This past fall, the Columbia High School marching band under the direction of Peter Bauer helped celebrate 10 years of local control for Maplewood’s Springfield Avenue by joining local civic leaders in a Tuesday morning parade past shop owners and customers on the renovated commercial strip.

The parade followed 10 weeks of picking up their horns – or drums, flutes, clarinets and, of course, sousaphones – and learning to play while moving in shape-shifting formations.

It’s a skill that takes discipline, passion and commitment. It’s also a high school experience steeped in creativity and style, something judged throughout the season at competitions or performed before crowds, sometimes in snow (remember late October?) and under lights on cold nights.

As one freshman trumpet player put it, “Everyone was always smiling and laughing. Even when things weren’t the best, I could be there, with everybody, and feel happy just knowing that no matter what happened later on, we would have each other, or at least the memories.”