• The most recent Okemos High School Spring Concert included a piece of music very important to Okemos.

UPDATE: OKEMOS - Community member Eric Stelljes had questioned his social group on Facebook regarding the origin of Okemos High School's fight song.

A man from Boston responded after some personal research, and soon it was found that the high school had an Alma Mater that had been lost for years, as well as the fight song belonging to a larger march called "America's Sweethearts."

At the Spring Concert this past weekend, the Okemos High School freshman band played the song in its entirety for the first time in over 60 years.

"To hear that song in its original form, in America's Sweethearts was just really eye opening to the kids," said mark Stice, the High School's band director.

"And at first, when I passed it out, I just said, 'let's sight read this march,' and we got to the trio section, and you could see their eyes light up. And some of them actually started to laugh, and pretty soon, we all just stopped, and I said,'this is our fight song,'" he said.

In addition to America's Sweethearts, Okemos High School's Alma Mater, "Proud Chieftains," was pieced together from old books and records and played at the concert by the school's concert band.

After a stellar performance by those two bands, Stice's symphonic wind ensemble ended the concert with a fantastic set of songs including two original pieces from 2011 and 2012.

ORIGINAL STORY: OKEMOS - This year's Okemos High School Spring Concert as exceptionally important to the history of Okemos. Find out why by watching Meridian Magazine.