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Pembroke CSD music groups bring home 3 first places.They went to Sandusky, Ohio.They performed.They took home first-place trophies.The Pembroke Jr.-Sr.High School Marching and Concert bands, and Senior High Chorus, reaped the rewards of their efforts at the Cedar Point Festival of Music last weekend.Along the way, they found time to have some fun as well."These students work tirelessly throughout the entire year, beginning at band camp in August before school even begins.For them to enjoy a weekend and come home with hardware that reflects their hard work like that is the best feeling as a performer," said Senior High and Marching Band Director John Bailey."Giving a great performance is always a thrill, which these students get to do regularly, but to receive the recognition that they did is special." Juniors Allie Stringham (drum major) and Lincoln Landis (baritone saxophone), senior Austin Humphrey (drum major), juniors Sunset Crandall (flute) and Mary Benson (trumpet) and senior Andrew Fauth (horn) were among the students who went.The band and chorus performed Friday at Sandusky High School and the Marching Band Saturday, using the school's parking lot."I think our music program was very well-prepared for the competition.It showed in the awards we have," Humphrey said."We didn't really get to see our competition between the other things (happening), but we knew that we put a lot of hard work in." Stringham said they got to spend a lot of time at Cedar Point."It was good - really busy," Lincoln Landis said.The other students agreed.Crandall said they spent maybe 10 hours there between the two days."I know many students in the groups rode Top Thrill 2," Benson said.Humphrey said it was one of Cedar Point's newest roller coasters.There were long lines for most of the attractions the park had.The students visited Cleveland as well.They saw the Tony Award-winning musical "The Outsiders" at Connor Palace Saturday night and really enjoyed the show."They had lots of special effects.They made it rain on stage," Fauth said."They had slow-motion scenes and those were really cool." Benson said, "They had a lot of flash effects, too." On the trip back Sunday, when the buses got off the Thruway, there were fire trucks waiting for them.Bailey said the fire trucks brought the buses around town."All their family and friends would be out with posters and cheering.It was a lot of fun," he said.What did they take away from the experience?"You could see how much our community supports us through our music," Stringham said.The groups each received a first-place trophy for their efforts."I have pins for everybody in my office that I haven't given yet," Bailey said, as the students laughed and asked, "Really?" The memories they made on the trip were a big takeaway, Stringham said."Just getting to know everybody better, getting closer," she said.The students said they had similar success when they performed in Springville in the past."We got first place for that in jazz and the Concert Band," Stringham said.The music program plans a trip every other year."It just got decided that we would do Cedar Point," Bailey said."We have a lot of students involved in the program and we didn't want to go too far away, so we could make sure as many students as possible could go with us.We try to stay around the Northeast, but we do like to get out beyond Western New York." Humphrey added, "Parents get to go as chaperones.Everyone involved in the bands and chorus - there's Marching Band, Concert Band and (Senior High) Chorus.All the people who perform in that were able to go." The Dragons went to the Cedar Point Festival of Music with 105 musicians and three tour buses carrying 150 students, directors and parent chaperones."Cedar Point is always competitive because people from all over the Northeast go to their music festivals.There were 16 districts with 24 different ensembles that competed just on Friday night like we did," said Bailey."There were also dozens more districts and ensembles that performed on Saturday as well.We competed against schools from Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Illinois, Michigan, Virginia, and Indiana just Friday night alone.There were many more districts on Saturday as well." Among those cheering on the student performers is the Pembroke Music Boosters, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting and enhancing the music programs in the district."We knew the band, the marching band, and the chorus would get great scores and would be placed high," said Music Boosters Presidents Zach and Loralee Landis."These students and teachers worked so hard, it was easy to have high expectations." The excitement started before the awards were announced, Zach and Loralee Landis recalled.They said Bailey, music teacher Andy Clark, and advisors were already so proud of the students and were absolutely pumped about the performances they gave that day."You could feel the energy and morale they had on the bus ride home," the Landises said."We all were blown away by the support from the local fire companies, family members, and community who came out to cheer the students on as they arrived home." The trophies will be displayed in the Music Department display case for all to see in the High School just outside of the auditorium, the Music Boosters presidents said."We are so proud of the work being done within the music department at Pembroke Central School," they said."We aim to help students with resources to help them have the opportunity to have these trip experiences that will nurture their passion for music and excellence in the arts.We helped with various fundraisers for the students to help cover their costs.We also helped to secure a donation from County Line Stone to offset some unexpected fees." When going into a competition, the Pembroke groups never know how the other groups will be, according to Bailey."We have 103 students in the marching band, 60 in the concert band, and about the same in the chorus.We did go into this competition knowing that our performance would be strong.That being said, receiving first place with all three ensembles truly exceeded all of our expectations because of how competitive the Cedar Point competitions can be," he said.This was Pembroke's third trip to Cedar Point for the festival.It went in 2017 and when Bailey was a student in the program in 2006."We received trophies from Cedar Point and our community welcomed us home with a fire truck escort that our phenomenal community showed up for," Bailey said."It was a special return home for our Dragons on Sunday after all the fun."