When Starbucks finally retires their famous pumpkin spice lattes and you are bombarded with waves of hallmark advertisements, you know that it is finally time for the annual Lexington Christmas parade. This event, which attracts crowds from all over the Rockbridge area, is one of the most notable events put on by downtown Lexington.
Perhaps the best part of this celebration is getting to see our favorite familiar faces marching along to Christmas tunes and waving to the crowds as they pass. One group of students that participates in this event is Rockbridges’ very own Marching Wildcats.
Seniors Lynette Salins and James Baker have participated in band all four years of highschool. Junior Nic Faulds has participated for his entire highschool career as well. While they all play various instruments, Salins specializes in clarinet, Baker serves as drum major and Faulds plays the cymbal.
Salins recalls how the band prepared to perform in the past weeks.
“Preparing for the parade is very similar to practicing our halftime show music. Once we receive the parade music, we split into sections based on our instruments in order to isolate different parts. Once our sections are confident in their own parts, we rehearse as a full band. We are expected to memorize our music, so that is another thing we do in sectionals. When the music is fully prepared, we practice marching around the school,” said Salins.
Baker goes on to explain their preparation.
“We prepared through extensive music rehearsal, as well as marching around the building to recreate the parade. Most of our skills learned in our season transferred over, so less rehearsal was needed,” said Baker.
Faulds elaborates further as to why the band partakes in this event.
“We want to show to the community the results of all the hard work and dedication we put in this year by performing some music. It is a lot of fun to hear the crowd cheer. They really get excited when we pass by and it’s electrifying,” said Faulds.
Baker and Salins add on.
“We partake in the parade for two reasons. First, it’s just fun. As a end of year event, it provides a send-off in a high energy culmination to a cheering crowd downtown. Secondly, it provides outreach into the community. We rely on the community for funding, recruitment, and volunteers. This gives the middle schools a chance to see, and even sometimes talk to us, and gives the community a peak into our program,” said Baker.
“By performing in the parade, not only do we get to extend our marching band season just a little but longer, but we get to perform for a larger audience as well. Many members, myself included, also enjoy playing different instruments from what we usually play,” said Salins.
The Marching Wildcats have had an incredible season as they have performed for home football games and individual competitions. However, their participation in the Lexington Christmas parade has truly illuminated their talents and we wish them the best of luck as they move forward and hope that they will partake in many more Lexington parades to come.
