Gregori at home at Salida Country Festival
Photo Credit: Victoria Bettencourt
Sarah Bloomgarden doubles over with laughter after hitting her mark: Principal Jeff Albritton.
October 13, 2011 • Chelsea McDougall, Editor-in-chief
Filed under News, Top Stories
The Salida Middle School band looks on with amused, laughing faces as the Gregori band, the group they’ll join soon, sing their ABC’s.
“How come everyone knows that song but me?” sophomore Blake Vella, a saxophone player, says loudly, making the whole group burst into laughter.
The two bands, mixed as one, wait for their cue to begin the parade; being the first group, they get to kick it off. Freshman Jeremy Whetstone entertains the band by leading songs like “Row Your Boat” and their ABC’s. The whole band wants to do the wave, but Dan Bryan, the Gregori music director, shoots them down quickly, trying to protect his dignity and the dignity of the band. “Don’t Stop Believing” and “Happy Birthday” echo loudly down Broadway Street as the Salida Steelers cheerleaders behind them cheer. The horn section of the band standing in the front and the woodwinds at the back sing different songs, competing to be heard.
Suddenly, the red and white crossing arms signifying that a train is approaching slowly drop into place as the red lights flash and the sound of a train whistle resonates down the street. The train passes by just behind the cheerleaders, the third of that morning. Everyone in the band, the cheerleaders, and the parents standing to the side holding their cameras turn and cheer as the train rumbles by, shaking the ground. The cheerleaders raise their pom-poms and scream at the engineer manning the train.
The scheduled time of the parade was 10:00 a.m. After waiting for 30 minutes, the band finally gets the cue to start their march. The police car in front of them rolls slowly forward.
The Salida Town and Country Parade begins, the air bursting with excitement and anticipation.
It’s no coincidence that Gregori Musical Arts and Salida Middle School’s Marching Band are working together. The directors of each school’s music department, Dan Bryan and Brad Friley, respectively, have been planning it since last year. Salida Middle School’s band had been marching in the parade for years. Bryan wanted to start Gregori on a marching season, which, in other schools, normally starts when school does and goes until November. But to get Gregori’s band used to marching, and to help Salida Middle School’s band (they’re low on numbers), he felt that marching together was a great idea.
“It’s good publicity for the program, and this joint thing with SMS is really good. As Salida’s high school, we have a responsibility to support things in the community,” Bryan says.
The band plays “March Militaire” as they march down Broadway, with parents, grandparents, sisters, and brothers cheering loudly.
Harrison Hughes, an eighth grader, says that the song had become annoying from practicing so much. When asked if he gets nervous before a parade, he says simply, “No. I just play, and I don’t pay attention [to the people watching]”. He also mentions that the Gregori band seems pretty good, and that the whole school seems pretty cool.
As the two bands march as one back to the Salida Fire Station where they first met, Gregori and Salida Middle School begin to separate. Bryan pulls them together for one last moment, speaking loudly to be heard over the Steelers cheerleaders who had also just come onto the parking lot. The cheerleaders’ laughter serves as background noise to Bryan’s final speech. “I’ve seen things like this fall apart,” he says, “and this didn’t. Good job, everyone.” The two bands cheer.
Christian Arriola and Sam Anderson, both juniors, and Blake Vella, a sophomore, groove to a made-up tune, causing other Gregori band members to dance, celebrating a successful march of the Salida Town and Country Parade. Gregori pulled off their first parade easily, and Salida Middle School and Gregori will be marching together in this parade for years to come.
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