THE ECHO

By Sunny Smyth // Design Editor • Illustration By Sunny Smyth

At around 11:50 p.m. Saturday night, local authorities received calls surrounding a
robbery at Avon High School. Upon arriving at the local institute, Police Chief Fred Dome became witness to one of the oddest attempted robberies he’d ever seen. According to recent claims, two unauthorized individuals broke into the music department of the school and began raiding the trophy cases of the band room and its surrounding hallways. These trophies and awards belong to the Avon Marching Band Black and Gold, which is owner of six Bands of America National titles, with three of their titles being won back-to-back over the past three years. Their accolades don’t end there, as they also played at the Macy’s Day Parade in 2024, and have won ISSMA State finals a generous number of times. With the band’s hard work, they have amassed hundreds (if not millions) of trophies and awards.

The most interesting thing about the occurrence? Not the number of trophies the
band has won. The strange thing about the heist is that the thieves did not manage to steal anything. Upon examining the scene, Chief Dome found four burlap sacks with dollar signs printed on them, but all of them had tremendous rips in the bottom, most likely due to the weight of the supposed bounty. The three latest Grand National trophies were found stuck in the Band doorway; the size and weight of the accomplishments the band had achieved gluing them to the floor.

Upon further examination, the Police Chief found the thieves buried under a pile of
blue ribbons in one of the practice rooms. After their arrest, the burglars were examined for injury, with both showing signs of stress on their spines and arms, most likely due to the weight of the trophies they had tried to take. Both admitted to formulating the plan for the heist, with one of them giving the comment that “The awards are just so shiny, and I felt like if I could have one, I could feel accomplished too.” The police department denied any further statements. A court date is set for 2067, with both thieves expected to plead guilty.