Nearly three decades after the Hollow Rock-Bruceton Central Marching Tigers first captured a state championship title, their director has been reunited with a piece of that history.
On Thursday morning, September 18, Hollow Rock Director of Public Works Branon Phillips surprised Band Director Keith Breeden with the original highway sign that once stood at the edge of town, honoring the band’s 1994-95 Class A State Championship.
The sign was removed to make room for a new one celebrating the band’s latest state title, earned during the 2024-25 season.
Back in 1995, Breeden spoke of the original sign during the band’s banquet ceremony.
“This community has always shown such strong support for our students,” Breeden said in 1995. “Every night as I leave Hollow Rock, I look in my rearview mirror to read that great sign, and every morning as I enter Hollow Rock, I read that great sign. It reminds me that I have some of the greatest students in the world.”
Now, after a second state title thirty years later, a new sign will soon be erected at Hollow Rock’s town line.
Throwback: The 1994–95 Marching Tigers Season
The 1994–95 Marching Tigers were a force throughout West Tennessee.
In addition to winning the Class A State Competition, the band posted superior ratings in percussion, guard, and drum major.
They captured top honors at the Fish Fry parade, and again at the Strawberry Festival parade.
The band swept many categories and competitions throughout the region, including the Columbia and Hickman County invitationals.
Soon, the 1995 Marching Tigers will share real estate with the 2025 Marching Tigers on a brand new sign at the border of Hollow Rock, continuing to remind Breeden how far his program has come.
