[blindkid] Fw: Blind band will be Rose Parade's first
Thorpe, Mary Jo
MThorpe at nfb.org
Mon Nov 10 16:33:10 UTC 2008
Just as another follow up to this story, I was watching the CBS evening
news last Friday, (Nov. 7) and they did a special interest story on the
Ohio School and the band going to the Rose Bowl. It was a pretty good
piece.
Mary Jo Thorpe
Mary Jo Thorpe, MEd, NOMC
Education Program Specialist
NFB Jernigan Institute
-----Original Message-----
From: blindkid-bounces+mthorpe=nfb.org at nfbnet.org
[mailto:blindkid-bounces+mthorpe=nfb.org at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
landjwest at bellsouth.net
Sent: Wednesday, October 22, 2008 9:08 PM
To: NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,(for parents of blind children)
Subject: Re: [blindkid] Fw: Blind band will be Rose Parade's first
Debby,
WOW! This news brought tears to my eyes! I wish I could have been there
to hear them get the news. My daughter attends Nashville School for the
Blind and just started band. I think this is great! Check out our story
sometime at www.mymaleka.com.
God Bless,
Laura West
-------------- Original message from Debby B <bwbddl at yahoo.com>:
--------------
This is really interesting! Since Winona is in marching band, we're
excited to
> hear about this.
>
> Debby
> bwbddl at yahoo.com
> www.nfbflorida.org/parents
>
> Blind band will be Rose Parade's first
>
> Tuesday, October 21, 2008 3:12 AM
> By Jennifer Smith Richards
>
> THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
>
> Members of the Ohio State School for the Blind marching band react to
> news that their band has been invited to the 2010 Tournament of Roses
> Parade. The entire student body was in the gym when the surprise
> announcement was heard.
>
> The band's trip to Pasadena, Calif., will cost about $1,500 per
> person.
> Donations can be sent to the Ohio State School for the Blind
> Parent-Teacher-Staff Organization, 5220 N. High St., Columbus
> 43214
> The entire student body had been herded into the gym to sing The
> Star-Spangled Banner, which was video- recorded for a school project.
>
> That was pretty cool, in itself -- several of the roughly 120 students
> at the Ohio State School for the Blind have perfect pitch, so it
> wasn't your average school-choir rendition.
>
> What happened next was even cooler: Music director Carol Agler's cell
> phone rang and the crowd went quiet. She held the microphone to the
> phone's earpiece as a man, calling from California, invited the
> school's marching band to join the 2010 Rose Parade.
>
> You'd have thought Paris Hilton or the Jonas Brothers had just walked
> in -- that's how loud the screaming was.
>
> "Congratulations, and we look forward to seeing you all," said Gary
> Di- Sano, the parade's president in 2010.
>
> The Rose Parade, which features flowers-only floats and takes place in
> Pasadena, Calif., each New Year's Day, has never hosted a blind
> marching band. In fact, Agler said she doesn't know of another one in
> the country.
>
> Right now, there are only 17 band members, plus about as many sighted
> marching assistants who help them stay in formation.
>
> "I think this will generate more kids in the band," said Agler, who
> co-directs the band with another teacher, Dan Kelley. They've got a
> year to whip the band into shape and to raise money for the
> cross-country trip.
>
> Band members likely will practice marching on the school's campus and
> even on one of the gym's treadmills. The parade route is about 6 miles
> and will take about two hours to march, a grind the band isn't used
> to.
>
> "I'm nervous, but I'm excited, too. It's gonna be hard, but we're
> gonna get through it," said Bria Goshay, a 15-year-old snare drummer
> from Columbus.
>
> The band was formed in 2005 and played its first full season with
> about 20 members in 2006. Its uniforms are castoffs from another high
> school that got new ones.
>
> During a regular season, the band plays for an audience a handful of
> times:
> at deaf-school football games, at a Dublin high-school pregame show,
> at the Ohio State University Skull Session in St. John Arena. The band
> recently marched in a Circleville Pumpkin Show parade.
>
> Twenty-one bands from across the country have been booked for the Rose
> Parade, said music committee chairwoman Stacy Houser. Two others,
> Pickerington Central High School and Ohio University, are from Ohio.
>
> "A blind marching band is such an incredibly unique thing," she said.
> "We're hoping it'll be an inspiration throughout the country."
>
> Bands are chosen using several criteria, including marching and
> musical ability, uniqueness and overall talent.
>
> Macy McClain, who plays the flute and piccolo in the band, likened the
> honor to being on American Idol.
>
> "Except you don't have to stand in line," she said.
>
>
>
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