NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Drury High School Marching Band will head to Washington, D.C., this weekend to represent Massachusetts in the National Independence Day Parade on the Fourth of July.
And although the school year may be over, the band was hard at work marching laps around the track this past week.
“The band is prepared; this is just getting them back in shape. It is a parade, and it is going to be hot weather,” Band Director Christopher Caproni said. “We are going to play the song 25 times, so this is just getting them used to playing for that long again.”
More than 50 members of the marching band met at the track over the past week to practice turns, form and, of course, the music. Although there was an obvious dread in the students’ eyes every time Caproni yelled “one more lap,” it was clear they are excited about the trip.
“I think everyone is excited. It’s is a pretty big deal,” band front member Alex Bernard said. “I am excited about the fireworks; I can’t wait for that.”
“I am excited about the crowds,” said snare drummer Eliot Eastman. “There are going to be a lot of eyes on us.”
Caproni affirmed this and said the students will be marching in front of 250,000 people.
“There are literally a quarter of million people there. You march down Constitution Avenue and it’s all the government buildings and they all have giant staircases with people on them,” he said. “It’s like twice as high as the football stands with people the entire way.
"If you take everyone in Berkshire County and send them to the Fall Foliage Parade, it isn’t even a third of the people who will be at this parade.”
Trombone player Alexander De Lanventes said he was not concerned.
“We are probably going to be one of the smaller bands there because there are some huge bands, but I think we have a good sound,” De Lanventes said.
Bernard agreed.
“It’s going to be hot and there is going to be a lot of people but we are going to have tons of adrenaline that will push us through it,” she said.
Caproni said the band will be in D.C. four days and they will be busy. He said they will have a tour guide and will see most of the government buildings and memorials as well as the national archives, Mount Vernon, the Native American Museum and the Holocaust Museum.
The day before the parade, the band will also participate in the wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Four students will actually get to lay the wreath.
The band trip veterans know a trip like this always has a packed itinerary.
“We are doing a lot and Mr. Caproni is taking us everywhere,” band front member Jenna Gavazzi said. “We are going to Arlington Cemetery and all the major monuments. ...There is not much down time. We are not going to stop. We leave our hotel at 8 a.m. and we get back at 9 at night every day.”
The band last visited D.C. in 2011. Caproni said the band gained a reputation under prior director Carl Jenkins and are always invited back.
“Once we went and we had a great trip and they were thrilled with us,” Caproni said. “I went to reapply this year, and I sent them a video of the band and they were thrilled with how the band looked and sounded and they invited us back.”
The band has been planning this trip for an entire year and have participated in a plethora of fundraisers to make it possible.
Caproni said the band trip is an integral part of a band student’s career and it allows them to share their music throughout the country, see new parts of the world and create long lasting memories.
“It allows the kids to share their music with the world, and they are representing the school, the city and the state,” Caproni said. “I think it is a great bonding experience for the kids that they will have for the rest of their lives.
"They aren’t going to remember their trigonometry formulas but they are going to remember their band trip.”
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