A Trip in Review

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By: Martha Foltz

 The All-Brass Marching Band took a trip to Holland, Michigan to participate in the Tulip Festival Parade. But, the parade started long before the band left on May 11. The All-Brass began preparing weeks before by reviewing the songs, marching around Arlington, and drinking plenty of water, as we were told the march would carry on for 2.5 miles. Band members packed uniforms and polished horns while dreading a sweaty march. Then the trip began.

We arrived at the school at 7 in the morning to load instruments and luggage into tiny compartments of a charter bus driven by a friendly man called Toby. Students buddied up in fuzzy seats that would be sat in for the next 4 hours. The first stop made was The Rouge. There, presentations were given about Henry Ford and his legacy of “Ford”. We toured the factory, which was not running at the time, and learned of the newest truck, F150. We then hit The Henry Ford Museum, browsing through history. Only after stopping for lunch with an hour left before reaching the dorms, the band saw that it was raining --- inside the bus. A group of creative boys taped plastic bags to the ceiling and held up plastic cups to collect the water. Videos were taken and laughs were shared before we arrived at Hope College where we stayed for the 3 days. Later, we explored and ate pizza while playing card games before getting sleep for the big day.

Saturday started with a hearty breakfast provided by the college. Luckily for us, we started a few steps from the dorm. We began marching at 2:30. The streets were crowded with people and a faint floral smell drifted with the breeze. Mr. Sorensen blew the whistle and we were off. The band marched proudly, playing loudly as people yelled “Go Arlington!” and “Yay Brass!” The band shifted between the Fight Song, “Brass Factory”, and “Grand Entry”. The march turned out to be a lot better than expected. The weather was perfect for the parade and it’s a great accomplishment on the All-Brass’s belt. Members relaxed the rest of the night with games and a few walked the streets of the festival. The band returned home safely on Sunday.