By: Eric Corse

Each year, the EHS Marching Band helps puts on a special half-time show during the football games. Despite being very young and low in numbers this year, our band strives every week to inspire school spirit. At the recent homecoming pep rally, the band also played a big part in setting the tone with their exciting music. Thanks to the band’s music, students of all grades were up on their feet and cheering “EHS!”

Recently, The Squire sat down with EHS Drum Major, Mikki Gifford. She, along with Mr. Napolitan, makes sure that the band is running smoothly and efficiently. Or in Mikki’s words, “I have to make sure the band doesn’t go crazy and become disrespectful.” As Drum Major, Mikki has a very important duty in guiding our young band to represent our school in a positive and respectful light.

When asked about the band’s role during the football game half-time shows, Mikki became very excited. She began to list all the songs they will be playing or have played this year, “This year we are playing ‘It’s All Right,’ ‘Rosanna,’ ‘Come Sail Away,’ ‘Lovin’ Touchin’ Squeezin’,’ and ‘My Girl.’ The use of classic rock as a theme for the show this year is a refreshing and interesting take on marching band music. The Squire also talked to Mikki about the flag-twirling color guard and their role in the band. When the topic was brought up, she said, “They give us more of a visual effect because we’re not moving this year, so the flags are like ‘Look at me’ and are really pretty.”

As everybody knows, the band has suffered from low enrollment for a few years now. When asked how this drawback has affected performances, Mikki had this to say: “Because of the low amount of people, we cannot perform at competition and we are missing key parts of the band, such as the low-brass section and the woodwind section.” It is downright shame that such a wonderful program has encountered a rough patch, and hopefully next year more students will be eager to join the EHS Marching Band. See Mr. Napolitan or Mikki for more details about joining the marching band.

By: Emily Rutsky    Whether it’s from a store, online, or borrowed from a friend, this year’s homecoming dance saw a big selection of dresses. Not many people had the same dress, which is very surprising because Eisenhower’s homecoming was fairly early this year. One might expect a small selection of dresses in stores, but there happened to be many from which to choose.

    One could say this year’s most popular dress colors were burgundy and black because there was a good amount of people wearing dresses in those colors. Some people even wore dresses that fit very well with the fall homecoming theme. The styles of dresses were very unique also, such as the two-piece dress. A throwback to the ‘90’s, the two-piece dresses have been becoming more and more popular throughout the years and this dance saw many people wearing that style in a variety of colors.

    The Squire interviewed Jocelyn Courtney for her opinion on this year’s homecoming dresses.

The Squire: Where did you get your dress?

Jocelyn Courtney: I got my dress from JC Penney’s in the Erie mall.

TS: How many dresses did you try on before you picked the one you wore?

JC: I tried on three.

TS: How did you pick your dress? 

JC: I picked the three dresses that I really liked and tried them on. At first I was going to pick a different dress, but, as I considered my options, I felt more and more in love with the one I chose.

TS: What color and style was your dress?

JC: My dress was green lace with ivory colored fabric underneath. It was an off the shoulder dress with a sweetheart neckline.

TS: What do you think of the selection of dresses this year?

JC: I thought they were very unique. Not many people had the same or similar dresses.

TS: How did you match with your date?

JC: I wore black high heels with my dress. My date had on a black shirt and pants with a silver tie. We had corsages and boutonnieres with white roses and silver accents. So we matched pretty well.

    The unique variety of dresses at this year’s homecoming dance was just one element that made the dance a night to remember. It will be interesting to see how the styles of dresses change or evolve throughout the year, as students could be prom dress shopping in just a few short months!