Brattleboro Union High School
Band To March In Inauguration Parade
BURLINGTON, December 5 – The Brattleboro Union High
School Band has been invited by the Presidential Inaugural Committee to
march down Pennsylvania Avenue in the parade after President-elect
Barack Obama is sworn into office, the Vermont congressional delegation
announced today.
Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Bernie Sanders
(I-Vt.) and Representative Peter Welch (D-Vt.) wrote a joint letter to
the Armed Forces Inaugural Committee urging it to include the
Brattleboro band in the parade after the historic inauguration at the
Capitol of the 44th president of the United States.
“The band, under the instruction of Stephen Rice, has
established itself as a force among young New England music ensembles.
Mr. Rice has led the band for more than 20 years and during those two
decades he has demonstrated a record of precision and excellence,” the
delegation letter declared.
“The Brattleboro Union High School band will make a
wonderful addition to the inaugural parade. These young musicians and
their director truly embody the spirit, strength and excellence of
Vermont,” the senators and congressman wrote.
Sanders earlier touted the band in a letter to Senator
Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the chairman of the Joint Congressional
Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies. “I am writing to express my support
for one of Vermont’s premier high school bands,” Sanders wrote.
“Indeed, Brattleboro Union’s band has a long and proud tradition of
excellence and it is an honor to recommend them to be a part of this
year’s festivities.
The Brattleboro band has performed in the past at such
high-profile events as the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York,
N.Y., the Washington, D.C. Cherry Blossom Festival, and Walt Disney
World’s Magical Musical Days.
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