SV, Mahanoy bands perform for packed stands at Gratz Fair

GRATZ – Two local bands entertained a packed crowd of fairgoers in northern Dauphin County last week.

Shenandoah Valley and Mahanoy Area participated in the Cavalcade of Bands event at the Gratz Fair last Friday.

The two bands are outliers in a lineup of marching bands primarily from the valleys of upper Dauphin, western Schuylkill, and lower Northumberland, including Millersburg, Halifax, Tri-Valley, and Line Mountain, among others.

Shenandoah Valley has performed at the Gratz Fair since around 2009, one of two upper Dauphin events added to the Blue Devil Band calendar by then-band director Robert Stoner, a native of the area. The other event being the Millersburg Halloween Parade, in the community where Stoner once served as mayor.

Stoner retired from the Shenandoah Valley School District in 2013 and the band has not appeared in the Millersburg parade since, but the Gratz Fair remained a fixture of the schedule through Walter Choplick’s five year tenure as director and now John Shoener’s ongoing eight year tenure.

Mahanoy Area joined the Devils in the past few years making the hour trip down Interstate 81 and State Route 25 to the small-town fair. North Schuylkill, under the direction of John Shoener’s brother Jacob, also made the trip in 2022 but has not returned.

Each participating band performed the tunes of their football field show in front of the grandstand and, afterward, every band combined for a massed-band performance, playing patriotic music.

One such tune was a medley of the official songs of the Armed Forces. As each song played, a member of a participating band or color guard paraded past the grandstand with the branch’s flag and asked any veterans in attendance to stand and be recognized.

For the rest of the day, band members are given free time to enjoy the fair.

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