SHERBURNE – The 64th annual Sherburne Pageant of the Bands kicks-off this afternoon with Jazz Ensemble competitions, beginning at 4 p.m. and leading up to the main event, Saturday’s popular Grand Parade Competition, in which all 28 of the competing schools will march their way through the center of the village.
The pageant is recognized throughout the state as the largest and longest running of its kind. Founded in 1949 by Albert Whitney and Frank L. Miller, the event lures an estimated 5,000 to 10,000 people to Sherburne each year including the participants and their families. Between Colgate Alumni weekend and the pageant, however, it can often be difficult for visitors to find a place to stay for the three-day event. Traditionally there have been Sherburne residents who have allowed people to camp out on their land. And while attendance at the pageant has taken something of a hit in recent years – typically attributed to the downturn in the nation’s economy – the pageant has been making a strong comeback.
“It’s starting to come back little by little,” said lead pageant organizer and S-E band director Jeffrey Manwaring, who has served as coordinator of the Pageant of the Bands for 13 years but first participated in 1975 as a marching band student. A few years later, as a college student, he remembers standing by on the sidelines watching the annual event.
“After college, however, I brought bands from different schools that I had taught at to it,” he stated with no small measure of pride, adding that the number of participating schools is slightly higher than last year’s.
Indeed, band programs throughout the state have been getting smaller, said Manwaring.
“Programs are changing with the Common Core and state testing … we’re feeling it here, and a lot of kids are having a tough time finding the time for band and to come to lessons.”
Despite these adversities, Manwaring is still optimistic, adding that the S-E band program is doing alright and holding its own.
Bands compete for both trophies and ratings with the first through fifth place trophies being awarded for the concert and parade categories. As with every year, the pageant’s categories will include Concert, Parade, Small Ensemble, Color Guard, Jazz Ensemble, Drum Line and Drum Major. The New York Federation of Contest Judges will judge the marching bands and the color guard competitions, while band directors from different areas which are not competing will judge the other events.
Many of the schools that will be participating in this year’s Pageant of the Bands will be spending hours on end in buses to get to Sherburne, and have been doing so for years.
“It’s just a great experience for the kids to be involved with, it’s really an end of the year final for us,” said Pulaski Band Director Jack Jennings, who has been taking part in the pageant in one form or another since 1992. “I prepare the kids as fast as I can and all of our groups are solid.”
However, Jennings added that it’s really not so much about winning or losing; instead the kids come down to do their best and enjoy themselves.
