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The 88th RSC in Chicago's St. Patrick's Day Parade
March 20, 2011
How did you spend Saint Patrick's Day this year? Since it fell on a Thursday this year, the folks of the 88th Regional Support Command decided to celebrate a little early and put on a show the weekend before. The RSC organized for us to march in Chicago's famous Saint Patrick's Day parade.
This was a very exciting event because it has never been done before. I don't mean to say that an Army Band has never marched in the parade before. I'm sure that's happened. What was unique about this year's performance was that six (six!) Army Bands all got together and did the parade as a single unit. That's a lot of Army Band. And it sure didn't happen without a lot of behind the scenes work.
For the people in the bands the event actually started months prior (and I'm sure even earlier for the amazing logistics folks of the 88th). We all got together at Ft. McCoy, WI for some group practice. Since my unit is based in Vancouver, WA, we had the furthest to travel and naturally showed up last. Despite the darkness, we still got in a few hours of marching rehearsal in a rutted parade field by the faint glow of some portable stadium lighting.
The next day held the unexpected surprise of an SRP, so we didn't find ourselves marching again until dusk. The same rutted parade field greeted us with slightly firmer ground however, and the stadium lights fired right up, so we made the best of it. The morning held a couple more hours of rehearsal and the making of our video audition for the event -- apparently it turned out well because we got in!
Fast forward to last weekend and the majority of the RSC was all back together again in Chicago. After all of the flying, driving, and getting everyone beds there wasn't much time for much else the first day. We were all up bright and early the next morning for -- you guessed it -- more marching rehearsal! The folks in charge arranged for us to take over one of the largest unobstructed parking lots I've ever seen. Unfortunately it was cold enough for the grease in my clarinet to turn to jelly, which it promptly did, making playing any music a challenge. Marching rehearsal went well though, and we all felt ready to tackle the parade.
After some frantic parts-strewn-across-the-bed clarinet repairs I was ready to go. The whole event went off without a hitch. Everybody did a great job, especially the Drum Majors who had a particularly tough job with such a large element. From step-off to final turn people were cheering the whole way. The entire parade route was lined with people ten rows deep -- I've never seen such a densely packed parade crowd. After the parade we had a brief photo op, then the long journey home.
All in all it was a great event. Maybe we'll get to do something like this again next year!
For more pictures and a few videos of the event check out the 88th's photostream at www.flickr.com/photos/88rsc/
submitted by Sergeant Daniel Covel on Mar 20 2011
Comments
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You did a very good job describing the event! I liked the photos too---adds to the story you told. THANKS!!
Reply
Rachael Tolliver
Apr 14, 2011 10:14 AM