Burgettstown's Marching Blue Devils marching band revived after 7-year hiatus
BURGETTSTOWN, Pa. (KDKA) — When the Burgettstown Blue Devils took the field on Sept. 1, the football team had the support of the school marching band for the first time in seven years.
After nearly a decade off the football field, the Marching Blue Devils are proudly back in action.
"The marching band, I think it just kind of embodies school spirit. I mean, you're out there with those fancy, flashy uniforms, and school colors and, and they're loud, and they're exciting, and they're playing fun music, and they played the school songs, and everybody's cheering and singing along with it. It's just a completely different feel from when they weren't around," Allen Cugini, the band director, said.
The school board president told KDKA they've been fighting for years to bring the band back, and after planning, recruiting, and getting through the pandemic, they're excited to see the band revived and bringing back some school spirit.
"I think it's been really fun to be able to contribute to the football games more, just the atmosphere of the school in general. The community is also really happy to have the band back," Lucy Snatchko said, a trumpet player in the marching band.
The returning theme for the marching band Cugini said is Back the Blue.
"We picked as an opener, we decided 'Back in Black, AC/DC and I kind of wanted that to be the theme of the show," Cugini said. "The other song that I picked was Kelly Clarkson, 'What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger.' Then the kids actually picked 'Backstreet's Back' by the Backstreet Boys. So, we arranged that and got it going as our third song, and it was just to kind of celebrate the idea of you know, "Hey, we're back.' We're here to stay and then we're ready to make good things happen."
Some band members KDKA talked to said they're proud to be back on the field and boosting morale and school spirit again.
"We get to play the cheers. We get to perform halftime shows. They enjoy the entertainment," Owen Synder said, a marching band player.
The marching band is made up of 24 students, with 17 playing musical instruments.
"People told me like before they were very happy to be able to see that in our school again," Snatchko said.
The next big event the marching band is playing at is the homecoming parade on Oct. 7.
"That is a big celebration here Burgettstown. I mean, it's a big event. The entire town is blue and white. It's really something to see, and honestly, not every school has a homecoming celebration," Cugini said. "The entire town is basically shut down for the parade, and everybody's out on the streets, you know, watching the different groups coming walking down the street and the bands and whatnot."
The parade starts at 11 a.m.