Veronica Pahomova cartoonist
Marching Band was honorably visited by the representatives of the London New Year’s Day parade on Friday, Feb. 27, 2014. After a long flight from London, executive director Robert Bone and former Lord Mayor of Westminster Duncan Sans conveyed a formal invitation for the Marching Band to perform at London’s 2016 New Years Day Parade.
“This was definitely an honor,” band director Bill Bradbury said. “It was nice to hear that our last visit and performance was well received and that they’re definitely welcoming us to come back and perform.”
After the band performed a few musical pieces that went along with the event, Bone and Sans presented Bradbury with the official invitation. Later, they exchanged friendly gifts with both Bradbury and, calling a student up for the first time, head drum major Cameron Flagel.
Flagel was unexpectedly called up, and with anxious, trembling feet, stood next to the former Lord Mayor of Westminster and accepted his gift of cufflinks and an umbrella.
“When he said, ‘Drum major, please come up here’, I got really scared but super excited, but I ran up there,” Flagel said. “I was trying to say, ‘Thank you thank you’ but no words would come out of my mouth.”
Though the marching band was invited in 2013 to perform at the very same event, it gives Bradbury an initiative to make next year’s performance even better.
“This encourages us to be as good, but even better than last time to just represent the school, program and the city,” Bradbury said. “I’m definitely motivated for improvement.”
Bradbury and the whole band felt greatly honored to not only be in the presence of foreign people of such great importance, but to also receive something as astounding as an invitation to their city’s annual, world-wide broadcasted event.
“The band is the unsung hero a lot of the times,” trombonist Cole Plante said. “Getting recognized like this is pretty incredible and, in all honesty, is probably one of the highest things you could do as a marching band. Especially since we’re traveling across the world, representing our city, our state, and even our country.”