By Jessica Roveda
Even without any snow on the ground, Christmas spirit was still in the air this past weekend for the St. Joseph-Scollard Hall Bears Marching Band.
For the eighth year in a row, the Bears Marching Band represented North Bay while performing in the 113th Annual Toronto Santa Claus Parade.
Consisting of students from grades nine to 12, the mixture of experienced and first-time players enjoyed marching in the parade as one of 21 bands from all across Canada and the United States.
“It’s a really good experience, even the fourth time around,” says Matthew McParland, a grade 12 student who has been participating since grade nine. “We’re always really excited to come down”.
For fellow grade 12 student Olivia Talbot, the most exciting part of the parade is the joy the band brings to the audience.
“[The parade experience] always puts a smile on my face,” says Talbot. “It’s nice to see all the families enjoying the parade and all the holiday spirit we and the other bands and floats create for them.”
The band plays a handful of events throughout the school year, but preparing for a major parade such as this requires a little extra attention.
“When it comes to parade marching, it’s a lot of just getting out and marching around the O’Brien-McLeod street area and everyone getting in step,” says music teacher Brian Overholt.
With the parade route taking between two to three hours to walk, ensuring that students are prepared to play and march for a long time is a key priority of the band’s weekly practices leading up to the big day.
Performing a medley of the Christmas classics “Jingle Bells”, “Deck The Halls”, “Sleigh Ride” and “I Want a Hippopotamus For Christmas”, the band could also be seen on the CTV national broadcast of the parade.
At the first parade in 1913, Eaton’s arranged for Santa to be pulled by live reindeer, which had been imported from Labrador specifically for the Parade. By 1950, the Eaton’s Santa Claus Parade was the largest in North America and televised on CBC in 1952.
Although the Scollard band has no other parades coming up, you can still see them bringing the same Christmas joy to North Bay at the 29th Annual Old Fashioned Christmas Walk on Friday, Nov. 24.
