Oil City band camp takes place in a natural setting

Members of the Oil City Oiler Marching Band play some warm-ups at the start of band practice at Pioneer Flats in Two Mile Run County Park on Friday. The band held the last day of its band camp at the park, where parents were able to watch a performance themed “Friday Night Lights” on Friday evening. (By Helen Fielding)
By HELEN FIELDING
Staff writer

Eighty-plus-degrees and the sun beating down didn’t wilt the enthusiasm of the Oil City Oiler Marching Band on Friday as it concluded its five-day band camp.

The camp, held Monday through Thursday at Oil City High School, moved to the Pioneer Flats field at Two Mile Run County Park on Friday for its final day, where the students were scheduled to give a performance at 6 p.m. They met to practice starting at 11 a.m., then after a few hours of practice took a break to enjoy the park before resuming camp activity.

“They have done very well this week,” said Oiler band director Dan Cartwright. “It’s been an especially young group with a lot of kids who haven’t done this before, and I’m very pleased with what we have been able to get done,” and the students have been “troopers in the heat.”

The theme of Friday night’s show was scheduled to be “Friday Night Lights,” and the three songs the band learned were “All Of The Lights” by Kanye West, “Firework” by Katy Perry, and “Blinding Lights” by The Weeknd.

Cartwright said the school’s first football game is on Aug. 26, and shortly thereafter will be the marching band festival, Music in Oil Country, on Sept. 10.

 

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