West Valley HS band, color guard headed to NYC to perform twice

The West Valley High School marching band and color guard are headed to New York City to perform before thousands next month.

Seventy students, plus staff and 15 chaperones, will depart for the Big Apple on Nov. 8 for a six-day trip that has them scheduled to perform in the annual New York City Veterans Day Parade, also known as America’s Parade.

A day later, the group will join upward of 1,000 other band members in a Times Square performance known as the patriotic Band of Pride show.

The groups have been practicing for months, and the work is paying off, band director Jim Loucks said.

“We worked our tails off,” said Loucks, a 24-year veteran of high school band instruction.

“This is one of my better-playing bands,” he said.

The parade will feature 300 marching units from 30 states, including groups from colleges, high schools, and military and veterans units, plus 200 floats and vehicles.

The West Valley students will wear replica dog tags as part of their uniforms to honor their own family members who served in the military.

At school, the students have created a wall of honor for veterans with photos of family members who have been in military service.

Loucks said that West Valley was invited to appear in the parade after he submitted an application with a band resume. A selection committee went to YouTube to view the band’s performance capabilities.

As departure nears, so does the anticipation.

“I am so excited,” said Gabe Pipkin, a senior who plays bass drum.

Pauline Nasset, a junior on cymbals, said, “This is the time of my life.”

But there is some apprehension, too.

Zejian Sutherland, a sophomore on baritone, said she is a “little scared” by the sheer size of New York.

During the parade, the band will play the “Battle Hymn of the Republic.”

Earlier this week, they set out on a march through the neighborhood next to the high school to get their “parade legs” ready.

Loucks had the band repeat the notes in the 44th measure of the arrangement to make sure that their sound would reverberate off the tall buildings on the Fifth Avenue parade route.

After several tries, the band got it right.

Loucks told them, “I want the crowd to hear that in New York and go crazy.”

During the Band of Pride performance the next day, as many as 1,000 musicians from around the country will perform a series of at least eight patriotic songs, including a special arrangement of “Taps,” “America the Beautiful” and “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

A crowd of 500,000 could gather for the show, Loucks said.

The students have been booked into the Manhattan Hotel at Times Square, and Loucks has made arrangements for his group to enjoy some of what the city has to offer.

They are going on a dinner cruise on the Hudson River, visiting the 9/11 Memorial Museum and attending a performance of “Phantom of the Opera.”

“It’s a business trip with a lot of cool things we are doing,” he said.

The school has been able to keep the cost to about $1,500 per student.

A $100,000 fund drive to offset the cost is about $10,000 short of its goal, Loucks said. Donations may be made at any Banner Bank branch.

On Halloween, the band will have an early practice from 4:30 to 6 p.m. and will hand out candy to children in the West Valley area. Loucks said he is sending an invitation through elementary schools.

Band members will dress in Halloween costumes.

A send-off concert to thank the community for supporting the trip is scheduled for Nov. 7 at 7 p.m. at the high school’s main gym.