I'm with the band.

Today was the Strawberry Festival Parade in Lebanon, Oregon. The above shortcake, covered in white plastic, is paraded through town, followed by the typical Shriners and fair princesses and marching bands. The Memorial Middle School band played Land of 1000 dances for 2 miles, and I helped.
We boarded the bus, and I had a strange mix of emotions. On the one hand, I was nostalgic, because I hadn't been on a yellow bus for more than 20 years. Not much has changed. On the other hand, not much has changed in the school bus department in 20 years, and I found myself wondering about bus safety. No seatbelts! No helmets! Our bus driver was very old. I guess that the loud kids didn't bother him because he is deaf. He left his right turn signal on for 15 minutes on the highway.
I was given drumstick duty. If a percussionist were to drop his or her sticks, I would have to dodge the remaining half of the band, the trumpets and bass instruments, to retrieve the stick and return it to the drummer. Fortunately, it was a cool day and the drummers' hands did not get sweaty. Everyone held onto their sticks and mallets.




I am an accomplished parader. I have appeared in parades in Seattle, Ocean Park, Seaside, and Bend. I organize the Albany Girl Scouts' entry into the Albany Veteran's Day Parade (the largest such parade west of the Mississippi!) every year.
I thought I had seen crowds... but I had never seen a crowd like the one in Lebanon. sidewalks were lined with 5 rows of those stupid chairs I detest. In fact, the parade was so large that there was reverse-pamphleteering going on- as I marched by a spectator, he pressed a pamphlet into my hand advertising a quilt show!

The band did very well, especially at first. At about the 1.25 mile mark, their lips and arms began to get tired, and the brass section was definitely not as strong as it was in the beginning. However, at the 1.75 mile mark, the kids got their second wind and pushed through to the end.

Many parents picked their kids up at the parade, so the bus was less than half full on the ride home. Because there were fewer conversations happening at once, I could hear most of them. Middle schoolers are just goofy. I could detail their conversations, but I won't, as this is a family blog. I did notice that they are EMPHATIC about EVERYTHING.

In the afternoon, we had a MMS band picnic at Bryant Park. Two band dads grilled burgers and dogs, and we all feasted on potluck fare. (I had Kirkland Green Tea with Citrus- zero calories, delish!)
After dinner, a group of us made our way to the softball field, where we sorta played. Mind you, these are Band Kids. I was pretty happy with the way we played... I am sure that a lot of these kids have never felt a bat in their hand make contact with a ball, but everyone got a "hit" today. We didn't keep track of balls and strikes, or outs, or innings... and after a while it was just "Take a Turn at the Plate." My new favorite game.