Nick Williams was born and raised in Murphysboro, and even after all these years, he says he still gets chills every time he marches down Walnut Street with the hometown band.

Now, as director of the Murphysboro High School Crimson Express, Nick gets to help another generation experience that same hometown pride.

There’s something special about the hometown band marching through the hometown parade. The students change, the years pass, but that moment on Walnut Street remains—another Apple Festival tradition passed from one generation to the next.

Nick also takes us behind the scenes of Drums at Appletime, one of the festival’s most beloved traditions.

Thank you, Nick, for sharing your Murphysboro Apple Festival story—and for marching to the beat of our traditions.