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The phrase "Ah, yes, S-S-S" is a familiar chant to anyone who attended a school function in the 1970's and 1980's at Smithfield-Selma High School and that chant is the only way to describe the achievements of the Award-Winning 2007 SSS Marching Spartan Regiment. On Saturday, November 3, 2007, the Smithfield-Selma Band traveled to Havelock, NC for the Annual Crystal Coast Band Classic and brought home the Gold. What a fantastic end to an awesome season.
{mosimage}The Spartan Regiment performed in Class AAAAA (5A) alongside many great bands. This particular award ceremony encompassed Classes 3A, 4A and 5A bands. The SSS Band brought home 1st place Visual Performance, 1st place Music, 1st place Visual Ensemble (Color Guard) and 1st place Percussion. It is proudly noted that the SSS Percussion Section has won 1st place consistently at nearly every competition over the past 3 years. The SSS Band finished 1st place in Class 5A.
Their award-winning field show entitled, '360 degrees", charmed the crowd at the home of the Havelock High School Marching Rams. After the host band performed in exhibition, the EAST CAROLINA UNIVERSITY MARCHING PIRATES also performed in exhibition to the joy of the Smithfield-Selma Spartans. Several graduates of SSS performed with the ECU pirates and they cheered on their former SSS classmates during the award ceremony.
The SSS Band is led by drum-major Sierra Thomas. Their band instructors are Brian Jones and Jason Heard. Color-guard Instructors are Jean Coulet du Gard and Adam Faircloth. Percussion Instructors are Brian Wilmesmeier and Leigh Anne Deans. Drill Designer is Ralph Stewart, III. Other professional instructors include Jerry Thompson and Erick Riggs. Original Music is arranged by Marty McArt.
The tension built as the announcer held-out on naming the overall Grand Champion, a band whose overall score was the highest of all bands, regardless of Class. The end result was the fact that the SSS Band finished their marching band season on a great "note" by being crowned the Kings and Queens of the Crystal Coast.
Earlier in the season, the SSS Spartan Regiment won Grand Championships in Class 4A competition both at the 2007 Wakefield High School's Heart of Carolina Band Invitational as well as their third consecutive year as Grand Champions in Jacksonville, NC at the 2007 White Oak Band Classic. The Spartan's original show and music score are very complex and spotlights circles or anything round. Some have compared the field show to the Cirque du Soleil - (French for Circus of the Sun) - a popular Las Vegas show. The SSS band finished 3rd nationally in Class 2A Division at the Bands of America Competition in Towson, Maryland on October 20th, 2007.
It takes a lot of funding to support a band program. With the constant rise of gas prices and travel expenses, a band's budget can change drastically from July to November. With that in mind, the band has just kicked off their annual Fruit Sale which will be running through November 20th. Fruit will be delivered December 11th. This type of fund raiser event has always helped support the SSS band program, even back to the 70's and 80's. If you would like to assist the Award-Winning SSS Marching Spartan Regiment by purchasing some fruit through their fund-raising efforts, please contact: Angela Piper at (919) 965-3448 or Jennifer Hinton at (919) 915-9800. Please check out
their web site at www.sssband.org. Pictures of this years' field show are posted for your viewing pleasure.