to band practice at times and give his insight, even after he retired from teaching,” Sanders said
Beathea also mentioned that Fears had a solid relationship with him, especially when it came to the band’s overall performance.
“He would always call periodically to check on me and always after a big performance. If the band did poorly, you wouldn't hear a word from him, even if the band did sort-of up to par for the course… you ain’t gonna hear from Emery Fears,” Bethea said.
“But every performance that we did that was extraordinary, spectacular, or miraculous, he would always call. He called me the next morning after the Rose Parade. He was just excited, and it was for the first time he almost had a loss for words. The world seemed like a different place once he passed, he was a good guy, and everyone just loved him to death,” Bethea said.
“He created the narrative or the stamp on what the program is going to be about, the uniforms, the kind of look, the sound, and the name Spartan Legion,” Bethea said.
‘Until there's no more existence, his legacy lives on. Chief gave the band some great things to put in the vault before he left, the vault of great things we’ve done in our history, things that I put on the application for the Rose Parade,” Sanders said.
“Since I’ve become the head I've added our trip to the Rose Parade, and other national battles. I’ve added the Grammy project with EDM group Justice, and the Aspire TV show, to our vault. This is what keeps the band going, adding more to our vault.”
Sanders expresses how The Spartan Legion hopes to “Uphold the discipline, the musicianship, the comrade, the expressiveness of interpretation of music to the utmost marching style it has with the classic fair and to overall be a classy band,”Sanders said.
The Spartan Legion plans to continue to exist on the foundation the late Emery Fears had started and uphold the legacy that was founded by the late Emery Fears. As long as there is a “Legion” his legacy will live on.
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