Parades

[mello_laurel]

In 04, i marched with boston. The best parade had to be the Bristol parade. It was pouring and I was lucky enough to be on the "dance line". One of the girls gets this great idea to do one of our usual across the floors. She gets all excited and starts it off. She def. slipped on something and fell flat on the floor in the middle of the parade. One of the funniest moments ever. Between that, the rain, and everyone getting stuck under trees because the school buses were MIA... It was one of the best parades ever!

I was there too!! That parade was so much fun, we were hopping through puddles, and having a lovely time...

Although we soon came to the realization that the hijinx were probably a BAD idea (not that we wouldn't have gotten absolutely drenched from the rain), since later that evening we had a show up in Nashua, so we had to put our sopping-wet unis back on. Mmmm wet socks (it was the last day of our mini-tour).

We had fun at Bristol this past summer, too. We'd stop to play, and do the opening of our show. The entire hornline would go face the audience, and the soloists would go INTO the crowd and play for them. It was WAY too much fun for a parade. Although, I'm pretty sure every corps after us hated us because we kept stopping...sorry 'bout that, guys.

[crown_junkie]

I know in Bristol every year, we would run up to this frat house at the end shouting "play towards us! play towards us!" and we'd play whatever tune we had ridiculously loud. Then we'd continue to wild, possibly drunk, applause.

[up4479]

I love marching in drum corps. I hate parades! I've had a lot of experience over the years but the following is an example of why I hate parades. Its not pretty.

In the late 1960's, the I.C. Reveries went all out on the 4th of July. There were no contests in the Boston area back then so the units could all make some cash doing parades.

Here is a typical schedual we actually did once or twice. We did the whole schedual without the last stop several times. Get out a map if you need to. Milage is a close guess.

At the crack of dawn. Leave Fr. Brennan Hall, Revere, Mass.

8AM Step off for Beverly Farms parade. .75 miles around the village of Beverly Farms, Mass. (Part of Beverly)

back on the busses

10AM Step off for the Everett parade. 2 miles and lots of horses. Sun at your back the entire straight as an arrow parade route. 2 major hills, up and down. The largest Boston area parade for many years.

back on the busses.

1PM Step off for the Wakefield parade. 2+ miles in the middle of the day heat, more horses. (different route than todays version)

back on the busses.

Arrive back at Fr. Brennan Hall. Take a brake while still in uniform.

1 hour before dark. Step off from the hall to march to Paul Revere Stadium. Have lots of fireworks thrown at you. While at the stadium, do a full field show. March back to Fr. Brennan Hall. .75 mile round trip.

back on the busses.

Sometime well after dark. Step off for the Georgetown night parade. 1 mile. Watch fireworks. Finally take off uniforms. Eat carnival food. Go on canival rides.

back on the busses.

After 11PM. Arrive back at Fr. Brennan Hall. Go home.

Never again, thankfully! :sshh:

[Marianne]

I remember a couple....

Some small mountain town in Colorado. I used to remember the name of the town vividly, but I find I can't recall the name now. The parade went up one side of the double yellow lined street, and back down the other side of the double yellow line. Caused quite a clash with any entry that played music of any sort. But the worst encounter was when an equestrian unit met up with our drum line coming the other way. The horses were very unimpressed, and it was all their riders could do to keep the horses from bolting into the crowd.

Horse stuff of any kind in the street....name any parade. Of course we were always under the guidline that whatever was in the street you just marched through it. But then, we often mastered the technique of altering our step size at just the right moment. On one such moment, I altered my step size like a pro. Problem was, the girl behind me failed to do so, and upon encountering said pile, kicked a huge portion of it forward, up into the top of my boot. I spent the rest of the parade feeling that stuff squish and settle step by step into the depths of my boot.

Another parade. It was a day where I was feeling real good....on top of the world. I'd managed to psych myself into feeling like a veteran pro, and was gliding down the street taller and prouder than I'd ever been. Then I stepped in a pot hole. I took several flailing running steps forward as my body fought to keep from dropping to all fours. I managed to remain two-footed. But was never able to regain that tall proud feeling the rest of the parade.

And finally, coming home from a night time parade in Denver. Mom, a single mother with 4 daughters (two just turned teens, me at about age 10/11 and my little sis, just an infant) driving us home. A drunk driver runs a red light and broadsides us, totalling our car. The cops show up to take care of whatever it was they took care of, and dumped us off on a nearby street corner telling us they'd call someone in our family to come pick us up. I remember it being dark. And I remember hearing a nearby church bell ring off midnight. Seems like it took hours for our aunt to come get us. To this day I'm just dismayed that the cops would dump a lone woman with four young girls on a dark street corner in the middle of downtown Denver at midnight and just leave them there to wait for a family member to come pick them up.

[Jeff DeMello]

We (BD) were doing some zit parade in some podunk town around 1974 or 1975 (back in the days of high leg lift!)

I was marching next to Bonnie Ott ("the talented and beautiful Miss Bonnie Ott" ... sister of Jim Ott), and we were following a bunch of horses (you know what's coming!).

Well, the drum major (Dave Dugan) gave a "Mark Time, Mark" right when our rank was stepping into a BIG puddle of horse p*ss.

I (intentially ) kept up my high mark time, splashing Bonnie. She put down her horn, turned to me and yelled at me "What the f*ck are you doing ... STOP THAT!". I (and many others) couldn't help but break out laughing!

Luckally we weren't near people or judges!

[The Original El Guapo]

Wow, Im surprised no one has chimed in about the strangest parade the Kilties have done.................................................

Paddlock Lake, Wisconsin

Apparently this was their first ever Patriotic Parade. We were hired as the marching musical unit. They paid us pretty well for this parade. So we there and we are bussed to the start of the parade from the parking lot we were at. So there we were warming up waiting for the parade to start.

So far there was the cop car in front of us, a group of kids riding their patriotic themed bikes and the ambulance. That was the parade...lol

So we were like. Hey paid for a parade, they are going to get a parade.

So off we went. The parade route was pretty much made up on the spot by the cop who was in front of us. As we were marching along people were coming out of their houses wondering what the heck was going on. Many of them were excited and followed us. Some of them cut across the street to run the next street and see us again.

Then we hit a patch of the parade route that was nothing but forrest. The road was now gravel and going uphill. All this time we were laughing that we had more people in the parade than the people watching. So we played on to the trees. Well we finally made it to the end of the parade and noticed that all the people from the town were there.

So we gave them a stand still concert and they enjoyed that.

Every time we bring up the Paddlock Lake Parade we like to que the "Dueling Banjos" song.

[84BDsop]

We (BD) were doing some zit parade in some podunk town around 1974 or 1975 (back in the days of high leg lift!)

I was marching next to Bonnie Ott ("the talented and beautiful Miss Bonnie Ott" ... sister of Jim Ott), and we were following a bunch of horses (you know what's coming!).

Well, the drum major (Dave Dugan) gave a "Mark Time, Mark" right when our rank was stepping into a BIG puddle of horse p*ss.

I (intentially ) kept up my high mark time, splashing Bonnie. She put down her horn, turned to me and yelled at me "What the f*ck are you doing ... STOP THAT!". I (and many others) couldn't help but break out laughing!

Luckally we weren't near people or judges!

[/thread] We have a winnah!!!

[kmansdrummin]

In '74, I carried the big, 26 inch Tympani through Pasco, Wa for the Tri-Cities Parade. Hot summer heat, 90 to 100 degree heat, 5, yes FIVE MILES and we had to wear our WOOL UNIFORMS with shakos. Kids went through salt pills. Worst parade ever.

^0^ ^0^ B) ^0^ ^0^ B) ^0^ ^0^

[kmansdrummin]

[/thread] We have a winnah!!!

I agree

[ND120883]

This past summer at the wakefield parade we were warming up. Some guy in some small ensemble next to us was attempting to play high notes on his trumpet and was failing miserably. Finally, after he annoyed the #### out of us for like 30 minutes, the brass tech running the warm-up said, "Okay hornline, we're gonna turn towards that guy over there and play the notes F, A, G."

The hornline turns and plays F A G towards the guy at FFF....

He didn't get it.