Melvyn Poll, operatic tenor, sings the National Anthem, with Color Guard, honoring 9-11

Customarily, High School Band Day is a lucky charm for the University of Washington Huskies, and this year it worked again! The Huskies beat the University of Hawaii Warriors, 40-32, on the Saturday before the 10th anniversary of the 9-11 attacks in New York, Pennsylvania, and Washington, D.C.  The Husky team commemorated the event by wearing white helmets with the “W” dazzled in red, white and blue and by carrying a flag as they ran out of the tunnel onto the field.

Thirty-three high school bands participated in both the pre-game and half-time shows. All but one—Cheyenne High School, North Las Vegas, NV, with 44 members—came from within Washington state. The four largest bands were South Kitsap (150), Camas (150), Bellevue (115), and Sequim (100). The four smallest were Meridian (in Bellingham, 25), Waterville (northeast of Wenatchee, 23), Manson (on Lake Chelan, 19), and Archbishop Murphy (in Everett, 19).

In all, about 2150 high school band members, 200 cheerleaders, and 80 flag team members participated in this, the 59th Annual High School Band Day. Most of these photos were taken by Louis Figueroa (on the field) and Garry Nakayama (in the pressbox), and a few were shot by me, as a member of the Husky Alumni Band. Click on any of these 19 photos to enlarge it.

UW Band mixes with the bands and cheerleaders from 33 high schools