125th Rose Parade will be first Alaska band marching in it

PALMER — Set your TiVo now.

Because when the sun comes up Jan. 1, 2014, for the first time in its 125-year history, a marching band from Alaska will be part of the 6-mile-long Rose Parade.

Colony High School learned last year that its marching band was picked among the elite group of musicians in the nation to participate in the 2014 parade, according to band director Jamin Burton.

“The Rose Bowl is a huge deal for a band director,” he said Friday.

The Colony marching band has worked for years under Burton’s direction to build its resume to the point where it is strong enough to win one of 12 slots for high school bands in the annual parade, he said.

In addition to a performance and Disneyland during its visit to California next winter, the Colony band also marched in the Fourth of July Parade in Washington, D.C., in 2006 and in the Inauguration Parade for President Barack Obama in 2009.

But an invitation to march in the Rose Parade is an even bigger feather in the marching band members’ caps.

“Everything we did for those years was to build our resumé,” Burton said. “It’s something, in the world of bands, that’s the biggest thing you can get.”

It’s quite a compliment when one considers that most bands picked to perform are from big metropolitan areas ranging from 200 to 300 members, he said.

Even counting chaperones, the CHS contingent tallies 115, Burton said. Of those, 72 are students, including six alumni who have been invited back to perform with the band in Pasadena next January.

“Anyone who has been in the CHS marching band can march in the parade,” Burton said.

Even some of the group’s chaperones had Rose Parade dreams of their own that will be fulfilled on the New Year, he said.

Although he won’t perform with the CHS marching band, Alaskan Jack Arlyn Smith will accompany the group and take part in his third Rose Parade. He’s going to cheer on his grandson, 16-year-old Colony High sophomore Joshua Arlyn Smith, who is the second generation of the family to play saxophone in the parade. His grandfather also played sax as part of the University of Iowa’s marching band when its football team played in the Rose Bowl in 1957 and 1959.

Big anniversaries

President of the 2013-14 Pasadena Tournament of Roses R. Scott Jenkins was in town last week for the Colony marching band’s final concert of the season and to present the band its official flag that it will carry in the parade.

A volunteer for some 30 years, Jenkins said in his role as president he will spend about 150 days this year traveling to about 25 locations where to meet with all the bands and float sponsors picked to participate. He said his primary job is as a corporate attorney.

This year is the 125th Rose Parade and the 100th Rose Bowl Game.

“These are big anniversaries for us,” Jenkins said. “We’re thrilled to have a band from Alaska.”

A private group put on the first parade in 1890, and the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association was formed in 1899, Jenkins said. Today the group has grown to employ 25 people full-time, he said. The backbone of the group though remains its 935 volunteers, he said. There are 30 volunteer operations committees that see to the parade details such as marching bands, equestrian and nearly 50 different floats.

CHS must raise big bucks

Each year, there are 20 marching bands in the Rose Parade, some are perennial performers such as the Salvation Army Band, Marine Corps Band and the LA Unified Band. And each year the bands from the two schools competing in the Rose Bowl also are invited to march in the parade and perform at halftime.

There are 12 slots that are filled each year through a hotly contested application process. Jenkins said Colony’s was one of 100 applications for the parade’s 12 open slots. Programs are picked to participate based on their musical abilities, marching skills and by region.

“They have a wonderful program here and they worked really hard to get there,” Jenkins said of the CHS marching band.

Getting 115 people from the Mat-Su Borough to Pasadena comes with a hefty price tag. Burton said each student going needs to raise about $2,300 to cover the cost of travel, lodging and food. Of that, $1,100 is for airfare and another large slice is to pay for the rest of the band’s uniforms.

Burton said CHS bought pants and jackets last year and is buying the hats, gloves and shoes to match this year.

Jenkins said he’s seen a variety of fundraisers in his three decades with the Rose Parade. One group auctioned an old house, another carved a Tournament of Roses rose into a cornfield and sold tours of the maize maze, and in another case a BWM dealer auctioned off two vehicles to pay the tab.

But these jumbo fund-raisers aren’t the norm, Jenkins said.

“The traditional way is chicken dinners, car washes and bake sales,” he said.

Safety a top concern

In the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings, he said the Rose Bowl is more aware than ever of the safety risks associated with hosting such a large public event.

“It’s important for people to know their kids are going to have a great time and come back safely,” Jenkins said. “We won’t proceed unless it is safe.”

Pasadena Police Department is very sophisticated at putting on big events, he said. The Tournament of Roses’ base contract with the department is $1.5 million and goes up from there, Jenkins said.

“How to keep people safe is a top concern,” he said.

For more information, visit tournamentofroses.com.

Contact managing editor Heather A. Resz at 352-2268 or heather.resz@frontiersman.com.