SEQUIM — Five teenage musicians will perform for, oh, about 52 million spectators this Thanksgiving morning, thanks in large part to their teacher, Vern Fosket.
These Sequim High School Marching Band members — Serena and Michael Okamoto, Marley Iredale, Lindsey Moore and Caitlin Pallai — are in the first-up band in the 83rd annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade this year, Fosket said Monday.
They took off for New York City on Saturday morning and have spent the intervening days practicing for their debut with the Macy’s Great American Marching Band, a band of some 200 young musicians representing every state in the union.
The parade, known for its gigantic Muppets, Mickey Mouse and other floating heroes, will be broadcast at 9 a.m. Thursday by KIRO channel 7 and KING channel 5.
Serena Okamoto will carry the Great American banner, Fosket said; that will place her squarely in front of the entire 8,000-participant procession.
Two marched in ’08
Sequim High had two students in the Macy’s spectacle in 2008: trumpeter Farris Ryan and trombone player Matt Grey, he added.
When parade organizers sent Fosket, the school’s veteran band director, a few nomination forms for this year, he nominated five of his top musicians. All five auditioned and won the opportunity to march for Washington in the nationwide band.
These players are chosen based on musical ability and past achievements, according to Music Tours Unlimited, organizer of the Great American Marching Band.
Strutting behind Serena will be her brother Michael Okamoto, who plays trombone; Iredale, a tenor saxophonist; trumpeter Moore; and Pallai, who plays the flute. All are seniors except Serena, who’s a junior.
The days leading to their step-off at Central Park West on parade morning are a whirlwind of sightseeing, uniform-fitting and practicing.
“The rehearsals are pretty rigorous,” Fosket said, “and not for the faint of heart.”
Then the five from Sequim will perform for some 2.5 million people on the parade route plus 50 million watching them on television, according to Macy’s.
And onward they will march, through the three-hour, 2.5-mile route of one of the biggest processions in the world.
“It’s pretty exciting,” said Fosket, showing his gift for understatement.
After the parade, the musicians will have a buffet lunch and time to pack up. Then comes Thanksgiving dinner and a dance and reception in the ballroom at their hotel, the Hilton of Woodcliff Lake, N.J.
Then, lest they turn into pumpkins, the students turn in their uniforms Friday morning and fly back home.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
