Band of Blue wins Yellow Jacket sweepstakes, readies for MTSBC

The Forrest Rocket Band of Blue was on the move again this past Saturday, travelling to two events, beginning with an early morning wake-up call for a trip to Columbia for a performance at the Middle Tennessee School Band and Orchestra Association (MTSBOA) Festival at 10:30 a.m.

Billy Bateman and his renowned troupe re-boarded the bus and headed to Hartsville for their yearly performance in the Trousdale County 7th Annual Marching Yellow Jackets Invitational.

The Forrest Rocket Band of Blue has attended all seven competitions held by the Trousdale County Band, which has grown in size to twenty-two marching bands this season.

Forrest took the field late in the afternoon and performed awesomely and it paid off as they received several awards, including First in Class, First in Class Color Guard, First in Class Percussion, Third in Class Field Commander, and again for the sixth consecutive year in a row, the top prize of the Band Sweepstakes Award.

The Band of Blue will now turn its attention to the monumental task of hosting the Fifth Annual Middle Tennessee Small Band Championship (MTSBC) in Chapel Hill on Saturday, October 8.

Mr. Bateman and the Band of Blue would like to invite everyone out for a day of musical performances by bands of all sizes from throughout the Middle Tennessee area.

The bands will start arriving early on Saturday morning and will perform throughout the day until the final exhibition performance by the Rocket Band of Blue, which cannot perform for an award in the event.

The MTSBC competition brings approximately 1,200 visitors to Chapel Hill each year and in the past, there has been some rousing performances.

Congratulations to the band on another successful trip to the Yellow Jacket Invitational and please come out and support the band on Saturday and enjoy a wonderful day of music performed by talented students from all over the area in the MTSBC.