[blindkid] FW: Blind band will be Rose Parade's first

[Debby B]

Yes, Brunhilde! Post about Braille Beats. Winona and a friend of hers want to come this summer, so be sure it doesn't conflict with the 62 other things she's planning to do! <grin>

Have you set a date for this year yet?

 Debby 
bwbddl at yahoo.com
www.nfbflorida.org/parents



----- Original Message ----
From: Carrie Gilmer <carrie.gilmer at gmail.com>
To: "NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List, (for parents of blind children)" <blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Braille Beats <BrailleBeats at gmail.com>
Sent: Wednesday, October 22, 2008 2:49:00 PM
Subject: [blindkid] FW:  Blind band will be Rose Parade's first

Congratulations to the Ohio School for the Blind, and I also know Macy
McClain! An all blind high school marching band in the most famous parade of
the year next to Macy's thanksgiving one I guess! Cool!!! FYI-all!

Thanks for sharing Brunhilde! That reminds me Brunhilde you should post to
the blind kid list what Braille Beats is!

Carrie Gilmer, President
National Organization of Parents of Blind Children
A Division of the National Federation of the Blind
NFB National Center: 410-659-9314
Home Phone: 763-784-8590
carrie.gilmer at gmail.com
www.nfb.org/nopbc

-----Original Message-----
From: Brunhilde Merk-Adam [mailto:bkmabma at worldnet.att.net] 
Sent: Wednesday, October 22, 2008 1:40 PM
To: undisclosed-recipients:
Subject: Braille Beats Fine Arts Program News Update: Blind band will be
Rose Parade's first

Congrats to OSB and particularly to Macy--a Braille Beats Alumnus.
b

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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