Correspondent photos / Sean Barron Holding flags for Thursday’s high school band show in the grandstand for the 178th annual Canfield Fair are, from left, Gionna Bonini, a freshman, and Alaina Dilullo, an eighth-grader. Both Struthers High School students are part of the school’s color guard.

Canfield Fair schedule

Senior Day

Today is Senior Day at the Canfield Fair. Adults 62 years old and older will be admitted at a discount rate of $6 today.

8 a.m. — Junior Fair market beef showmanship, Michael Kusalaba Event Center No. 36

8:30 a.m. — Cattle: Holstein / Jersey, cattle arena No. 61

9 a.m. — Ponies: registered Welsh / Hackney/ Shetland, south horse ring

9 a.m. — Sheep, show coliseum No. 8

10 a.m. — Draft horse: Halter, East ring

11 a.m. — Junior Fair feeder calf showmanship, Michael Kusalaba Event Center No. 36

1 p.m. — Junior Fair feeder calf classes, Michael Kusalaba Event Center No. 36

1 p.m. — Ponies: Grade (46″ and under), south horse ring

1:15 p.m. — Arts & Crafts one-day special, Rebuilding the Reuben, hay and grain barn No. 26

2 to 4 p.m. — James Popp and Helen Vadino, Western Reserve Village

3 to 6 p.m. — Bike night, main concourse

4 p.m. — Draft horse youth classes, east ring

4 p.m. — Junior saddle horse drill team, Junior Fair saddle horse ring

4 p.m. — Junior Fair auction-market poultry sale, Michael Kusalaba Event Center No. 36

5 to 7 p.m. — Davis and Henner, Western Reserve Village

5 p.m. — Dog agility demonstrations, small animal tent

5:30 p.m. — Pony hitches, south horse ring

7 p.m. — Junior Fair auction-market beef, Michael Kusalaba Event Center No. 36

7 p.m. — Sheep Canfield lead line, north end

8 to 10 p.m. — World’s largest demolition derby, grandstand

CANFIELD — The Struthers High School marching band may have included the popular 1961 Elvis Presley song “Can’t Help Falling in Love” as part of its repertoire, but band director Charles Miller can’t help hoping his students also fall into incorporating a few valuable life lessons.

“They’re truly incredible. Twenty-two of the students are on my leadership team,” Miller said.

Suffice it to say that all 81 of the performers in grades eight to 12 were in such a position, because they were among the area students who took part in the annual high school band show Thursday as part of the 178th annual Canfield Fair.

The fair opened Wednesday and continues through Monday.

Fifteen bands from schools mostly in Mahoning and Columbiana counties provided the entertainment for the two-hour show in the grandstand. Each unit played for about 10 to 15 minutes and were tasked with playing a certain number of tunes with a theme.

Miller said the theme of his students’ performance was “Experience the Moment” to demonstrate life’s fleeting nature and the importance of relishing and taking stock of what is available and possible in a given piece of time. Besides their instruments, it is hoped the band members will carry with them the value of teamwork, and to realize each of them brings something important to the table, he noted.

“I want them to understand the importance of “we” before “me,'” Miller said, adding, “Music is a vehicle I’m using to teach the kids that it’s more than notes on a page. It’s building a community and a support system.”

During its performance Thursday, the band was not shy about building a rather diverse repertoire that also included the popular 1980 Queen song, “Another One Bites the Dust,” then switching gears to delve into a taste of Motown with a Jackson Five medley.

Miller called the well-known Presley tune “a crowd favorite,” and said that the Queen song carries special significance because he led a rendition of it during his first year as band director.

For Josh Hawkins, the Struthers High School marching band is something of a family affair. That’s because his son, Henry Hawkins, and daughter, Emma Hawkins, play the trombone and tuba, respectively. Emma also is the school’s drum major.

This year’s Struthers band has a record number of members, he added.

For its part, the band performed under the theme “The Greatest Showman,” named after the 2017 musical thriller starring Hugh Jackman and Zac Efron.

Hawkins and those under his direction likely will be on a high note next spring, because they were invited on a trip in April to Dollywood Park & Resort in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.

Jack Zocolo, the Canfield-based Educational Service Center of Eastern Ohio’s director of business operations and human resources, noted that the band show was not a competition, but an opportunity for the students to showcase their talents.

His agency was at Thursday’s performances largely to provide encouragement and support, Zocolo said, adding that the high schools’ cheerleaders performed Wednesday in the grandstand.

Earlier, the students participated in summer band camps to practice and prepare for Thursday’s performances, as well as for this year’s high school football games across the region, Zocolo said.

The underlying idea also is “to get the crowd excited for the school year and the football season,” he added.

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