WHEELING PARK HIGH SCHOOL

It may look easy twirling a flag in front of the marching band, but that flag is heavy, according to Wheeling Park High School band director Pat Garrett. It weighs even more when it is raining and the material gets wet, he said. There are 12 teenage girls carrying the flags for Wheeling Park. “The girls have to be in shape,” Garrett said. They have to be able to move the flag. “People going to get a hot dog don’t think about what’s going on out there. It’s extremely physical. There’s a lot of upper body strength involved.” He believes that’s why the flag line isn’t larger. “The other girls figured out that there’s a lot more work involved than they could put in,” Garrett said. “They couldn’t deal with the body stress. “It’s not like it’s a pom pom line.” He noted the band has “some unbelievably committed ladies” twirling its flags. Training begins in late April. “On the first day I look at the girls and say ‘Do you have a life?’” Garrett said. “ I tell them if you do, give it to us. We take up every ounce of their free time. We allow time to sleep and eat. “When they decide to be in band, they are part of the band. They give their life away.” Funding is a problem for the band as a whole, he noted. The band isn’t funded by Ohio County Schools, and must rely on its band boosters to raise needed money for band music, instruction and travel. The band budget is $60,000 a year, according to Garrett, and this affects the flag line in a big way.