Marching in the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade before cheering crowds and a TV audience of millions may seem glamorous to most, but two band members from Masuk High School tells stories of a grueling schedule, little sleep and of braving cold wind and rain.
“If we squeezed our gloves, water came out. My hands were cold,” said Samantha Davoren, a Masuk senior. “Water poured out of the mouthpiece of my trumpet and we could fling water from the feathers on our hats at our friends.”
Alison Merriman, a fellow senior, also recalls pouring water out of her alto sax. “My fingers and toes were numb,” she said.
Davoren and Merriman said the brass instruments froze, so they couldn’t play as well. Nevertheless, both had a blast.
“The good definitely outweighs the bad,” Davoren said. “It was cool, because there were little kids taking videos of you and it’s like, ‘you’re that person now.’ It was really cute.”
Davoren remembers one kid giving members of the Macy’s Great American Marching Band high fives in the “no play area.” “It makes you feel a little special, ‘that kid wants my high five,'” she said with a smile.
Davoren said she also made new friends after days of rehearsals.
Merriman auditioned and participated in the parade last year and wanted to share the experience with Davoren, her close friend since both were Fawn Hollow Elementary School kindergarteners.
“Masuk doesn’t have a competitive marching band,” she said, adding her belief that young musicians should take the opportunity to march in a large band if they can. “I wanted Samantha to have that experience too.”
Check your spam
Masuk Band Director Michael Ances said the high school band stopped participating in competitions after 2013 or 2014, due to a drop in student participation and costs of equipment and transportation.
Last year, when the Masuk Band was preparing to march in the annual Monroe Memorial Day Parade, Ances shared information on how to audition for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade for any students who were interested.
After class, Merriman approached him about it.
“I try to share as many opportunities as I can,” Ances said, “but it’s not every day that a student takes advantage of it. I’m glad Alison did.”
“I think the first time any student from Masuk participated in the group was back in November of 2018,” he said. “Madeline Winters, playing alto sax for Masuk, was in the band that year and that was also my first year as a chaperone.”
Merriman made the cut in 2023 and Ances was also her chaperone, though he could not go this year.
To apply, Merriman had to make a three-to-five-minute video of herself playing a classical solo with her instrument and upload it on YouTube, so the judges could see it.
“I had to show horns up and horns down, to show I could be in unison with everybody else,” she said.
Merriman also had to walk in a box formation, while keeping her face forward. “Every step is a scale with the beat,” she said.
The Macy’s Great American Marching Band has a certain number of allotments for high school musicians in every state. Merriman said about 40 states were represented and the field is narrowed due to most applicants being their school’s best at their instrument.
“Only the best apply, and they only pick the best of the best,” Davoren explained.
The application process begins in January, but Davoren said she dragged her feet, before submitting her application in May.
“We were expecting an answer by the middle of June,” Merriman recalled. “I kept saying, ‘check your spam folder.'”
Davoren said she looked, adding she thought she didn’t make the cut.
“I said, ‘give me your phone,’ and I found it,” Merriman said.
The acceptance email had been sitting in Davoren’s spam folder for six days.
Avoid the stomach bug
The Saturday before the parade, band members arrived at their hotel, the Marriott Marquis on Broadway. Sunday was a day of sight seeing in the city, before they gathered that night to become familiar with the piece they would play.
The band had an eight hour rehearsal on Monday, then four hours on Tuesday, gradually shortening practice time while leading up to the main performance, according to Davoren.
On Wednesday they held a rehearsal in the Teaneck Armory in New Jersey. During a break, members visited the American Dream mall for an hour.
They ended the day at a rehearsal with actor and singer, Billy Porter, who would perform with them at the front of the parade procession.
Not everything went smoothly, according to Davoren and Merriman, who told stories of a band member throwing up on the bus after overeating, a fire alarm making them wait outside their hotel, and a stomach bug going around.
“You kept thinking, ‘am I next?'” Merriman recalled.
“We survived,” Davoren said. “Some kids weren’t doing so hot. We kept sanitizing our hands.”
Alarm set for 1 a.m.
Merriman and Davoren managed about four hours of sleep the night before the parade, before rolling out of bed at 1 a.m. They were expected to be downstairs and in uniform by 2 a.m.
Both wore their hair up under their hats and had their “everyday application” of makeup, but the female dancers and color guard members had to have their hair and makeup professionally done.
“We had to be in the city at the red Ready Line by 3 a.m.,” Merriman said. “We did three run throughs.”
The run throughs were done in front of NBC’s cameras.
A continental breakfast was served at the Hard Rock Cafe from 4:30 to 5:30 a.m.
The band stood in formation in the wind and rain from 5:30 to 7:45.
“It was about 30 degrees,” Merriman said, “We rehearsed with Billy Porter, who got there late — around 7 a.m. He had a rain jacket and poncho.”
“We were supposed to have ponchos too, but due to Billy’s tardiness, we couldn’t get it,” Davoren said. “He had two assistants holding umbrellas over him. We stood there sopping wet.”
“During the Billy Porter part of the show, we air played our instruments, because he had a recording for the background music,” Merriman said of that portion of their performance.
“I was more tired than when I was playing,” Davoren said of moving to the music with their instruments.
By their estimation, the parade route was about three miles to the end, at Macy’s Herald Square, where a giant blowup turkey sat atop the sign for Macy’s.
Davoren and Merriman said some of the march is equivalent to speed walking, depending on the music, adding it lasted about an hour.
A growing program
Though Masuk still does not have enough band members to participate in competitions, participation has been growing, rising to 80 students this year.
“Around 40 to 45 kids are marching, but I can only get about 30 to play during football games,” Ances said.
If Masuk’s band program continues to grow and enough members have the time to march, Monroe will be able to participate in high school competitions once again.
Ances is an elementary school music teacher at Stepney and Fawn Hollow, where he can help to foster a love of music among his younger students.
Davoren and Merriman learned to play their instruments as Fawn Hollow fifth graders and never gave it up.
“It’s cool,” Merriman said of playing.
“It’s fun,” Davoren agreed. “It’s almost another language. If I see a note in my head, I can play.”
Both students, who are co-presidents of the Masuk Band Council, plan to participate in pep bands in college and, though it’s not their main path, they said music will always be a part of their lives.
Davoren and Merriman traveled to the Macy’s Parade with Davoren’s parents and brother, and family and friends who stayed home watched it on TV, many recording it and hitting pause whenever the Masuk duo appeared onscreen.
“I saw myself once for a second,” Merriman said. Of being in the moment, she added, “it’s surreal, because all you think about is the right notes and the right steps. You’re not like, ‘oh my God, millions of people are watching us right now.'”
“It was tough, but it was fun,” Davoren said. “I would have been sad if I didn’t do it. You miss every shot you don’t take.”
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