Brittany Morrill thought it was a joke when she saw the banner welcoming the Blue Springs High School Golden Regiment Marching Band to the 2010 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
“We were sitting there and couldn’t quite read what it said,” said the freshman flute player. “It just really hasn’t hit me yet that we are going. It is an amazing opportunity, and one that I am very excited about.”
The announcement was made Sunday at the Golden Regiment’s end-of-season band concert at Blue Springs High School. This is the second time in five years that the band has been invited to attend the iconic parade. The last time was in 2005.
“It is really an indescribable feeling,” said director of bands Tim Allshouse. “This is America’s parade. It’s the world’s parade and a longtime holiday tradition. It is part of our culture and to be part of something like that is amazing and humbling.”
Started in 1924 by Macy’s employees, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade chooses six high school marching bands to perform each year. There is also a five-year wait before a band can apply again for parade entry. Eligible to apply again for the 2010 parade, Allshouse submitted the application this year, only so that parade officials would not forget the band. He said never in his wildest dreams did he ever think the band would be chosen again so soon.
“Usually, there is a 10- to 15-year waiting before you are given a bid back,” he said. “I honestly didn’t think anything would come of it. I just wanted to keep our name fresh in their minds.”
Junior mellophone player Kaitlyn Hamman said she is thrilled to make the trip to New York City next fall. She said at first she could not believe what she was reading, but as soon as it registered, she could not contain her excitement.
“It is definitely a privilege to be invited to this parade at all, but after five years, wow,” she said. “My brother went in 2005 and told me about all the great things he did. I know that it is going to be just as much this time. What a way to spend my senior year.”
Senior Deziray Meins had another reaction to the Macy’s Parade announcement – frustration. Considered one of the top parades for a marching band, it is an opportunity many want to have. An eighth grader when the Golden Regiment went to the Macy’s parade in 2005, she missed the opportunity and as a 2010 graduate, she will be a year too late. However, Meins said her four years at Blue Springs High School came with its own opportunities – performances at the 2009 Tournament of Roses Parade and at the Inaugural Parade of President Barack Obama, both within weeks of each other.
“I wish I could go, but I really hope they do good,” she said. “I really didn’t think we would be invited back again so soon. That says a lot about our band. It is exciting to know that I will be able to watch them on television next year.”
