Middle school band gets marching orders Huntington...

Middle school band gets marching orders

Huntington Beach’s centennial Independence Day parade marked the

first time middle school students from the Ocean View School District

represented their schools by marching in the Surf City classic.

Practice for the march began on June 22, giving the 55 students

less than two weeks to rehearse. Children from each of the district’s

middle schools practiced on the blacktop at Spring View Elementary

School.

“Those kids had eight days to practice, and that was it,” summer

school Principal Michelle Hardy said.

Practice sessions lasted two hours, and both of the district’s

band teachers, Dennis Nicolosi and Doug Boughter, helped the

musicians get ready for their debut. The students, all members of

their school’s advanced bands, had a chance to learn the music before

practice started but didn’t learn to march until the entire group was

assembled.

The band played a piece called “Everybody Loves a March,” a medley

of John Philip Sousa’s “Manhattan Beach March” and “Thunderer March.”

Though the students had only a few days to play as a group, Nicolosi

said he was pleased with their performance.

“It went a lot better than we were expecting,” he said.

District Supt. James Tarwater marched with the band, and Hardy

roller-skated with students along the parade route. She said she

remembered the crowd being enthusiastic when the Surf City youngsters

marched by wearing their Hawaiian shirts and sunglasses.

“People along the way were saying, ‘Yay, a local band,’” she said.