Mesa school to march in Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
Nov 26, 2013, 5:00 AM | Updated: 4:29 pm
PHOENIX — It will be a holiday to remember for nearly 200 members of Mesa’s Mountain View Toro Marching Band.
After applying three times, the band was invited to perform in this year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
The band’s assistant director, Adam Risch, said the band will play “Eye of the Tiger” and “The Final Countdown” along the 2.5 mile route, but when they get near the Macy’s store on 34th Street they’ll give New Yorkers — and the nation — a taste of Arizona, courtesy of “Sonoran Desert Holiday” by Ron Nelson.
Risch said they will be shown on national television for a little over a minute.
“We are only the fourth Arizona band ever to make it to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade out of, I think, 80-some years.”
He said members have been practicing during the cooler morning, but the 400 degree difference will be tough.
“We’re bundling up. We have all kinds of thermal underwear to put under our uniforms and suits and things.”
You can catch the Mountain View Toro Marching Band on Thanksgiving morning at 11:33 a.m. on KPNX-TV.