Three years ago the words “open call for bands” caught band director Susan Jordahl’s attention. The thick letters were sprawled across the top of a brown poster with a graphic of a guitar, which requested bands to play for the Fargo Marathon. Jordahl thought it would be a great opportunity for band students because it would broaden student’s experiences.
“I just thought it might be good for us to do and so I sent a note little to them and they called me back and we’ve been doing it ever since,” Jordahl said.
The West Fargo bands consisting of students in grades nine to 12 will be playing in their third consecutive year in the Fargo Marathon on Mar. 18th. This year’s theme for bands is, “Bands on the Run,” and Jordahl is eager for the event.
“We’ve always had fun. [When] you look down the street and there’s thousands of runners coming, it is very cool,” Jordahl said. “I was surprised the first year we did it. My vision was that we were the excitement for the runners, but the runners as they went by were high fiving us and getting us kind of excited it was kind of a mutual [feeling] getting them motivated.”
Equally excited, sophomore clarinet player Shelby Wilhelm described her past experience playing in the marathon as fun and energetic, and she cannot wait to play again this year.
“I did this last year, it’s really fun and you get a lot out of it and you’re just pumping up the runners as they run by,” Wilhelm said. “It was actually really exciting because the energy you get from the runners is overwhelming but it’s something that you take in and it’s breathtaking.”
This year the bands will be playing their pep band songs and drum line cadences on Mandy Gibney’s front lawn. Gibney has hosted the West Fargo bands multiple times in the past years.
“It’s been absolutely fantastic; it’s so fun. It just adds to the overall atmosphere on race day, on marathon race day and it’s been great,” Gibney said. “We have people over and it turns into just a big family and friends party and everyone always looks forward to the music, and they comment on it. I’ve even had runners stop and comment on what a great job that pep band does.”
Gibney and the band students are looking forward to playing for marathon runners and pumping up the runners and the participants.
“We look forward to it every year and our neighbors and friends kind of expect us to keep doing something bigger and better. It’s kind of hard to top a band in your yard but we’re trying every year,” Gibney said. “The runners I know really appreciate it, speaking from experience, and the participants also appreciate it. It’s just kind of a fun way to celebrate and I’m glad that they’re involved in it.”