AHS Band to March in Washington DC
Independence Day Parade
by Joan Ibarra with Information from Debe Miller
June 25, 2008
AHS Band members can be heard and seen practicing to march in the Independence Day Parade in Washington DC.
After two weeks of practicing and many
months of fundraising, the Alliance High School Marching Band is in
its final preparations for its trip to Washington, D.C. Every
four years our band has the opportunity to march in Washington,
D.C., in the annual Fourth of July Parade.
The band starts its preparations two years ahead of this with fundraising going exclusively toward this trip. Each student and sponsor is responsible for their own account balances. We will leave from Denver International Airport on July 2 and fly to Washington.
This is a once in a lifetime trip for many of our young people. They will see sights that before now have only been observed in pictures and movies. Some of the things that will be viewed are the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, the Viet Nam Memorial, and Arlington National Cemetery where we will view the gravesite of President John F. Kennedy, his brother Robert F. Kennedy and the memorial established to the Shuttle Challenger. We will also view the Tomb of the Unknowns, where our major and majorettes will lay a wreath, and then we will observe the changing of the guard ceremony. There are many other sites that can be viewed and each bus will have the opportunity to select other sites to see.
This year we are fortunate enough to be able to go inside the Capitol building for a special tour that has been arranged by Congressman Adrian Smith for our group. This is something that is rare to see, and we are honored to be able to see it.
After marching in the Parade on the 4th, the band will watch the magnificent fireworks display from the Mall. The next morning, our buses will head for New York City where we will see the Statue of Liberty, go to the top of the Empire State Building, view the Ground Zero site and take a water/boat tour of Manhattan.
After these whirlwind days, we will head for
the airport and head home on July 6th. This is
truly a once in a lifetime trip for our young people and the
Rischling family should be thanked many times over for giving our
band this wonderful opportunity. Another large thank you goes
not only to the individuals who helped raise the funds during our
fundraising events, but to the corporations and individuals who so
generously donated money to our cause.
America's National Independence Day Parade takes place annually on July 4th at 11:45 am in Washington, D.C., on Constitution Avenue from 7th to 17th Street before a street audience of hundreds of thousands of spectators. The Parade consists of invited bands, fife and drum corps, floats, military and specialty units, giant balloons, equestrian, drill teams, VIP's, national dignitaries, and celebrity participants. The Parade is a major national event which seeks to draw the attention of Americans to the real meaning for the holiday. It is a patriotic, flag-waving, red white and blue celebration of America's birthday!
The Parade is co-hosted by the National Park Service and
produced by Diversified Events, which is under contract to the
National Park Service.
Participating bands are invited based on recommendations
from each state's Governor's office. Other times these
recommendations come from a state's music educators office or other
music education organizations at the governor's request.
Representation from all parts of the United States is the goal
of the Parade National Selection Committee. Bands must submit a
video recording, photos, and biographical information detailing
experience, honors, past adjudication results, festival ratings,
etc. The deadline for band applications is January 15th of the year
of the parade the band is applying to participate in, and bands are
notified of their acceptance no later than February 15th of the
same year. Marching bands are selected on the basis of overall
quality, as well as geographical, ethnic and stylistic diversity.
It is the annual goal of the parade organizers to have at least one
band or unit represent each of the 50 states of the union.
AHS Band to March in Washington DC
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