Strike up the band.

The Lampeter-Strasburg (L-S) High School Marching Band prepared for the fall season during band camp Aug. 3 to 7.

"We put the whole show together," band director Larry Royer said. "It's learning drill. Drill is all the formations that the kids make on the field and then putting the music with that. An eight-minute field show that you see at a football game takes a full week or week and a half to put together into what you would recognize."

The theme of the performance is a tribute to the country's 250th anniversary, called "American Faces: A Star-Spangled Spectacular."

The show will start with what Royer referred to as the most recognizable tune in the set - the theme from the movie "Top Gun." "Then we'll go into some music that represents time periods," he said, beginning with "Chorale and Shaker Dance." Next, the band will perform Samuel Barber's "Adagio." "That's sort of a hymn to the fallen, a more reverent piece," said Royer. "Then we're going to go into a swing tune, jazz tune called 'Swing, Swing, Swing.' This is the one that I'm probably most excited about because it's from our 2020 field show which nobody got to see (because of COVID-19). The only people that saw it were parents and some football parents, and that was a really fun tune. We want to bring that back. We'll finish the show with portions of a piece called "American Faces" with a big statement of the doxology. That little statement just brings it all together."

Royer explained, "Back in the first Continental Congress in Philadelphia, there's a chair at the front and center of (Independence Hall), down in the historic village. It's got a half of a sun carved into it, maybe painted into it. And the story goes that Ben Franklin sat in the hall and looked at that chair, and he said out loud, 'The question is, is that a rising sun or a setting sun? Is this the beginning of our nation that's going to be great, or was this just a grand experiment that's going to fail?' And, of course, now we can see that it was a rising sun, and we hope for more. That's going to be sort of a tying point to the whole production."

When coming up with a theme and a playlist, Royer considers the specialties of that year's band members. "Everyone is accountable, and it takes everyone to do it," he said. "We definitely do look at if we have a student that can handle this solo, or do we have a really strong drum section that can do this swing tune? Can the color guard pull off a swing dance-type thing? We definitely do look at what we have or who we have. ... We have strength in every section, and then I think it's important to push certain kids in a direction, push them a little bit beyond what they think they can do."

In addition to playing at all Pioneers' football games, the band will display its skills at several festivals during the fall.

L-S is a member of the Pennsylvania Marching Band Coalition (PAMBC), which includes many bands from Lancaster County and some from Chester and Berks counties. There will be two big finale shows this year, with L-S performing at McCaskey on Halloween. Before that, L-S will participate in festivals at Lancaster Catholic on Saturday, Sept. 19, and at Owen J. Roberts on Saturday, Oct. 3.

PAMBC festivals are considered noncompetitive, and no trophies will be awarded. That doesn't mean L-S plans to phone it in. "There's obviously great importance to put on a good show," said Royer. "There's going to be a lot of people there watching. That's the neat thing about the coalitions, because all the students and the fans are in on the home side enjoying everyone's performances," Royer said. "In a competitive setting, you're sitting out there in front of your parents and all the other kids from other schools are rooting for you to mess up. There's a place for competition, and that's not wrong. It's just we've chosen to take a different route."

The L-S Marching Band will hold its annual fundraiser Tag Day from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Aug. 29. Students go out in the community to speak with residents and seek donations. "The community really supports us very well," Royer said.