Bergjord Boarding

October 11, 2025

By: Luke

This was a very full day. The Golden Eagle Marching band were load busses at 3:15 am and hitting the road by 3:30 am. We had a 4 hour drive ahead of us to Yankton, SD.

We had a very cool parade to get to! This parade starts in Nebraska and we march all the way to South Dakota! The state change happens over an old train bridge that has been changed to a pedestrian walk way.

We were near the beginning of the parade and it went very well. There was a great energy coming off of the bridge and the crowd was responsive. It was a marching competition so no floats or politicians to slow everything down.

After the parade we walked to our busses that were parked near a park. We had Jimmy Johns subs and snacks provided for the students. Mostly everyone seemed to be shaking off the early morning pretty well and spirits were high after lunch. We then moved over to an elementary school and our designated warm up location.

After that we unloaded our trailers and organized our front ensemble instruments. Our job was to be ready to roll once our time came.

There is usually a lot of “hurry up and wait” but it wasn’t so bad today. We wait for the previous band to exit so we can enter the field and start our allotted 15 minutes of performance time. That included setting up, performing our 7 minute show, and then getting our butts off the field.

The students performed well and afterward we went into the stands to watch the rest of the bands perform. This competition is unique in that it also has a “drum battle”. It is advertised as a non-competitive way to show off your drumline, but there is also a prize of golden drumsticks and fun percussion toys for very young percussionists.

Long story short, we won the dang thing. The kids worked hard and sounded clean and put on a fun show. Our percussion section also had the highest scores form the field competition and was recognized for that.

Here is our center snare holding the golden drumsticks we won from the drum battle and the award for best percussion. I am holding in my hands the other part of our prize, and in my chest a heart full of pride.