This story was photographed and written by Jim Gerrish and
Al-Quadir Marsh. For reasons explained below, Al-Quadir could not
write the entire story himself as originally planned, but you
will find his words below in RED
with his photos all marked. Mine are in black and my photos are
unmarked. Jim Gerrish
Photo by Al-Quadir Marsh
It had been cold most of
the week, but today, Saturday, May 15th, was hot and sunny. The
East Orange Unified Marching Band was getting ready to go to
Elmwood Park and perform for BJ's Walk for Hope and Asthma Research event. The band members showed up bright and early,
put on their uniforms and got into formation outside Cicely L.
Tyson Community School in East Orange, New Jersey.
Inside the school, band parents had organized
the uniforms by name and number and were quickly passing them out
to the students as soon as they arrived.
Before they could head outside to line up, the
students also had to tune their instruments. In the past, many
students had teachers who would tune their instruments for them,
but Mr. Goode insists that each student learn to tune his or her
own instrument so they will learn how it is done and also so they
begin to listen to themselves and one another as a well-tuned
band instead of a collection of instruments thrown together. This
takes a great deal of time, but Mr. Goode is patient and
eventually the band is in tune. Even if an instrument goes out of
tune in the field, the student will hear it and quickly bring it
back into pitch with the other instruments because of this
training.
LR- Al-Quadir Marsh, Ms Saez, ??? Photo by Jim
Gerrish
Uh-oh! Ms Saez is missing one of the banner
carriers, so Al-Quadir Marsh, my lead photographer, is quickly
outfitted with a band uniform and given a new job of carrying the
school's banner at the head of the parade. He will still be able
to take some photos, but I will have to fill in with the rest and
our plan to make Balloon Animals for the kids has to be scrapped.
As the band begins stretching exercises in the
background, the new banner carrier takes his place wondering what
he has gotten himself into.
Photo by Al-Quadir Marsh
Elmwood Park is not far
from Cicely Tyson School, so the band walked across town with the
help of Band Parents who acted as crossing guards. The heaviest
instruments were loaded into a car and sent ahead to the park. I
got to ride so I could keep taking photos.
Photo by Al-Quadir Marsh
Most of the band parents
also walked to the park beside the band, including Ms. Saez, the
Band Parent Association president.
Al-Quadir got to ride with me across town so he
could continue to take photos out of the car window, but when we
got to Elmwood Park, the ride was over and Al-Quadir once again
lined up with the band to make a grand entrance into the park.
This is when I really began to miss my chief
photographer because by the time I parked my car, the band had
already entered the park and all I could do was follow behind
them.
Fortunately, I caught up to them
in time to make the videos you will find below. The people
walking on the park's race track are participants in the
Walk-aThon. Every lap they make around the park increases the
donations their sponsors have made. The band will now begin to
play to show their support for the event and to take the weary
walkers' minds off their tired feet. The video below contains two
excerpts from their marching band concert.
As the band plays, Ms Saez passes
out bottles of cold water for each band member. This is part of
what your contributed band funds are used for at each parade or
event, so the entire band thanks YOU for sponsoring them in their
endeavors. Please
continue to help support YOUR East Orange Unified Marching Band.
When their performance ended, the band marched
off the field and again I hurried to catch up to them. I was glad
to rejoin my chief photographer, who packed up his banner and
took the rest of the photos for this story.
Photo by Al-Quadir Marsh
On the way home, as tired
as he was, Mr. Goode carried one of the small children on his
shoulders. The child obviously enjoyed the piggyback ride and was
sorry when it was over, but Mr. Goode was just relieved to get
everyone back to the school safely.
Photo by Al-Quadir Marsh
For the final stretch to
the school, the band got back into formation and marched to the
beat of the drums. Then they found out that they needn't have
hurried.
Photo by Al-Quadir Marsh
The doors were locked as
usual and no one was around to let them in. Mr. Goode solved the
problem by driving around the school to another entrance to which
he had access, and finally let them in. Meanwhile, the students
began removing their uniforms and turning them in so they could
get home and enjoy the rest of the bright sunny Saturday. I
learned that carrying the banner is not the easy job it seems to
be and I will think twice before I volunteer to do it again!
Riding a unicycle, juggling, and making balloon animals (as well
as photographing the band and writing stories about them) will be
my only jobs from now on!
