing people I’ve ever met. We are all so dedicated to this art and put our hearts and souls into putting forward the best performance we can, while still maintaining a bond so tight it makes us feel like family.


My favorite moment of this experience was Junior year when we put our medieval-monarch themed show Captiv on the field, and specifically at the Metamora Band Invitational, we placed first in and achieved every caption award in our class, something that our school had never achieved before. Being part of our school’s history might be one of the coolest moments of my life and seeing the look on all of our first-year marcher’s faces that showed that this was something they never wanted to quit gave me so much happiness.


My favorite show is impossible to pick since they’ve all been absolutely fantastic, but if a particular answer is required, honestly this year has been my favorite. Sure, this hasn’t been our absolute best season, but the music is fantastic. Mr. Hess, our band director, picked a very brass-heavy show that utilizes our 7 person trumpet section very well and has been an absolute blast playing.


This year’s uniform doesn’t really compare to my freshman and junior year shows. Freshman year’s uniform was unique as we were dressed up like Beethoven and had these absolutely atrocious grey wigs that really encompassed the classical music era. But last years show where we had archer hoods and satchels reinforced our theme perfectly.


The biggest misconception is that we’re all weird. Sure there are a couple of outliers as with any other group, but for the most part, we’re all just having fun and not worrying about what people think about us. That’s really the best part of the band too. We’re all a little off in our own sense and we’re not afraid to express that so it makes us all super friendly with each other.

in Life, People
Banner
Related Posts

SJO to name football field in Duval’s honor

May 26, 2020

May 26, 2020

Like most people who have ever known Dick Duval, Brian Brooks can remember their first-ever meeting. It happened 17 years...

Village hires administrator

June 24, 2021

June 24, 2021

The Village of St. Joseph has its administrator.During its June 22 meeting the village board voted to hire Joseph Hackney....

Senior Spotlight… Jillian Plotner

January 23, 2020

January 23, 2020

What are your plans after you leave SJO?I plan on studying forensic anthropology. I haven’t decided what school yet! If...

Dukeman shines in classroom and in athletics

March 7, 2019

March 7, 2019

School comes easy for St. Joseph-Ogden High School junior Hannah Dukeman. Dukeman, who plays softball for SJO in addition to...

10 things about me….. Dana Rowland

April 3, 2019

April 3, 2019

You may know Dana Rowland as the co-chair of the SJO Post Prom Cash Bash but now you can get...

How I Get it Done… Matt Crider

October 21, 2022

October 21, 2022

This week we spoke to Matt Crider of Trinity Web Design and Consulting, LLC to ask him how he gets...

Franzen chosen to lead middle school

March 30, 2021

March 30, 2021

The new St. Joseph Middle School Principal will be a familiar face. The St. Joseph Consolidated Community School Board voted...

Senior spotlight… Emily Bigger

July 26, 2019

July 26, 2019

Every week we ask a St. Joseph-Ogden senior five questions. This week we talked to Emily Bigger. This post is...

Going the Distance: Smetzer excels at Western

October 17, 2019

October 17, 2019

Ross Smetzer has goals. The 2016 St. Joseph-Ogden High School graduate runs cross country and track for Western Illinois University...

SJO community mourns death of Glenn Fisher: ‘He had a heart of gold’

January 12, 2021

January 12, 2021

Glenn Fisher liked to tease people. Whether he was telling the newly hired football coach at St. Joseph-Ogden High School...

Sign ‘em up: Wagners to change locations in downtown St. Joseph

October 4, 2019

October 4, 2019

Jim and Jen Wagner want to invest in St. Joseph because the community has invested in them. “Community support is...

A cut above: St. Joseph resident and hair stylist Milt offering free haircuts for students

August 14, 2019

August 14, 2019

Nicole Milt wants to help kids feel good about themselves. So Milt has volunteered to do free haircuts for students...

10 Things You Don’t Know about me… Sharon Jeffers

March 20, 2019

March 20, 2019

I have two grown and married children, Logan/Tressica and Lauren/Kris, and two beautiful grandchildren Weston, and Emma I grew up...

10 tips to get your home ready to sell

August 5, 2019

August 5, 2019

Clear out your personal belongings and declutter. It’s a good idea to eliminate clutter and depersonalize the home. You’ll want...

‘I’m so thankful and grateful for this opportunity’

February 11, 2022

February 11, 2022

Amy Gibbons is celebrating a birthday. Salon 192 opened two years ago today. “The past two years have definitely been...

Comments
Leave a Reply