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

Andy & Sally Thomas andysally at comcast.net
Thu Oct 23 23:50:53 UTC 2008


Cool!

Sally Thomas
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Debby B" <bwbddl at yahoo.com>
To: "Multiple recipients of NFBnet BlindKid Mailing List" 
<blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Cc: "Dennis D Davids" <dennis.d.davids at lmco.com>; "Alison Richard" 
<alison1661 at yahoo.com>; "Kathy Davis" <kdavisnfbf at cfl.rr.com>; 
<nfbf-parents at yahoogroups.com>; "MaryLou Johnson" 
<mjohnson8870 at tampabay.rr.com>; "Diane Sapiro" <dianesapiro at bellsouth.net>; 
"Lenora&Larry Marten" <bluegolfshoes at aol.com>; "Debby Brackett" 
<bwbddl at yahoo.com>
Sent: Tuesday, October 21, 2008 2:37 PM
Subject: [blindkid] Fw: Blind band will be Rose Parade's first


> 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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