The Final Show: A Sendoff to Seniors

On October 7th, seniors involved in color guard and band were recognized during Senior Night before the football game.

The Fair Grove Color Guard seniors have had a great season. Mrs. Harmon, the color guard coach, stated, “This year they have won best guard at Carl Junction and made it to the finals at Ozarko. Both of those accomplishments are something that hasn’t been done since their freshman year.” 

Losing seniors is hard, as teams lose key members. “They will leave a legacy of quiet and respectful leadership that I hope they are passing on to their younger teammates,” stated Mrs. Harmon. She continued, “I am going to miss their leadership and the positivity they bring to the group.” 

 Mrs. Harmon then reminisced on the past season. “I think my favorite memory with them this year was at Carl Junction when we won best guard. It seemed like a not-so-great performance, and we weren’t expecting to win so when we did it was a complete surprise,” she said.

Madi Ellis is a senior on the color guard. Ellis stated, “The season is going very well. We have done well this year at the competition.” She added, “My favorite part of guard is learning the choreography and working with my team, and my favorite memory is when we danced in the rain at a competition.”

Color guard senior roster: Kris Hunter, Madi (Madilyn) Ellis.

Fair Grove Band members have also had a good season. They also made it to finals at Ozarko and placed fourth in their class. Mrs. Palomo, the band director, stated, “Our seniors were the first group (as freshmen) to make it to finals at our Ozarko competition, and now again we have made it when they’re seniors. They’ve held various leadership roles through the years, and many of them have participated in other band events (district band auditions, taking a solo, etc.).”

The impact of losing seniors can be rough. “I know we will have to work hard to help recover from having their sound gone! All of our seniors leaving us have some powerful musical abilities and it’ll be hard adjusting to not hearing/seeing them on the field,” stated Mrs. Palomo. “I am going to miss their incredible ability, to be sure. We have some very strong players and guard members leaving this year, we will definitely have to work to accommodate that.”

Making memories is a big part of extracurriculars. Mrs. Palomo stated, “One is from very recently! When we made it to finals at our most recent competition, I mentioned that the last time that happened, our seniors were freshmen. I then saw one senior reach out silently and fist bump the others, and it was very sweet to see that they may not all be close friends or even acquaintances outside of band, but they still felt that connection of having been a part of such a fun saga together.” 

Band senior roster: Alex Kepes, Ricky Pierce, Christian Allen, Luc Deeds.