SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Around this time of year it isn’t uncommon to hear the sound of your local marching band ringing through the town as they practice for the upcoming season.

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The Lincoln Marching Band has been hard at work all summer bringing together a special show.

“This year’s show, I really enjoy the musical aspect,” Aidan Prouty, a senior drum major, said. “I think we have a lot of fun songs that we’ve incorporated and having 200 people, we have a strong sound overall. And with that also goes the visual, we have a lot movements. It’s not just marching and stuff, we have a lot of bodywork and dance elements also.”

“Something I also love is how diverse the theming is,” Hannah Basel, a senior drum major, said. “Our show last year was just a very joyful show, which is nice, but our shows the two years before were both kind of eerie and spooky. This show has a good mix of both.”

The theme this year? The Big Apple.

“The show represents five different types of apples over the history,” band director Drew Balta said. “The first apple is the Adam and Eve apple — the idea of temptation. The second apple is the Snow White apple — the poisonous apple. The third apple is the idea of gravity, Sir Isaac Newton, and the fourth apple is technology, the iPhone Apple. And the fifth apple is the Big Apple.”

Representing New York City and the exciting trip the band has coming up this Fall.

“Like you talk to all of the kids right now and what are you looking forward to the most,” Balta said. “It’s the Macy’s trip.”

These 215 high school students will be a part of the 2024 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

“You know, live tv, it’s a big deal. It’s going to be a long route, people are going to have to have a lot of endurance but we’re going to be working up to that,” Basel said. “It’s not an experience that we’re going to have any other time in our lives.”

Part of this show will shine on the Macy’s star in New York City, but there’s another part that will be even more familiar to fans of the marching band.

“During the parade people who follow us or are there can expect to hear ‘America North,’ I mean, the parade song that Lincoln’s used for 40+ years,” Balta said. “So we’ll keep that tradition alive the whole parade and then, yeah, our performance on the star will be some of our show and then some original material.”

It’s not just the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade that this band is prepping for, though. They also have four home football games and five competition weekends.

“I am obviously looking forward to competing, I think that’s something everyone looks forward to because it’s so fun to show off what we’ve been learning,” Prouty said. “It’s great to hear like the crowd reaction, see that they understand the work we put into the activity.”

But there’s also so much more to the marching band than just performances and competitions.

“Every year, this activity gives kids a place to belong, which is awesome,” Balta said. “But this year, even more so — we have 77 freshmen, which is just a massive freshmen class. There’s so many kids that, you know, might not fit somewhere else in our school and this gives them a place to belong.”

“I’ve met like pretty much all of my friends through marching band and it’s been a great learning experience for myself also,” Prouty said. “I think more than just marching band, it’s something that can transform you as a person.”

“I think we have a very motivated group of people and I think you’re going to be excited to see the fruits of our labor — no pun intended, we have an apple-themed show,” Basel said.

The band’s first performance of their Big Apple show is on September 14th during the President’s Bowl. To view their full calendar, click here.

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