WASHINGTON, D.C. — Students from R.C. Edwards Middle School and Gettys Middle School traveled to Washington, D.C., over the weekend for Monday’s 57th presidential inauguration.

Eighty-five members of the R.C. Edwards Festival Band, along with 25 chaperones, left for the nation’s capital last Thursday.
The festival band is an auditioned ensemble selected from more than 200 band students that make up the band program at R.C. Edwards.

“The band is once again looking forward to representing the School District of Pickens County and the State of South Carolina in the Presidential Inaugural Festival,” Edwards band director Daniel Marsh said before the trip.

The Edwards band finished with a gold award at the Presidential Inaugural Heritage Music Festival competition in Baltimore, Md.
Following the competition, the Edwards students joined other schools from across the country at their very own inaugural ball and awards ceremony at the BWI Marriot Ball Room.

In addition, the Gettys Middle School history club left on Saturday to witness in person the inauguration of President Barack Obama for his second term.

In addition to the performance aspects of the trip, the band and history club members had time to enjoy monuments, museums, and a tour of the United States Capitol building, and witnessed the presidential inauguration and Inaugural Parade firsthand.