Dec 9, 2008 6:44 pm US/Eastern
Taravella High To March In Inauguration Parade
CORAL SPRINGS (CBS4) ―
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The J.P. Taravella High School marching band was chosen from among nearly 1,400 applicants to march in the 56th Presidential Inauguration Parade in Washington, D.C.
When America's 44th president is sworn in next month, bands from around the country will march in celebration in Washington, D.C. and a Broward County band has received the distinct honor of being the only high school from Florida to be chosen to march at the Presidential Inauguration parade.
Playing for cheering crowds is nothing new for the Marching Trojans of J.P. Taravella High School, whether it's in the states or overseas.
"We've been to Rome and London," band captain and tuba player Ethan Morrison told
CBS4 mobile journalist Jim Robinson. Neil Jenkins, the band director added, "We got to march in a parade in Frescotti, Italy."
The 200-plus member Marching Trojans were chosen from among nearly 14-hundred applicants. Now, it's a race against the clock. The award winning band has slightly more than a month to practice and look for funding.
"All the things going into putting a band together to send to a parade like this, is going to cost us in the neighborhood of a hundred fifty thousand dollars," explain band director Neil Jenkins.
Jenkins says they're doing everything they can to keep the expenses low, like chartering four buses to D.C.
"We have some characters in this band, so I don't think there will be many dull moments," said Jenkins.
The Presidential Inaugural Parade will be held Tuesday, January 20, 2009 after President-Elect Barack Obama is sworn-in. The parade will take place along Pennsylvania Avenue between the U.S. Capitol Building and the White House.
The Florida A&M University Marching Band will also march in the parade.
All band members are responsible for paying their own way to Washington for the Jan. 20 parade.
Click here if you'd like to help the band make the trip to Washington D.C. for the parade.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Presidential Inauguration 2009
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