CLICK TO HEAR JACK HALL’S INTERVIEW WITH GLADSTONE TEEN ISAIAH BOYCE
The Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California, will have some local flavor to it on New Year’s Day.
Two young musicians from Delta County will march with the Salvation Army Band in that nationally-televised event.
Isaiah Boyce, a Gladstone High School senior, is one of those Yoopers who will participate at the event. He tells RRN News that he is a bit nervous about the upcoming adventure.
“I’ve never really flown too much, and so I’m flying to get there,” Boyce said. “And I just don’t want to mess up, you know. That would be embarrassing, if I mess up or fall, and everyone can catch that on TV.”
Boyce plays with his church, the Salvation Army, and they offered him the all-expenses-paid trip to California to take part in the parade, as well as being able to do some sightseeing in the Los Angeles area.
So, what will he have to do?
“I play the trombone,” Boyce said. “We get two sheets of music, and we have to practice over and over again until we can play it without even looking at it. And you have to do it to a march. So, that’s how it’s going to do. I have to memorize it…I’ve already memorized it. Then on the spot, they’ll call out the song, and we’ll just start playing.”
They’ll play the same two songs repeatedly during the five-mile long parade route. Boyce says he’s been playing since the sixth grade, first with the Gladstone High School band, and then, more recently, at the Salvation Army.
“My grandma and grandpa encouraged it a lot,” Boyce said. “At first, it was hard to get on an instrument, but I picked the trombone, because it’s different, and it looked fun using the slide.”
Boyce will be joined on this trip by Alli Spencer of Escanaba. She is 25 years old, and plays with the Escanaba City Band as well as with the local Salvation Army. She and Boyce will leave Green Bay in the early hours of Thursday morning, and will arrive in Los Angeles later that day.
Also from our area, a northern Wisconsin high school marching band will participate in the parade. The Red Raiders of Pulaski High School will be one of just 15 high school bands from across the country to be selected to march in that famous parade.
It’s the fourth time in the past 20 years that Pulaski High has been to the Rose Bowl Parade. Band director Tom Busch says they were told last year that they would be in the 2024 parade.
Part of the treat of being in the parade is tickets to the Rose Bowl football game, which is also a national semifinal between the University of Michigan and the University of Alabama. But that isn’t what has Boyce excited about the trip.
“I’m not much of a football fan,” says Boyce, who plays hockey for the Escanaba Eskymos. “I’m more excited about going to Disneyland. I can’t wait to go there.”
The Tournament of Roses Parade will run for more than five miles down Colorado Blvd., on New Year’s Day, starting at 11:00 a.m. ET (8 a.m. California time). It will be broadcast live nationally on ABC (Channel 10 in the Upper Peninsula), NBC (Channel 6 in the U.P.), the Cowboy Channel (836 on Spectrum Cable), and RFD (Rural Free Delivery) Channel (806 on Spectrum Cable).
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