The Poplarville Green Machine, Colorguard and Honeybees competed in the Gulf Coast Invitational Marching Festival and Competition at Biloxi High School on Saturday, September 24th. Nineteen high school bands from the surrounding area competed and were scored on nine categories: music ensemble, visual ensemble, general effect visual, general effect musical, percussion, band, drum major, colorguard and dance tam. Each category receives a ranking of 1-4, 1 being the highest. Poplarville was one of only two bands that made a 1 in every category which resulted in an All Superior ranking. Mr. Tidwell, the director of the Green Machine Band, exclaimed, “That’s the first time this has happened in six years!” Mr. Tidwell has been the band director at Poplarville High School since 2010.
The band, colorguard and dance team have been working hard preparing for the competition, sometimes practicing twice a day in the sweltering heat. Saturday was no different with a heat index on the field of 105 degrees, resulting in heat exhaustion for three band members and one honeybee.
The Green Machine, Colorguard and Honeybees performed two songs for this competition: A mash of The House of the Rising Sun and Mardis Gras Mambo; and A Closer Walk with Thee. They are busy adding another song to the mix, which they will perform at the next competition in under two weeks.
This group will travel to Gulfport, MS on Saturday, October 8th where they will compete in the State Regional Marching Evaluations. We are extremely proud of our band, colorguard and dance team! Go Hornets!
Band Director- Joshua Tidwell
Assistant Band Director- Andrew Demolat
Colorguard Sponsor- Skye Kong
Dance Sponsor- Stacia Peterson
Drum Major- Ben Neff
