MENNO BAND DAY RETURNING FRIDAY

JEREMY WALTNER  – PUBLISHER

The Menno Marching Band will lead the way and will be followed by 14 others as another Menno Band Day unfolds Friday morning, Oct. 7. The host band will march simply as an exhibition and will not be included in the competition.

The parade of bands begins at 10 a.m. Those taking part in the battle will be Dakota Valley, Armour, Centerville (high school and middle school), Avon, Canistota (high school and middle school), Colman-Egan, Gayville-Volin, Irene-Wakonda, Parkston, Bridgewater-Emery and Yankton Middle School.

After the parade has concluded at Menno Public School on the southern end of Fifth Street, the activities will move to the football field for a drumline battle. Steven Bray, who is in his first year as band instructor at Menno, estimates the drumline battle will begin around 11:45 a.m.

The roots of Menno Band Day go back to the early 1970s, when it was held for three years before discontinuing for three decades. It was held again from 2007 and through the following 10 years, breaking again briefly before returning in both 2020 and 2021.