A Broke Marching Band Parades on Capitol Hill to Practice. Magic Ensues

Photo: Colorado State U’s marching band! | By Lizzie Johnson, Washington Post | Rush hour traffic slammed to a halt as the high school band director walked backward into the busy Capitol Hill intersection, followed by a line of teens gripping trombones, trumpets, french horns and flutes. The thunk-thunk-thunk of bass drums reverberated in the damp October air.

“Straight ahead, band, you got to be lookin’ straight ahead,” James Perry, director of the Eastern High School Marching Band, shouted at the students through his megaphone.

“Hey, hey, hey, hey!” they chanted back.

Eastern High’s homecoming and a celebration of the school’s 100th anniversary were just days away, and the 65-member band – known as “The Blue and White Marching Machine” – was practicing for a performance Saturday that would draw hundreds of Eastern students, parents and alumni.

Now, they followed a familiar path, down A Street NE toward Lincoln Park, delighting neighbors and anyone else who stumbled upon them.

Practically everyone pulled out their cellphone to record the band as it passed. With four students across, they took up the entire road.
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Go here to read the full story and to watch a video – will bring on the nostalgia:
https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/broke-marching-band-parades-capitol-131841167.html

Eastern Senior High School
Attn: Mr. James Perry
1700 East Capitol St NE
Washington, DC 20002
Phone: (202) 698-4500
http://www.easternhighschooldcps.org
“The Pride of Capitol Hill”

[Editor’s note: This really reminds me of my sons’ marching band. Their uniforms were 30+ years old and were getting pretty ragged from general wear & tear. Their instruments were really banged up from years of being accidently dropped and no longer shiny from just being old. And they needed new parts, etc. We came up with running Bingo games which are legitimate in Colorado. A small group of parents dedicated their spare time to running the games with all the band (and choir) students assisting. We made a big deal out of it and, the next thing we knew, the school board decided to match our dollars for new uniforms and instruments! And the groups were able to compete in faraway places that most of them had never been like Kansas City, MO, Salt Lake City, UT, Cheyenne, WY, and Los Angeles, CA. Where there is a will, there is a way… Like Mr. Perry’s students, many of our marching band kids went off to college. Some became music teachers, band directors, and one even became a state senator – encouraged by the fact that he could get “out of the ghetto”! BTW, he was a fantastic trumpet player and a drum major!]