On March 25th, the Bedford High School Marching Band and Color Guard traveled to nearby Manchester, New Hampshire to participate in the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade. In past years, BHS has performed in the parade and was excited to be coming back.
Dan Dong, a sophomore here at Bedford High School, plays mellophone in the horn section of the marching band. From his perspective, being able to participate in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, “even though I almost ran into the cameraman.” According to Dong, “[it was] very fun because I was able to perform with the band in front of a massive audience.” Dong also recognizes that “it was thrilling to march in front of such a big audience so I’m sure that we all tried to perform at our best.” When asked how the St. Patrick’s Day Parade experience was different from other performances, he stated that “many of the pieces we played were more interesting than the ones in other performances.” The marching band marched to three songs total: Danny Boy, Gallway Piper, and Can’t Stop the Feeling, but Dong definitely thought that “Danny Boy was a “bop!”
Another student, sophomore color guard captain Payton Grenier, also expressed how she was extremely happy to be able to participate in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade for her second year. Although the color guard did the same routine as last year, they “worked to improve and added new things too.” Grenier’s favorite song out of the three they performed was Can’t Stop the Feeling because “it was very upbeat and fun.” She enjoyed bringing that upbeat spirit to the spectator’s in Manchester for the second year in a row. This year’s parade was also much colder than in past years and it started snowing near the end of the parade. Despite this, Grenier comments on how the entire Bedford Marching Band and Color Guard fought the cold because “everyone gets you really motivated…people would say ‘Go Bulldogs!’ or something similar and it made us want to do better and push through the wind and snow.” About her experience leading the color guard, she says that “this is the first year I’ve led a whole season by myself and I’m happy because I feel like we made it through together and it was a success.” When the color guard arrives at a parade, they “do routines and warm-ups and silly things, and we have talks on the bus so we know each other better not just as teammates but as friends.” The relationships created through the band and color guard were unforgettable to Grenier.
Overall, participating in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade improved the BHS Marching Band and Color Guard and connected all members of the group together!
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