Tradition marches on in Niles

Alumni, students take field to mark 100 years of music

NILES -- It was a homecoming in more ways than one at Bo Rein Stadium on Friday night.

It was the annual homecoming football game in which the Red Dragons took on Shaw High School.

However, it also was a celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Niles McKinley High School marching band for which more than 200 alumni came back to play with the current band members. The combined bands played during the pregame, during the game and at halftime before hundreds of fans.

The 207 alumni band members and 118 current band members included instrumentalists, majorettes, featured twirlers and drill line.

The marching band was established at the start of the 1926-27 school year by music supervisor Lloyd Sharp, according to information provided by the Niles City School District. The band won the "Best New Band" award at a competition in Columbus later that year.

To commemorate the centennial anniversary, the marching band handed out commemorative pins, stickers and T-shirts, which the alumni members wore during the performances. They also invited former band directors Carla Dean and Dennis Moore to guest conduct the performances. The current band director is Stephen Orlando.

The combined musicians played the first song Sharp chose for their first performance 100 years ago -- a march composed by Ohioan Henry Fillmore in 1923 titled "Military Escort." They also played the song "How Far We've Come" by rock band Matchbox 20.

Also Friday before the game, the district received a $200,000 check from the Cleveland Browns and the NFL Foundation to replace the turf at Bo Rein Stadium. Chomps, the Browns mascot, helped with the coin toss before the game.