Band Gearing Up Their Minty Fresh Performance For The Candy Cane Lane Parade

By: Ella Chan

For the Candy Cane Lane parade this year, our Redwood band prepared to play the song Brighter Side of Christmas by Len Goldstyne. 

Bass Clarinet player Jesse Rascon, ‘27, looked forward to the families cheering them and the kids smiling and having a good time during the parade.

Rascon says the preparation for the parade had been going well, however, the band didn’t have much time to work on their parade due to their upcoming state championships in Sacramento. 

He was worried that the band only had one more practice run-through before the parade the following week. 

“I’m really excited [to perform] because I’ve seen my older cousin do it, Raul… I’m kind of nervous at the same time but I’m really excited.” Rascon says.

Bass drum player Andrew Ramirez, ‘26, was excited about marching down Main Street and decorating his bass drum, planning to decorate it with lights. 

Ramirez was also excited to perform for his first time in the Candy Cane Lane Parade. “I’m excited to walk down and be with friends while doing it!”. Although Ramirez was slightly worried about the stress of messing up but still thought it would go okay.

Adrian Martinez, ‘25, is a mellophone player for the band. As this was his 3rd time partaking in the parade, he looked forward to seeing the other attractions within the parade. Martinez says, “To prepare for the parade we usually go into our school’s turf to practice marching with music on the actual day.” 

He personally practiced the music on his own time to make sure he truly had it memorized, saying he worries about forgetting music because his “memory sucks”. But either way, he finds it fun to march down Main Street despite how tiring it is and seeing people cheer on the band. 

“My favorite part of the parade is seeing the band get all dressed up with their instruments decorated with Santa hats and such,” Martinez says.

Fernanda Carreon, ‘24, is a part of the color guard on the rifle line. Carreon says, “Preparation for the parade has been pretty wild.

The whole week has been based on creating choreography and routines for the songs that the band will play.” She says it’s very exciting to be involved in preparation for the parade and spending time with the other color guard members.

The Color guard decided to dress up to show their festive spirit by dressing up by section. The rifle line, which Carreon is part of, is dressing up as snowmen.

The flag line will be dressed as elves, and the presents line will be dressed as Santa with their reindeer. Carreon says, “It’s very exciting to bring the characters to life and really show the depth of the Christmas holiday spirit.

She says she worries that the guard may not remember the choreography due to the little time left to practice, but Carreon has faith and can’t wait to perform for her last Candy Cane Lane Parade.

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