Wood County schools earned high scores at the Region IV UIL 3-A marching contest Oct. 23.

Mineola and Winnsboro bands received a first division, Quitman and Alba-Golden received a second division score.

For Mineola’s Yellowjacket Band, this year’s first division score was its sixth consecutive.

“Their performance was really outstanding. It was great and the kids nailed it and were the talk of the contest,” Mineola Band Director Chris Brannan said. “Very proud of our students here at Mineola and the support they receive from the school and the community.”

Mineola drumline will be going to the Lone Star Classic Competition at Marcus High School in Dallas on Nov. 10.

Quitman Band Director Michael Barron believed his band performed well at the contest.

“We are a young group and a group trying to change the culture,” Barron said.  “The rating isn’t quite what we wanted but the band understands the music we played on the field this year is way more active and intense than years past.”

On Nov. 10, the Quitman band will go to AT&T Stadium in Arlington to march at U.S. Bands contest.  

Alba-Golden Band Director Mitch Boeckman was impressed with his band’s performance.

“I was very pleased with their performance, as they fixed a great many of the issues we’d been targeting in the weeks leading up to the contest,” Alba-Golden Band Director Mitch Boeckman said. “Executing a balanced sound, in tune, while marching is especially challenging in a small band such as ours, and in my opinion, they rose to the challenge.”

Alba-Golden is finished with contests for this season. The band performed at the Golden Sweet Potato Festival Parade and they are set to perform at the Alba Fall Festival parade and the Mineola Veteran’s Day parade.