Members of the Bishop Heelan Marching Band are sporting new uniforms on the field this year, with the help of a $15,000 grant from the Gilchrist Foundation. Several fundraisers also helped raise additional money to replace 16-year-old band uniforms.

The new uniforms feature blue jackets and black pants with black and white vertical lines that increase the size of the performers on the field. In addition, metallic gold accents will reflect in stadium lights at night. The BHCS shield on the jacket represents all members of the Heelan School System.

Heelan Band Director James Kunz believes the mix of traditional and contemporary elements should keep the design sharp for years. A seven-member Heelan committee selected the new uniform from a nationally known band uniform company.

Our Heelan student musicians march while playing flutes; clarinets; alto, ​tenor and baritone saxophones; trumpets; mellophones; trombones; baritones; sousaphones (tubas); battery percussion and pit percussion (cymbals, a marimba, and bells.) The Marching Crusaders will compete in events in Marshall, Minn., Sioux City and Sheldon this year.