The Mighty Sound of Maryland Marching Band was in the 2013
Inaugural parade! It was a great opportunity and a memorable experience.
The weeks leading up to it perhaps were some of the most stressful times:
we didn’t know if our new uniforms were going to come in time, and making sure
that everyone completed their security clearance was a communication nightmare.
Thankfully, all that got done.
When we were practicing the music for the parade, we learned about the long itinerary that was going to be our day. Our Director of Bands, Dr. Sparks, said that, “We will be compliant or we will be shot. Or worse, we will be compliant or will not be allowed to participate. We either do it right … or we get shot. Because we will run into a military man or woman who is armed because we wandered off.” As crazy and silly as that sounds, Dr. Sparks made his point about us being on our A-game. And oh baby, we were.
The day of the parade, we got up and left early from College Park. We were provided food, and we rode the nice new Terp buses to Washington DC. While there, there was a lot of waiting. We were warned of this by our fabulous arranger, Tom Holtz, who had performed in the inaugural parade five times before with the Marine Corps band. He was not kidding - we waited and waited and waited. It was a good thing we were with friends who we all know and love, because otherwise, it might have been a boring day. Well, it was mostly boring. Parade staff lost our sousaphones for thirty minutes, and we met Frederick Douglass.
The weather was beautiful, and when we finally stepped off at 3:30pm … we waited some more. We counted more than thirty snipers, and took several of pictures. Someone even claimed they saw Batman. When we finally started marching, we weren’t allowed to truck, but we certainly added some Maryland Pride into our performance! We played ‘Talking Out the Side of Your Neck’, ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’, and a drum cadence to which we danced to! :)
Marching the parade went by fast - it only took thirty minutes. The Color Guard’s choreography happened to align to make it look like that they were waving as they passed Obama in the stands. Everyone else was playing the ‘Washington Post March,’ but there were several of rubber-neckers because Obama, Biden, and their families were right there less than 20 feet from them.
This was an amazing experience, and I am glad that the seniors were able to wear the new uniforms at least once before they graduate. I had a lot of fun personally, and enjoyed being with the people I care about most doing what I love the most. I definitely suggest that your bands do something like this because it was a great experience and something worth always remembering.
When we were practicing the music for the parade, we learned about the long itinerary that was going to be our day. Our Director of Bands, Dr. Sparks, said that, “We will be compliant or we will be shot. Or worse, we will be compliant or will not be allowed to participate. We either do it right … or we get shot. Because we will run into a military man or woman who is armed because we wandered off.” As crazy and silly as that sounds, Dr. Sparks made his point about us being on our A-game. And oh baby, we were.
The day of the parade, we got up and left early from College Park. We were provided food, and we rode the nice new Terp buses to Washington DC. While there, there was a lot of waiting. We were warned of this by our fabulous arranger, Tom Holtz, who had performed in the inaugural parade five times before with the Marine Corps band. He was not kidding - we waited and waited and waited. It was a good thing we were with friends who we all know and love, because otherwise, it might have been a boring day. Well, it was mostly boring. Parade staff lost our sousaphones for thirty minutes, and we met Frederick Douglass.
The weather was beautiful, and when we finally stepped off at 3:30pm … we waited some more. We counted more than thirty snipers, and took several of pictures. Someone even claimed they saw Batman. When we finally started marching, we weren’t allowed to truck, but we certainly added some Maryland Pride into our performance! We played ‘Talking Out the Side of Your Neck’, ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’, and a drum cadence to which we danced to! :)
Marching the parade went by fast - it only took thirty minutes. The Color Guard’s choreography happened to align to make it look like that they were waving as they passed Obama in the stands. Everyone else was playing the ‘Washington Post March,’ but there were several of rubber-neckers because Obama, Biden, and their families were right there less than 20 feet from them.
This was an amazing experience, and I am glad that the seniors were able to wear the new uniforms at least once before they graduate. I had a lot of fun personally, and enjoyed being with the people I care about most doing what I love the most. I definitely suggest that your bands do something like this because it was a great experience and something worth always remembering.
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NED District Treasurer, Jess
Post on the left and NED District
Secretary, Zara Simpson ... Check out our new
uniforms!
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Beta Eta sisters, Ivania
Morales on the left
and Ann Michelle Bolabo on the right
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From left to right ... KKPsi
Prospect, Ben Ames, Michael Gregory,
BH Sister Patricia DaSilva, and BH Sister
Ivania Morales
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University of Maryland, College Park
Tau Beta Sigma-Beta Eta
