March into history

I was one of two founding members of the Colony High School marching band who returned as alumni to be part of this historic occasion. Melanie Rogers and myself joined the marching band as freshmen in fall 2005, under the direction of the school’s new music teacher, Jamin Burton.

Back then, we were very small and not really sure what a marching band was. It truly is amazing to watch what Thee Northern Sound has become today. (I’m not even sure we had a name back then.)

Long story short, I think that my perspective on the whole event might be a little different than most of the others in the band. I took this trip for many reasons. The first was the amazing experience. I have marched in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade and this would just be the icing on the cake for my marching career. The other reason I really wanted to do this was to share the experience with my own students. I teach music in Klawock, population about 850. Many of our students have never been exposed to something like this, so I made it part of my job to take this experience and share it with them.

I have been to large cities before — I lived in Grand Rapids, Mich., for about six months — so I was really surprised at the amount of people I was seeing. I guess I had adapted to living on an island very well. Waiting at the airport I was really nervous for the group to show up.

As a 24-year-old CHS alumnus on a high school trip, I wasn’t really sure how the trip was going to go. When we got on the bus, there was a group of us who stuck together and we all expressed the same concerns — we hardly knew anyone on the trip. The first few days we did some sightseeing, which was cool, but I think that in the back of our minds we were dreading the rehearsal. The alumni learned the music on our own, recorded it and sent it to Jamin. So the first rehearsal was really a test of how well we had memorized the music. I would say that most of us passed with about an 85 percent.

The next day was Bandfest, which we only did the pass and review. We were all really nervous for the students because the rehearsal the night before did not go very well. Standing on the sidelines watching, listening, holding our breath and trying not to cry, we were so proud of the amazing job they did. It was hard to believe this is the same band that we started in 2005. They could march in step, had good horn angles and, best of all, they had a big, full sound — something that we never really accomplished. (They also looked great in their new uniforms.)

Skipping over the day at Disney (which was a great and fun experience), I come to Jan. 1, 2014. We woke up very early, ate breakfast and drank one cup of water. I’m sure if I had had more to drink it would have been a disaster.

As it was, many of us in the hotel room while putting on our uniforms were jumping up and down in a last effort to go to the bathroom before we left. I take my sousaphone to the front doors of the hotel and get stopped. Our bus driver George warned me to not go out to load the bus and to tell anyone else who came to stay in the lobby. I immediately knew that something was wrong and one of our buses was not working. I stayed quiet to not raise alarm among the lobby of packed students and waited for the announcement from Jamin. He told the band that no matter what, we would be marching even if we went without the equipment that was trapped beneath the bus, including the plumes and banner.

The bus that delivered the parents in the morning was returning to get us, and hopefully we would be on time and not miss the parade. As I looked out over the band, most faces either looked too tired to comprehend what was going on or like their dreams had been crushed. We are told to go wait on the sidewalk for the other bus so we can get on it as soon as it arrived.

Meanwhile, they are still trying to open the undercarriage of our bus. The percussion and sousaphones are lined up ready to make a mad dash to put equipment on the bus as soon as it arrived. Our faces still have not changed and we were nervous that we will not make it. Finally, the bus arrived and as it came to a stop, the undercarriage of our bus popped open and there was a mad rush to get the new bus loaded with the newly available equipment. We get on the bus and were seated in order according to who would take the longest to get their instruments out. Percussion first, followed by sousaphones, bari saxes then the other instruments that did not bring cases. We were told we have five minutes to unload the bus.

Finally, we arrive at The Pit (the big empty section of highway where we unload). We made it with time to spare and we still had to wait on the bus for awhile to unload. While on the bus we got to watch the other bands unload and the students were surprised by how large some of the bands were.

When it was our turn, we pulled around the corner and unloaded. The sousaphones were last up the ramp to the overpass. We saw the Remo station and the instrument tune-up station. The band in front of us is lining up into its blocks, getting ready to march to the start, while we are asked by several photographers to have our picture taken. Then we block up and can see the floats going by as we wait for our turn to make our first right turn. People from all over are shouting with excitement because we are the band from Alaska. We turn the corner, begin playing “In the Stone” and it finally hits me, we are marching in the Tournament of Roses Parade.

For the first mile and a half we played “In the Stone” over and over again because that’s where all of the TV cameras were. It was exhausting, because we really had no break. Once past the cameras, however, it felt like smooth sailing until the parade stopped because a float had broken down. That’s when we began to feel the sun, as we had stopped in a place with no shade. I was in the front of the block, so this was also my first chance to see who had dropped from the parade. I had really hoped that everyone would make it the entire way, but unfortunately that was not the case.

Once the parade began to move again and we had marched away, it began to be less about marching and playing perfectly and more about taking everything in and having a blast. Spectators had signs telling us how far we had left in the parade and they would also cheer so loud for us because we were from Alaska. It was very inspiring and helped me make it through the entire parade. Playing under an overpass was also a ton of fun because we sounded really loud.

In my opinion, the most difficult part of the parade was drinking water. We would be handed a water bottle (sometimes with the cap still on) take a sip, and pass it down the line. It wasn’t much, but it sure did make us feel better.

Finally, we made the last left turn and got to stop. I turned around and looked for my mom and brother first; then I looked for Melanie, then the other alumni and the rest of the band. We had done it, made history and I couldn’t believe it. I was so proud of all of the work that everyone had put in.

Thinking about what we started all those years ago and how far the band had come almost brought me to tears then, and again now as I write this. I thought about my students, whom I was going to do my best to share the experience with (which I have since done and they think it’s really cool). I think about the hours, the injuries, the dedication, the money, the frustration, the personal growth and journey that every member of this band, every parent, every supporter has gone through to get us here. Looking back, this really was the year to be a part of this parade because just as the theme states, “Dreams Come True.”

Samantha Youmans is a 2008 graduate of Colony High School and a founding member of the marching band. She is one of two founding members of the band who returned as alumni to perform with Thee Northern Sound in the Rose Parade.