Sound of Tradition to pay homage to county veterans in halftime show
Published 12:00 am Tuesday, August 6, 2019
The Andalusia High School Sound Tradition will pay homage to Covington County veterans during their half time show this year.
The show is called “Legends to Heroes,” and the band will be playing selections such as “Krypton’s Fanfare,” representing Superman, the theme from the 1992 “Robin Hood” movie and then patriotic songs to pay honor veterans.
“I have been wanting to do a patriotic show for a while,” Director Bennie Shellhouse said. “But when they had the celebration where they were returning the veterans remains to Covington County, I saw the reaction from the community and thought it would be a great thing to recognize the true heroes of our nation.”
Two weeks ago, band camp commenced and Shellhouse said it was a relatively cool week.
“The whole week I don’t think it got above 85 degrees, which isn’t normal for our usual band camp week,” Shellhouse said. “The kids have been fantastic, as well. We are at about 183 kids, which is about the same as last year. It does feel like more kids on some days though.”
With the big number, the band now has a full-time percussion instructor.
“Josh Johnson is from Florala,” Shellhouse said. “He worked with us some last year. So, he has had some experience. We have a young group of drummers this year and he is doing a fantastic job with them. He graduated from Troy University and was the section leader for their band for several years.”
Some seniors that Shellhouse is looking to lead the band is drum major Tristyn Harrison and senior Fletcher Ament.
“Tristyn is coming back this year as our drum major,” Shellhouse said. “She went to Troy University’s drum major camp this summer and was voted ‘Most Likely to be the next Sound of the South Drum Major,’ which means she was the best drum major at the camp. So, it is a huge honor. Fletcher is really one of the heartbeat guys of the band. He is in charge of uniforms. He really steps up as a leader, is a great student and an even better person.”
Shellhouse said he is ready to get the season started.
“I love the atmosphere of Friday night football,” Shellhouse said. “I’m excited for these band kids. We have a young group, but they are pretty good and I think they are going to progress and do really well.”