Schools
Divine Child Band Chosen to Play in Detroit Thanksgiving Day Parade
Dearborn's Divine Child Marching Band, along with the Pom Pon squad, will perform in the 2011 America's Thanksgiving Parade in downtown Detroit.
Members of the Marching Band went wild after receiving news they were picked to play in this year’s 85th annual America’s Thanksgiving Parade in Detroit.
“They were anticipating (the decision),” said Robert Bush, director of Divine Child Bands. “When we found out, they were just screaming.”
The 50-member band, along with the 20-member Divine Child Pom Pon team, will be marching in the parade, an event that annually draws thousands of live spectators and an even bigger TV audience.
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“We’re extremely excited,” said senior Drum Major Jordan Solano-Reed. “Everyone was absolutely enthralled at the idea of playing in the Thanksgiving Day parade.”
Bush said he submitted Divine Child’s application to The Parade Company in the early spring. Along with the written application, he said, was video of the band playing at Disney World’s Magic Kingdom theme park in Florida–a trip it had just recently completed.
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A parade selection committee, made up of talented and experienced musicians, chooses from the hundreds of applications submitted by high school bands each year. According to the website of WDIV-TV, which is a parade partner and broadcasts the event live, 12 high school bands marched in 2010.
For Divine Child, having just performed at Walt Disney World allowed the band to stand out in the Detroit parade selection process, Bush said. The selection committee likely looked highly upon the fact that the band had been accepted to perform there.
“Disney’s standards are very strict,” Bush said. “What helped us this year is that we played at the Magic Kingdom.”
The Divine Child band performs at every home football game and plays in the school’s homecoming parade each year.
Recently, the band has also played in Hamtramck’s Polish Day Parade and the Dearborn Memorial Day Parade. At the Hamtramck event, they were recognized as the best marching unit, and in Dearborn, honored with the Mayor’s Award.
Also, the Divine Child Marching Band has earned several awards throughout the years at the annual Michigan School Band and Orchestra Association Marching Band Festival.
This year’s America’s Thanksgiving Parade begins just after 9 a.m. on Nov. 24 in downtown Detroit and will follow a parade route along Woodward Ave.
