Lancer Rose Parade Invitation Is Official
THOUSAND OAKS — With the smash of cymbals, beat of drums and lilting tones of flutes, the Lancer band and color guard from Thousand Oaks High School crammed the City Council chambers Tuesday night.
Even before a Rose Parade executive officially invited the 200-member band to the 1999 New Year’s Day event, the student musicians were greeted with a standing ovation.
Parents and band boosters hooted, whistled and held video cameras aloft as band director Bill Hoehne accepted the invitation to participate in the parade.
“It’s been a long road--I’m glad you didn’t give up hope,” said Jack Cudworth, vice president of the Rose Parade’s Music Committee.
“I look forward to seeing you in Pasadena. You guys are the best band in Southern California right now. We only take No. 1. We don’t settle for anything less.”
Anticipating additional expenses before his acclaimed band heads to the parade, Hoehne made a pitch for business sponsorship.
“I’d love to see 12 new silver tubas gleaming” on parade day, he said.
Then his musicians, some of them standing on the council dais for space, launched into a booming Sousa march--the same one they will play during the 5 1/2-mile march down Pasadena’s Colorado Boulevard on Jan. 1.
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