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A time to band together Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell Junior Leif Osberg looks cool as he plays cool tunes during Eagle Point High School�s summer band camp. He and more than 50 fellow musicians are spending all day every day, this week and next, practicing for upcoming performances during home football games. Eagle Point camp gives musicians a sound foundation By Vicki Guarino EAGLE POINT � No campfires, no hikes at this camp. Heck, there aren�t even any trees around. There are some games, and some friendly rivalries, but what this camp is all about is music and marching. Eagle Point High School�s end-of-summer tradition, band camp, struck up on Monday. Through the end of next week, 55 musicians and flag team members will spend all day every day practicing the music and the marching routines to entertain crowds at home football games. Only in the evenings do they break for games to build team camaraderie. Eagle Point students have gathered on school grounds every August for many years to get advance practice for the marching band�s performance season. "I love it," says flag team member Sabrina Slayton. "But it�s a lot of work. Your arms are so sore. It really helps if you have a hot tub.�� Band leader Al Zeller says the camp is more than a time for students to memorize the musical notes and the marching steps. The camp is a drill in accomplishment and self-esteem and cooperating as a team in which students help one another. "They can feel important, and it helps them to have a secure base at school," Zeller says. This year the marching band�s shows will feature "Night on Bald Mountain," music from "Phantom of the Opera," and the theme from the movie "Apollo 13." Each piece involves about 250 distinct march moves, Zeller says. Fingers and feet have to coordinate perfectly. The look and sound of a marching band on the field is what students say drew them to the program. "I saw it and I just loved it,�� says flag team member Amie Wilbur, a junior. Plus it�s a way for less athletic students to take part in sport programs, she says. It also offers competition. Both the band and the flag team have won top awards in regional competition. Students share leadership duties with high school staff and special consultants hired to work out unique music and marching arrangements. Band campers pay $25 to cover expenses. At the top of the student-leader hierarchy is drum major Becca Roa. Now a junior at Eagle Point, Becca is following in the footsteps of older brother Anthony, drum major until he graduated in 1999. Standing out in front of the band, she�s responsible for keeping together the music and the march. Becca leads through the hours of rehearsal, too, clapping out the cadence and calling out directions and corrections. "It�s a lot easier for people to take criticism from a peer rather than a teacher,�� Becca has learned. A assistant, drum captain Josh Robison, a junior who oversees the drum section and plays, values the discipline required to march with the band. "It�s a lot of work, but it�s worth it," he says. Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA