While the tempo and rhythm may vary two years after their last competition season and with COVID-19 still playing a part, the Washington Marching Demons are glad to be performing a full show at events across southeast Iowa again.

The band traveled to their first competitions of the season in Fort Madison and Mount Pleasant on September 18th, where they came in third and seventh places respectively. Senior Mateo Salazar and Junior Bailey Rees were also awarded outstanding drum majors in Fort Madison. Band Director Don Hughes says last weekend was practically their second time performing their entire show after their first halftime performance was rained out. They’re a fairly young band, according to Hughes, as about a third of the students hadn’t marched before and about half of them hadn’t performed at a competition. Despite some missteps, Hughes shares how it felt to have their band compete again, “It was good, it was fun, it was getting back on the horse. The kids that had done that before kind of just rolled back into their routine. I think they really appreciate doing the competitions. We made some music last year, we did a little bit of marching, it just wasn’t quite the same.”

Hughes encourages the Demon community to come support the band at their upcoming competitions on October 2nd at 7:25 p.m. at the Davis County Festival of Bands in Bloomfield and on October 9th at 7:30 p.m. at the Muscatine High School competition. Other performances this fall include homecoming events on October 7th and 8th and the State Marching Band Festival in Pella on October 16th.