Before School starts, Seaford band has the beat

A month before school was set to begin, Seaford High School band and color guard members were already displaying school spirit earlier this month.

They attended a free Seaford High band camp in August for a week of practice, culminating with a showcase performance titled, “The Nightmare Through the Holidays” — a twist on the 1993 film “The Nightmare Before Christmas.”

About 80 Seaford High color guard and marching band members attended the five-day camp, which is a 40-year tradition in Seaford, according the district. Incoming seniors Allyson Drucker and Elizabeth Pecoraro, both color guard members, said they did not expect the performance to go as well as it did. But Allyson’s mother, Susan Drucker, said the band campers practiced for five straight days — from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with an hour and a half break at noon, for the 7 p.m. performance on Aug. 10.

The camp, Susan said, is mandatory for members of the color guard, but not for band members. “It’s the kids who really want to be in it,” she said. “These kids have the passion, so they’re here.”

At one point during the evening performance, participants called family and friends to the field with them to walk through a few of the band’s routines. “This way, you get a feel for what the kids have been doing all week here,” Drucker said.

Students start band in elementary school, continue through middle school and join the concert and marching bands in high school.

Anthony Romeo, the Seaford band director for 12 years, said the band and color guard practiced on the high school football field and in the high school music suite during the camp, which happens in the same week in August every year. Given its success, it might be opened to eighth-graders in the coming years.

As winter winds down each year, Romeo said, the future senior class picks the theme of the band camp show. The theme of last year’s camp was “Seaford Goes to Hawaii,” with Hawaiian music and ukuleles.

“It’s a fun show, so the kids can have a blast playing,” Romeo said.

Encore, the parents group that helps support the band program, brought snacks for the campers throughout the week, Romeo said. The group also hosted a raffle during the camp, which raised more than $300, half of which went to the raffle winner and half to Encore.

Christopher Coniglio, another 12-year band director, said that about 200 people were in the audience for the camp’s final performance. “It was a great culmination of a really strong week,” Coniglio said. “They kicked butt by the end.”

The Seaford marching band performs several times during the year, including at home football games, the Newsday Marching Band Festival, the Seaford Homecoming parade, the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in New York City, the Seaford Memorial Day parade and the Seaford Little League parade. The band has also participated alongside the year-old Seaford Community Marching Band at the Seaford Historical Society Harvest Festival.