Northeast Mississippi Community College

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NEMCC Showband from Tigerland triples its Christmas cheer

Northeast's marching band set to perform in Corinth, Booneville and Ripley holiday parades

by Michael H. Miller

BOONEVILLE, Miss. -- (12/01/2022) — After the global COVID-19 pandemic stole the joy of Christmas from the Showband from Tigerland at Northeast Mississippi Community College in 2020, Northeast director of bands Bryan Mitchell has been determined to make sure that the 250-person marching band brings as much holiday cheer to the college's five-county service area for the Christmas season.

In 2021, the Showband from Tigerland returned to the Christmas holiday parade route with a heart three times its normal size as the Northeast marching band participated in the City of Booneville's Whoville in Booneville Christmas Parade, and now, the Showband from Tigerland is hitting the road once again with three Christmas parades on its holiday schedule.

Northeast's Showband from Tigerland returns to the City of Corinth's Christmas Parade for a Fairytale Christmas as the marching band follows the traditional parade route through downtown Corinth on Saturday, December 3 at 5 p.m.

Christmas cheer does not stop there, as the Northeast marching band is slated for three parades in four days at the end of the Fall 2022 semester.

Just two days after the City of Corinth's Fairytale parade, the Showband from Tigerland returns home to the City of Booneville's Christmas Parade on Monday, December 5 at 6 p.m. and helps carry participants on a trip aboard the Polar Express as the marching band joins the parade route from the Booneville Church of Christ parking lot and follows the route down Second Street and into downtown Booneville for one of their longest trips of the season.

Northeast wraps up its 2022 holiday parade schedule one night after its trip on the Polar Express with the City of Ripley's Superhero-themed Christmas parade on Tuesday, December 6, through downtown Ripley.

While the band is only doing three Christmas parades this year, Mitchell said that the Showband from Tigerland has plans to re-join parades in each of the college's five-county service area of Alcorn, Prentiss, Tippah, Tishomingo and Union counties in the future.

Northeast's Showband from Tigerland is one of the college's most prominent organizations and serves as a social ambassador for the college.

With over 250 members, the Northeast marching band performs its pre-game and halftime shows at every Northeast home football game, at Meet the Tigers and all pep rallies, Northeast NOW recruitment events, plus many more functions throughout the year.

One of the marching band's most significant recruitment events is the Northeast Regional Marching Band Championships, held on the first Saturday in October. During the 2021 event, approximately 30 bands competed with over 35 marching performances that helped bring 18,000 people to the City of Hospitality.

Northeast's 2022 version of the Northeast Regional Marching Band Championships saw nearly 35 marching bands perform at Tiger Stadium during a 14-hour event.

Members of the Northeast Showband from Tigerland continue the long-standing tradition of participating in multiple Fine Arts groups at the college. Members can be seen in the college's Symphonic Band, Concert Band, Jazz Band, as members of the Pom Squad, Campus Country and the Indoor Winter Guard, as well as members of the pep band for basketball games or lending their talents to other Fine Arts activities during the spring semester.

Northeast marching band alumni have gone on to four-year colleges and universities using the work ethic the Showband from Tigerland instilled into them and have taken their passion and desire into their professional careers as band directors, music instructors and pillars of their communities.

Auditions for the Northeast Showband from Tigerland occur on Saturday, April 1, 2023, across the college's Booneville campus. Auditions for Tiger Dancer. Feature twirler and drum major will happen in the Northeast band room inside Hines Hall. Tiger Dancer auditions are set for 9 a.m. until 2 p.m.; feature twirler will occur from 3 p.m. until 3:30 p.m., and drum major will go from 3:30 p.m. until 5 p.m.

Audition for guard will happen in the Bonner Arnold Coliseum on the same day from 8 a.m. until noon.

For those that cannot make it to the Saturday, April 1, 2023 audition, a make-up audition is set for Saturday, April 15, 2023.

Instrumentalist auditions can be set for any time throughout the school year by contacting Northeast Director of Bands Bryan Mitchell at bpmitchell@nemcc.edu, assistant director of bands Dr. Jason Beghtol at jwbeghtol@nemcc.edu, or Dr. Amy Longley at amlangley@nemcc.edu.

Scholarships are available to those selected to the Northeast Showband from Tigerland; a minimum scholarship of $1,825 will be awarded to drum majors, instrumentalists, members of the guard and feature twirlers. A minimum scholarship of $912.50 will be awarded to those on the Tiger Dancer kickline for the fall semester, and an identical scholarship will be given to those chosen to be members of the Northeast Pom Squad in the spring semester.

--NEMCC--

Information about Northeast Mississippi Community College

Northeast Mississippi Community College, located in Booneville, Mississippi, is continually moving forward.

In the spring of 2020, Northeast became just one of four community colleges in the world to reach the prestigious Apple Distinguished School designation. NEMCC was the recipient of the Ellucian Impact Award for 2020 that recognizes the college's advancements in technology and is the only school in the nation to receive the award with the second award going to the University of Greenwich in London and Kent, United Kingdom.

Northeast has been named one of the top colleges and universities in Mississippi and was recognized by the Mississippi Business Journal as the Healthiest Workplace in Mississippi as it pertains to colleges and universities.

In addition to being one of the top colleges and universities in the nation, OnlineColleges.com recognized Northeast as the top school in the state of Mississippi for online education out of all colleges and universities, including four-year colleges and universities.

ZIPPIA has honored Northeast as the top community college in Mississippi in preparing students for the workforce and Northeast became the first college or university to offer a Z-degree (zero textbook cost) degree in the state of Mississippi as well.

Northeast athletics can also boast that it is home to a new ultramodern baseball and softball facility and currently holds the record for largest video boards for both sports in the community college ranks in the state.

The Chronicle of Higher Education has designated the college as one of its 'Best Places to Work For,' and CollegeChoice.net has named Northeast a Top 25 Community and Junior College in the country while The Center for Digital Education has recognized Northeast as a Top 10 Digital Community College in the nation.

Campus Labs recently named Northeast as one of two educational institutions in the nation as a Campus Labs Trailblazer Award honoree. The Campus Labs Trailblazer Award is based on the college creating a culture of assessment on campus through Campus Labs Planning to increase institutional adoption, focus on continuous improvement, and closing the loop in the institutional assessment priorities.

For more information about Northeast Mississippi Community College, visit http://www.nemcc.edu.

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Northeast Mississippi Community College's Showband from Tigerland marching band is scheduled to perform in three Christmas/holiday parades this year.

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