Two music educators with local ties will be leading a large contingent to play in the tournament of Roses Parade.
Manitowoc native Ben Burish and Joe Finnegan, who taught in the Manitowoc Public School District, are directing the Wisconsin Northwoods Marching Band which will be taking part in the annual parade prior to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena California.
Ben told Seehafer News that the Northwoods Marching Band was actually put together at the request of Eagle River native Amy Wainscott, the President of the Tournament of Roses.
“She wanted representation from her local area in her parade,” Ben explained.
He also noted that all of the individual schools are not big enough to hold a parade on their own, “So eight different schools had come together and volunteered their time and their students…to start working on some wonderful pieces of music for the Tournament of Roses Parade.”
Burish said he has enjoyed watching this massive conglomeration of young musicians come together and grow ahead of the parade.
“There are 430 students in this band,” he noted. “We are going to be the second largest marching band in Tournament of Roses history.”
With a group of students spreading across eight schools, Ben said it has been tough to plan practices that match everyone’s schedules, but they have made it work.
“We have done multiple practices over the summer, and then when school started, once a month we would meet and hold rehearsals together for a few hours in the afternoon into the early evening,” he expalined.
Ben, Joe, the rest of the band, adult supervisors, and friends and family of the group will be flying out for California tomorrow (December 28th) around mid-day.
However, with over 500 people involved, they will be taking multiple flights.
The parade itself will be held on Monday, January 2nd with a theme of “Turning the Corner”.
