Jay County finished a surprising second

Thirty years ago this week, the Marching Patriots were state fair runners-up.

The Aug. 12, 1993, edition of The Commercial Review featured coverage of the Jay County High School marching band’s second-place finish at the Indiana State Fair.

It was a result that was unexpected, as the Marching Patriots had dominated the preliminaries by more than three points. Franklin Central rallied to edge them by 0.35 points in the evening’s finals.

“A lot of people were shocked when we didn’t win — just like we were — but, hey, that’s just the way it works sometimes,” said JCHS band director Dave Humbert during a rally after the band arrived back at the school. “That happens, you know … We’re real proud of the kids. They worked hard and did well and will do well in the future. They never let you down.”

After being announced as the runners-up, drum major Laurie Miller and guard captains Brenda Locker and Lisa Butcher hurried across the stage to congratulate the Franklin Central group that won its first Indiana State Fair title.

“At least it was them,” one Patriot band member said. “They were nice.”

The day got off to a slow start for everyone, as overnight rainfall had turned the grandstand track to mud. The contest that was scheduled for 10 a.m. was delayed initially for three hours and didn’t officially start until 2:10 p.m. after students had quite literally stomped the track into shape.

Jay County’s show featured the “NBC Chimes Festival,” a New York medley and selections from the Broadway musical “Cats.” The band won caption awards for music, marching and general effect during the preliminaries, but their 3.1-point lead over the field disappeared in the finals.

“We warned the kids it would probably shrink some tonight,” Humbert said before the performance. “We’ve got to be honest with them.”