The Red Band made an appearance in 3 of the local parades
– 10am in Whitesboro, 2pm in Utica, and 7pm in New Hartford.
We received many compliments throughout the day including
how we “sounded better than ever”. Also numerous “thanks” for playing all the
military service marches as well as God Bless America.
We even noticed spectators rising from their lawn chairs
to give us a standing ovation as we marched by.
This year we had one of our largest marching bands – up
to 29 musicians parading with us including 4 new faces: Corinne Bouchard on
flute, Karen Castine and donna Dillman on clarinet, and Ben Stovall on trumpet
who joined us late last year.
A special shout-out to another former member of La Band
Rossa – Lou Barile was one of 6 Veterans chosen to be a Grand Marshal in the
Utica parade. For many years Lou was an announcer for all of our concerts. It
was a delight to see his enthusiasm as we marched by him as he stood and
cheered us from the reviewing stand.
