Marching Dragons Reach The End Of The Line.

The season has come to an end for the Marching Dragons. Their final competition was this week at the Lucas Oil Stadium. It was sobering to watch how hard all the kids have worked this season. Long practices in all kinds of weather. Continuously working to improve skills and execution. Grif has grown as a person significantly as a result of his participation. And he had a blast! Some of these pictures look a lot better, artistically, than regular readers are used to. That's because The Old Curmudgeon didn't take all of them.

Grif learned to spend most of his free time on the asphalt practice "field."

Of course, the band performed at all the home football games, where spectators are also regularly treated to a fine sunset. I took this one.

Friday night football was a time for Lauren to gather with her peeps for some socializing.

Drum majors did not attire themselves in this fashion in The Old Curmudgeon's day. In that more intensely patriarchal time, the females were referred to as "majorettes."

Competition at Center Grove sans headgear on a warm day. That's Grif next to the flute player. These two shots are mine.

There he is again.

Following in the footsteps of his proud father, Grif has the foresight to choose an instrument that results in his being the lone wolf in the hen house. He was awarded the coveted "pimp hat" for the clarinet section photograph. See how wholesome the band experience can be?

Cross reference James Brown's "It's A Man's World." One of these young ladies may not be putting on much of an act here, but I can say no more.

The Indianapolis Star did a nice feature on the Bands Of America competition, including the above video interview with drum major Amy. Yep, that's Grif a 01:11. You can also pick him out walking across the field at 00:51,

For readers without lives who want to read all the details, please see The Indianapolis Star.