Nearly 5 million people will see Oxford High School’s marching band on St. Patrick’s Day.The Yellow Jacket Marching Band will file past about 1.5 million spectators along New York City’s Fifth Avenue. More than 3 million more will watch the city’s St. Patrick’s Day parade on television.
“You tell them; you hope they understand the magnitude,” said Chris Pennington, the band’s director. “For some of them, it won’t hit them until they’re on the city’s streets. Children in Oxford, Ala., can hardly know what to expect.”
To help prepare the 180 students for the 2.5-mile parade route, Pennington brought the band and color guard to the Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday morning, where they marched around part of the race track’s perimeter.
“This is the longest we’ve ever marched,” said Regan Miller, 14, a ninth-grade trombone player. “Most of our parades are just around the town square in Oxford.”
For most of the students, it will be their first time to such a big city.
“I’ve never been farther north than Kentucky,” said Tyler Young, 15, an eighth-grade trumpet player. “Just to march in the parade will be cool, but we’ll get to see the city too.”
After a 16- to 18-hour bus ride March 16, the band will march on the morning of March 17. They’ll have that night and the next two days to tour the city before coming back home March 20.
Their itinerary includes visits to the Empire State Building, Times Square, Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty and Ground Zero, the site of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. They’ll also see a Broadway production of “Beauty and the Beast.”
Assistant Band Director Will Campbell said that’s part of the whole experience.
“It’s a great opportunity,” he said. “Something like this doesn’t come along very often for this band. Any time you can go somewhere that’s culturally different and do some sightseeing, it’s a great thing.”
Oxford’s band is the first from Alabama to participate in New York’s St. Patrick’s Day parade, which marks its 244th anniversary this year. This year’s parade includes more than 166,000 participants and 63 marching bands from North America.
The Yellow Jackets will perform “Alabamy Bound” and “Alabama Jubilee,” in addition to a percussion sequence.
“We’ll do them as many times as it takes in 2.5 miles,” Campbell said.
Campbell said the band received its invitation to New York in early September. The parade committee reviewed an audio and video tape from one of Oxford’s competitions last year and asked them to perform.
The students have held two fundraisers and have been practicing ever since, including an extra rehearsal after school once a week.
The parents have been happy to help.
Ginger Bunn, mother of Addie, 13, an eighth-grade trumpet player, said about 60 parents will go on the trip as chaperones.
“I’m used to flying on my trips,” Bunn said. “So I’ll be using my iPod and carrying a lot to read on the bus.”
Saundra Carter, mother of Katelyn, 13, an eighth-grade flautist, said the experience will be worth it for the students.
“It’s been a lot of moms and dads working extra hours,” Carter said. “But it will be great for these kids.”
