Sticking with the “blue” theme (last year’s was Ice Blue), the Otsego Marching Band is learning this year’s show “Ocean Blue”. A traditional sea chantey was a suggestion for director Mitch Piersma and he says adding more songs with a nautical theme was fairly natural. Sea chanteys will be "To the Word," "The Wellerman," "What Shall We Do with the Drunken Sailor" and "The Sailor's Hornpipe."  The classical songs for the show are "Overture to the Flying Dutchman" by Richard Wagner and "Finlandia" by Jean Sibelius. Pop tunes are in the show as well. You’ll hear "My Heart will Go On" from the Titanic, "Come Sail Away" by Styx, and "Jaws" by John Williams. “There will be a few surprises and snippets from other tunes as well,” Piersma says. 

The show will portray adventures on the sea. About a third of the field will be covered with a tarp depicting a picture of the bottom of an ocean. “We want to give the audience a feeling of being out at sea, which of course lends itself to a lot of special effects and moves,” he says. 

There are 96 members in this year’s band. They are young; 66 members are freshmen and sophomores. “I am looking forward to seeing what this year’s group can do. There is a lot of talent spread across all grades.”