SIOUX FALLS, SD (KELO) — 215 members of the Lincoln High School marching band leave this weekend for New York City to perform in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
It’s the school’s fourth time in the parade, the last one being in 2008.
Band members are excited to make music and memories in the Big Apple.
Lincoln junior Will Raether’s heart will be pounding right along with his drumsticks when he plays next week in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
“And it’s before a whole bunch of people, so always going to be nervous about that,” Raether said.
But pre-parade butterflies are all part of the experience of performing in the national spotlight.
“Because everybody watches the Macy’s parade. This is the second-most viewed event on television next to the Super Bowl,” Lincoln High School Band Director Drew Balta said.
The school submitted an audition video to parade organizers as part of the selection process. Lincoln was picked to be just one of six high schools to march in the parade.
“And we felt like we gave a pretty good pitch and we knew that we have had a great band for a number of years,” Lincoln High School Band Director Dan Carlson said.
Taking part in the Macy’s parade is as much a test of endurance as it is a musical performance. The band members have been training to build their physical strength to complete the two-and-a-half mile-long parade route.
“My arms are killing me after mine because I’m drumming the whole time so my wrists hurt. But my neck hurts the most because actually, which is really weird because I’m just looking forward. But it’s resting on your shoulders so that kind of tenses that up,” Lincoln junior Kara Brown said.
The marching band’s appearance in the Macy’s parade is the latest high note for a school that’s built a national musical legacy for all to hear.
“It all works together in a way that makes it super special to everybody in it, to everybody outside of it,” Raether said.
Marching band members will leave early Sunday aboard five buses that will travel non-stop to New York.
The band has scheduled some sightseeing during their time in the city, including a visit to Ground Zero and taking in a Broadway musical.
