Today Show co-host Savannah Guthrie introduced the band at 10:12 a.m. by quoting Snyder: “They emote sounds from the delicate and graceful to the deep and majestic.”
Marching into Herald Square, the 274-member band launched into a lively 75-second tribute to American composer Aaron Copland, then exited to the rousing strains of “Fight On,” the Lakota West High School fight song.
After countless hours of rehearsal, both in West Chester Twp. and New York City, actually performing in the parade was “an amazing adventure,” Snyder said.
“The kids were just jazzed by the energy of the crowd the entire 2-mile route,” he said.
That route started at 9:15 a.m. at 81st Street and Central Park West and ended up being “a quick hour and a half,” Snyder said.
Callie Goodpaster, a 17-year-old senior and a color guard leadership member, said the entire experience was “a bit overwhelming.”
“I knew this was going to be my last show with the marching band because I’m graduating this year, so I was really just trying to appreciate it because there was just so much going on,” she said. “I was trying to take it all in.”
The marching band — one of the largest in Southwest Ohio — was the only southwest Ohio high school band invited to the Thanksgiving Day Parade. They also have been invited to the 2015 Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, Calif.
Sandy Hans, who watched from reserved seating at 46th Street and Sixth Avenue, said it was awesome seeing her daughter, 15-year-old sophomore and mellophone player Megan Kelley, and her band mates walk down the streets of Manhattan.
“They sounded great, they looked great,” Hans said. “All those hours of practicing, starting at band camp, it just all came together.”
The parade was simply “amazing” for five-year band volunteer Jeff Keiser, who showed up at 7 a.m. to his reserved seating at West 68th Street and Central Park West to watch his 17-year-old daughter and flute player, Kelsey Keiser, perform.
“We sat there for two hours in the cold but it was worth it,” he said. “It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. We wouldn’t have missed it for the world.”
Linda Ellison watched as her son, 16-year-old junior and mellophone player Erik Ellison, marched past her seats at Central Park and Seventh Avenue.
“I thought it was just great,” Ellison said. “I was just so proud to see him marching in the parade. It’s not something that every kid gets to do in their life. I think it’s an experience he’ll remember forever.”
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