Road to Pasadena paved with hard work, good will
February 1, 2005
The combined Oswego High School Marching Band's last five miles on foot in Pasadena might have seemed short in comparison to the effort that went in to getting the group to California.
It took more than a year of preparation, planning, practice and fund-raising to make the New Year's weekend trip happen.
Many of the marching band members, who are split between Oswego High School and the new Oswego East High School, already had some parade experience, since they marched in Chicago's Thanksgiving Parade in 2003.
Getting the band to the parade was a true community effort, resulting in a seemingly unprecedented wave of support. The trip cost each band member $1,300 — a total of nearly $400,000 with all expenses figured in.
To help raise that money the village's Cultural Arts Committee and the OswegoFoundation for Educational Excellence, which provides funding for various student activities, put together the public art spectacle of panthers (Oswego High School's mascot) and wolves (Oswego East High School's mascot) that resulted in an auction of many of the 41 sculptures and $75,000 for the parade effort.
Pulte Homes donated $50,000 to the band to become their corporate sponsor. Telecommunications giant SBC added a $25,000 donation to the band, in part because Margene Pappas, director of the band, met SBC's president of Midwest operations while flying back from the 2004 Rose Parade.
Raising money to offset some of the students' expenses was one of Pappas' big concerns this year, but, thanks to corporate and community support, those fears were put to rest.
Also instrumental in the effort were the Oswego Band Boosters, a group of bandmembers' parents. They helped with organization and fund-raising for the trip, which included seven band directors and spouses and 36 chaperons.
The efforts of the community were matched by the efforts the band — half the students had never marched before this year — and its directors put in to prepare for Jan. 1.
An extra week of summer band camp and grueling conditioning practices were part of the regimen to prepare for the 5-1/2-mile parade route.
