Volume 19, Number 28
www.berlincitizen.com
Berlin’s Only Hometown Newspaper
Thursday, September 10, 2015
Marching band is ready to entertain
THE NEW, OLD SCHOOL
By Erin K. Butler Special to The Citizen
A look at Berlin High School’s new entrance. BHS students returned to school Monday, Aug. 31, with construction ongoing at the school. | Lee Roski / For The Citizen
The 75 members of the Berlin Marching Band are tuning up for another successful season as they prepare to entertain spectators during halftime at high school football games. “We have a really strong ensemble and I am proud of how hard they have worked,” said Jeff Sirois, band director at Berlin High School. The band members, a mix of girls and boys in grades 9 through 12, kicked off their season with a week-long band camp in August. They worked on their performance eight hours a day so they would be
ready for the first home game. “I’ve been watching the show get better and the kids more confident, which is really special for me to see,” Sirois said. Sirois said he meets with the band members four times a week in school as part of their curriculum and once a week in the evening and is impressed by how well the youngsters balance it all. “This is a great group of kids. They are also athletes and into other areas like robotics. They don’t just do music, these kids are very well-rounded,” said Sirois, a Berlin Marching Band alum. See Band / Page A6
Veteran freelancer Leidemer lays down the camera state for a decade with his camera bag in tow, Leidemer has simply decided to take a step back from photography. “It was just time to make a change,” The sidelines at local high school sporting events will look a bit differ- the Plainville resident said. “I thought ent this year. That’s because, for the about it at the end of last season first time in a long time, photographer (2014.) But I decided I wanted to go Matt Leidemer will not be there cap- through one more year and take it all in for the last time.” turing the action. Leidemer’s desire to hang up his Not to worry though. He’s okay. It’s just that having criss-crossed the gear — for awhile at least — is underThe Berlin Citizen
standable. Photographing high school sports means spending a lot of time behind the wheel, late nights, dealing with harsh weather. But through it all, Leidemer kept right on truckin’. Passionate about the teams he covered, he would often shoot events five, six times a week. And this was just a hobby for him. He has a full-time job. While the extra income brought
in by his freelance photography was nice, that’s not what kept Leidemer traveling from frigid stadiums to steamy gymnasiums, year after year. For him, it was all about the student-athletes. The photographer, famous for his leather jacket and wearing shorts well beyond the summer months, said he’ll See Freelancer / Page A2
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