The Westbrook High School Marching Band is honored Saturday with a parade through the city’s downtown. Robert Lowell / American Journal

WHS Marching
Band earns bronze

The Westbrook High School Marching Band received a parade Saturday through downtown Westbrook after winning a bronze medal Nov. 3 at the national competition.

Krystle Smith, wife of Band Director Kyle Smith, said Westbrook finished third in a competition with 59 bands in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

The band previously earned the gold medal in a Maine competition, earning a national competition invite.

A large turnout Saturday in the parade on Main Street on a cold day greeted the band and members tossed candy to kids along the sidewalk. Public Safety vehicles with sirens blaring and lights flashing led the parade.

50 years ago

The American Journal reported on Nov. 13, 1974, that Mary Ellen Cote had completed basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, and was studying electronics at Chanute Air Force Base in Rantoul, Illinois. Cote, daughter of Raymond Cote of Church Street, was a graduate of Westbrook High School in 1971.