The band hopes its “How I Wonder” theme will score big at Cavalcade competitions this year.

It’s “about the feeling people get when they look up at the starry sky,” Band Director Mr. Brian Langdon said. “They try to express awe and fear of the unknown.”

Senior Adam Helmer, one of three drum majors of this year’s band, added that the idea is for the audience to feel the magic of a night sky while watching.

“It’s the feeling you get when you look up at the night sky and see all the stars,” he said.

Cavalcade has been described by many as a ‘battle of the bands’. Each school has the opportunity to show off their music department and win different sponsored awards.

The music for Boyertown, all original pieces written by Mr. Langdon, is one way the wonder theme is express, Helmer said. It is sprinkled with parts of familiar tunes connected to the theme, such as “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”, he said.

The marching, during which the band goes into a number of different formations, also contributes to the theme.

“There’s a star,” he said. The band also forms boxes and at the very end a sunrise.

“It’s like you’re waking up,” Helmer said.

In addition to the marching, the color guard contributes to the theme with flags with a starry sky on them and dance moves that are smooth and flowing.

Helmer said he is confident the band will have a strong cavalcade season.

“This is the best year I’ve been in,” he said. However, there is some tough competition. With 102 members, the band just misses being in a lower division. So, it competes against much larger bands.

“The cutoff is 100,” he said, “so we go against schools that have 200 or more.”

The band works very hard to prepare for Cavalcade and football game performances. Practice is every Tuesday and Thursday until 6 p.m., then again Saturday mornings until the Cavalcade performance in the evening. That’s in addition to practice for the football game Friday afternoons followed by the game itself.

“All weekend we do band,” Band Member Stephanie Landino said.