Written Aug. 29
POWERFUL BEYOND MEASURE
Two decades ago, Marianne Williamson wrote in A Return to Love: Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? ... Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. ... It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
And today, Morton High School brings 135 students in one of Illinois’s most decorated marching bands, led on the field by drum majors Joe Geiger, Alex Veatch, and Tyler Paget, for this season’s interpretation of literary art through the musical and marching arts.
Music is arranged by Craig Fitzpatrick and includes Frank Ticheli’s “Angels in the Architecture,” “The Ludlows” by James Horner from Legends of the Fall, and Gavin Greenaway’s “Reflections of Earth.”
Jeff Neavor directs the band, whose honors include an invitation to march in the 2009 Presidential Inaugural Parade in Washington, D.C., an appearance in the semifinals at the Bands of America Grand National Championships, only one of seven bands in the state to pull off that achievement, and numerous festival championships from Illinois State University, the Illini Marching Festival, and others.
The band will perform this fall at home football games, and on
• Sept. 8 in Washington
• Sept. 15 at their home festival, the Pumpkin Fest
• Sept. 29 in Prospect
• Oct. 6 at Normal Community West
• Oct. 13 at the University of Illinois
• Oct. 19 at the BOA St. Louis Super-regional
• Oct. 27 at Illinois State University
