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Oak Mountain High School hosted its 25th annual Eagle Day at Heardmont Park on Saturday, Aug. 12. (Reporter photos/Alec Etheredge)

By NOAH WORTHAM | Staff Writer

NORTH SHELBY – The Oak Mountain Eagles hosted their annual Eagle Day on the newly-renovated turf and track at Heardmont Park on Saturday, Aug. 12 as excitement builds for the start of the 2023 football season.

“It went great,” said Andrew Gunn, principal of Oak Mountain High School. “We’re so proud of the people—even in spite of the delays people were able to come back and participate, be a part of the program. It just kind shows the commitment that our community has (for) our students.”

This year was a special occasion as it marked 25 years that the school has hosted this annual festivity.

“It’s just a great way to showcase our student athletes and get some of our youth athletes and cheerleaders involved in the program,” Gunn said. “You never know what to expect in terms of weather or the heat, but all things considered, it was just a great event to bring the community back together as we’re all getting back to school.”

Eagle Day began with a parade of athletes in which all the Eagles sports teams came and were represented and introduced to the crowd. Afterward, cheerleaders and athletes from sixth through 12th grade joined together alongside the band for a community pep rally.

During the Eagle Day celebration, head coach Shane McComb expressed his gratitude to those in attendance.

“Thank you for joining us on the 25th anniversary of Eagle Day,” he said. “We came here to build successful programs from the youth to high school and that’s what we’re going to do. I want to ask and thank everybody for their continued support of Oak Mountain football and high school athletics.”

During Eagle day, the OMHS Spirit of Cahaba band showcased this year’s half-time show entitled, “Treasured: Songs of Fortune and Glory.”

“We did our entire half time show and (were) able to perform it at Heardmont for the first time—this was kind of a monumental performance for us because it’s the first time we’ve played on the new turf,” Associate Director of Bands Travis Bender said. “The students, both the band members and the athletes, were really excited to get out there and experience that for the first time.”

Alongside Eagle festivities like the band performance of varsity scrimmage, attendees were also able to enjoy vendors, food trucks and concessions.

Bender expressed his gratitude for the community’s support of OMHS.

“Speaking on behalf of the coaching stuff, Coach McComb, the cheer staff, coach Watkins, myself and all the band staff—we really appreciate the community’s support and backing,” he said. “We hope that they’ll come to every game this season and continue to support the Eagles and make Heardmont Park the loudest stadium in Birmingham.”

Gunn expressed his excitement for the coming year at OMHS.

“We’re just super excited for the upcoming school year, upcoming athletic seasons just to see what our kids can do and how they’ll represent us and the school (and) the community appearing in competition—both athletics and our fine arts,” he said.

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