The Rosemount Marching Band gave its community a sneak peek Saturday of what the world will be able to see when the band plays in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
“We call ourselves the Sea of Gold,” said Denise Lecher, a band mom who will be leaving with her son, who plays the tenor sax, and the rest of the band to New York City on Monday on a chartered Sun Country flight.
The nickname, she explained, is because gold is one of the school’s main colors, and with 275 band members, they create waves wherever they go.
The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade draws more than 3.5 million spectators along its two-plus-mile route, and 50 million more watch on television. There are more than 8,000 participants.
The community combined its Christmas tree lighting ceremony with a sendoff for the band Saturday evening outside the Rosemount Community Center. Even Santa got in on the festivities, heralding the band on a fire engine bucket lift.
The band, which has made a name for itself, winning multiple contests and being selected to march in the Rose Parade in 2014, will be the first Minnesota band to perform in the Macy’s parade since 1989, parade organizers told them.
So, besides being honored by Rosemount’s mayor Bill Droste, state representatives turned out to the event to congratulate the band on representing Minnesota at the parade.
“You guys are the pride of Rosemount, the Second District and all of Minnesota,” said U.S. Rep. Jason Lewis. He presented them with a U.S. flag that flew over the nation’s Capitol in their honor.
State Sen. Greg Clausen also gave a short speech honoring the band. The rest of the event was hosted by Chuck Brooks, Rosemount celebrity, author and announcer.
The band is directed by Ben Harloff, Bo Hoover and Taylor Eliason. The Drum Majors are Caleb Maeda, Colette Edgar, Preston Strop and Emily Huntley.
The music is an original arrangement by the directors combining Irish and American melodies and is meant to honor the Statue of Liberty, said Harloff.
“Our school motto is, ‘Pride in the past, performance in the present and promise in the future.’ We took that motto and used it to write this piece, he said.
The school learned of the opportunity in April 2016 during a special, confetti-covered ceremony in which the parade’s creative director Wesley Whatley flew in to let them know that they were chosen out of 200 bands that applied. Gov. Mark Dayton came out for the announcement, which was kept as a surprise for the students, who thought they were just gathering for a general assembly meeting.
The time frame gave organizers a year and a half to raise $500,000, which averages about $2,500 per student.
Besides a plethora of fundraisers, such as bagging groceries and selling hot dogs, the community rallied and big sponsors such as 3M, the Minnesota Vikings, Cub Foods and many more showed their support.
Those at home wanting to see the band perform should tune in about 10:30 a.m. Thanksgiving Day.
Besides marching in the parade, which has a 3 a.m. wake-up call, the high schoolers also will play tourist.
Harloff said they will see a Broadway play, go on a dinner cruise and see the Statue of Liberty.
Senior piccolo player Laura Nitz says she can’t wait.
“Personally, for me, I’ve never been out of the Midwest,” she said. “So going to New York is huge.”
