Marching band season came to an end in Kentucky on Oct. 29 with the KEMA State Marching Band Competition in Bowling Green, but for Adair County and several other Kentucky bands, the season still had one more show: Bands of America Grand Nationals.

Last week, the Adair County Band traveled to Indianapolis to compete in Grand Nationals. The preliminary round of competition spread out over two days with 90 plus bands competing for a spot in semi-finals on Saturday. Adair County had an early performance time on the first day Thursday and after the preliminaries, the band advanced to semi-finals by placing 16th on the day.

In the semi-final round, Adair County received a score of 79.55, which put them in the top 30 and second in Class A behind Beechwood High School from Fort Mitchell, Kentucky, who was the KEMA Class A State Champion.

According to Adair County Band Director Tom Case, the band did excellent even though the system at Grand Nationals did not work in their favor.

“The system is set up for rewarding the top scoring bands from the two-day preliminary performances as they advance to the semi-finals, and then possibly finals,” said Case. “We went into the competition knowing that we had a relatively early performance and that we needed to have a solid performance on Thursday afternoon. As we all know, saying it and doing it are two different things. Although it was good, through no fault of anyone, our performance on Thursday was not what we wanted or needed. Saturday’s semi-finalist bands are the top 30 highest scoring bands over the two-day preliminary performance.”

“Although there were several surprises regarding bands and placements, we really were not one of them,” said Case. “We got what we deserved and when you choose to compete, there is always a lesson that can be learned. We moved up seven spots after semi-finals, tied for outstanding visual performance, and were National Runner-Ups in our class. All we can do next time when we go to Grand Nationals is continue to stress the importance of the preliminary performance.”

However, Case did say that Adair County’s 2011 season was special.

“I am in no way disappointed in the season or the results,” said Case. “This has been a special year filled with so many wonderful memories and life long accomplishments. I am going to sincerely miss this senior class, yet I am excited about the future as well.”