Resilience, teamwork, and commitment: the Marching Vikings launch their 2026 season
Updated: Sep 9
Tonight is the first home football game of the year, which means it’s also our first halftime show! Before everyone takes the field, we want to offer a heartfelt thank you to our HF band community, supporters, family, and friends.
This summer, Homewood and Flossmoor suffered a series of historic storms, including flooding and multiple tornadoes, and many of our staff, student musicians, and community members were deeply impacted. People suffered damage to their homes and property; hundreds of trees were damaged and destroyed; and thousands of residents were without power for days. On August 11, one of the tornadoes passed through the Homewood-Flossmoor High School campus, while our band staff and students sheltered together in the North gym. That storm closed campus and delayed the start of the school year by several days.
The closure meant that nearly all of our week-long band camp was cancelled, leaving our student musicians and staff hustling to pivot and meet the moment. Without camp, our staff, students, and parent volunteers have had to work harder than ever before to reschedule rehearsals; learn pregame routines, new music, and marching drill; complete uniform fittings; recruit volunteers; and so much more.
While tonight’s band performances may look a little different than they normally would (those uniform fittings, for one, are not quite done!), one thing has remained consistent throughout all of this:
Our commitment to excellence and our commitment to one another.
To our HF band students: We know this hasn’t been an easy start to the year, but — you got this. And to our Seniors, we know this has been an especially tough start to your final marching band season at HF, but we can’t wait to cheer you all on as you take the field together tonight for your first time as the 2026 Marching Vikings!
To Directors Whitlock and Cooper and all of our band support staff: Thank you, first and foremost, for keeping our students safe. Thank you for pivoting so gracefully under difficult circumstances and for working so hard behind the scenes to make tonight happen. And thank you for going above and beyond for our student musicians all month despite the fact that most of you also live here in the community and have been dealing with the storm aftermath in your personal lives, as well.
Thank you to our parent volunteers who stepped up to support tonight's game, especially those volunteering with us for the first time! We promise, most years are a little less hectic than this
And, finally, thank you to our school leaders and administrative teams and staff, as well as everyone at the Villages of Homewood and Flossmoor for your ongoing support of our community through this recovery.
Let’s go, Vikings!