Story and photos by Stacy Geedey

The Ada Marching Bulldogs traveled to Indianapolis on Nov. 14 to compete in Grand National Competition. The event, hosted by Bands of America took place at Lucas Oil Field, the home of the Indianapolis Colts. Over 90 bands from all the over the country gathered to compete.

Ada competed Thursday evening and had a great performance. With 16 instrumentalists, six members of the percussion pit/drum line, and six auxiliary color guard members, Ada was one of the smallest bands in the competition. Several of the bands had more members than the entire enrollment of grades 10-12 at Ada High School. 

While Ada was not able to move on to compete in semi-finals or finals, the students were able to watch the performances of multiple top ranked marching bands. The experience alone was well worth the trip. 

This performance ended the Marching Bulldogs competition run for 2013.  With a majority of lower classmen in the band this year, we look forward to watching these talented students grow and improve in the coming years. 

The Marching Bulldogs are under the direction of Jonathan Lischak, director of instrumental music at Ada High School. The color guard is under the direction of  Amy Webb.