West Essex Marching Band Wins Top Prize at Roxbury Competition

On Sept. 27, the West Essex Marching Knights traveled to Roxbury High School for the Roxbury Classic Marching Band Competition. The Marching Knights won first place in their group and swept all the specialty awards of Best Music, Best Visual, Best Color Guard, and Best Percussion for their group.

In addition, Seniors Victoria Dominguez and Kenneth Gonzalez won the award for Best Drum Major for the entire show, which was comprised of 14 bands. The Marching Knights are off to a great start and will travel to Ramsey High School on Oct. 4 for their next competition.

West Essex Marching Band to Host Regional Championship

The West Essex Marching Knights will host the Tournament of Bands Chapter X Championship on Sunday, Oct. 19 at the West Essex Travis Field on the West Essex Campus on Greenbrook Road in North Caldwell.

The all-day event is the regional championship for northern New Jersey, which determines which bands compete in the Atlantic Coast Championship.

The Chapter X Championship will feature performances by more than 30 marching bands, the largest number of participants yet. Bands expected to participate include: West Essex, Rutherford HS, Manville HS, Florence Twp Memorial HS, Raritan HS, Union City HS, Lodi HS, Carteret HS, Union HS, Hawthorne HS, John F. Kennedy HS, Toms River North HS, North Bergen HS, Metuchen HS, Sayreville War Memorial HS, Hanover Park HS, Sparta HS, Memorial HS, Toms River HS South, Tottenville HS, Roselle Park HS, Madison HS, Matawan Reg. HS, Governor Livingston HS, Arthur L. Johnson HS, Brick Memorial HS and Ramsey HS.

Volunteers are also needed to help out with the festival. Please email Mr. John Scozzaro at jscozzar@westex.org. Tickets will be sold at the door. Tickets are $8 adults/ $5 children and senior citizens. Food will be available for purchase.

Information and photo courtesy of Allison Freeman, Manager of Communications & Community Outreach, West Essex Regional Schools