Photo by Erin Nelson.
The Homewood Patriot Marching Band announces its 2021 appearance in the Rose Parade during a game between Carver-Birmingham and Homewood on Oct. 18 at Waldrop Stadium in Homewood.
The Homewood Patriot Band received exciting news Oct. 18.
During halftime of the Homewood High School football game against Carver, the band found out it has been invited to march in the 2021 Rose Parade in Pasadena, California.
“We are so excited and thrilled for this opportunity,” Band Director Chris Cooper said. “Kids will watch the Rose Parade for the next 50 years and know they were part of it while they were in high school. That, to me, is priceless.”
This will be the band’s fifth appearance in the Rose Parade, which takes place on New Year’s Day. It also marched in 1984, 2003, 2009 and 2014.
Cooper said about 20 bands march in the annual parade, and some of them appear every year, such as those representing the Salvation Army, Pasadena City College and the two football teams playing in the Rose Bowl.
That limits the number of openings for other college and high school bands.
“We think there’s only going to be five or six high school bands that have been invited, which kind of makes it even more special,” Cooper said.
Homewood applied to march in the 2021 parade about a year ago, Cooper said. As part of the application process, the band submitted a video of its halftime show and a prior parade performance in which it makes a collective turn.
Turning is a difficult maneuver for a band but is required in the Rose Parade.
“We took video from the last time we went,” Cooper said, “because there was a video of us doing the turn there.”
The Rose Parade follows a 6-mile route that takes about two-and-a-half hours to complete and draws 1 million spectators, with millions more watching on TV. Cooper called it a big party.
“There’s a lot of excitement in the air with families and the kids,” Cooper said. “We’ll have a lot go out on this trip.”
Cooper said the band will probably travel around 400 students, departing the last week of December 2020 and returning the day after the parade. They will visit Disneyland, Hollywood Boulevard and the Santa Monica Pier, among other popular attractions.
“It’s the trip of a liftetime that I get to take with 400 of my best friends,” said Emma Kathryn Compere, a junior drum major, “and I’m super excited for that.”
Until they leave, the band will be preparing for the big event and raising funds. Cooper said the trip’s cost will likely exceed $2,000 per student, but Homewood hopes to offset some of that.
“Our goal is to raise $100,000 for this fundraiser,” Cooper said. “That would be gigantic. That would be quite a bit off each kids’ trip.”
The fundraising has already begun.
Cooper said an online campaign through the platform Snap! Raise netted $40,000 in two days. The band also plans to hold a couple of corporate fundraisers, including the We Love Homewood Day 5K in the spring and a gala next August.
The Rose Parade invitation is Homewood’s latest in a string of impressive accomplishments. In addition to its previous appearances in Pasadena, the band has marched in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day four times since 2000. Each appearance has come under the direction of Cooper and Ron Pence, Homewood’s longtime band director who is retiring after the 2019-20 academic year.
The band’s big trip this school year is to Orlando. As of press time, it was set to play at Disney World during Thanksgiving break.
“Now, me and Mr. Pence are already working on the Rose Parade trip,” Cooper said.
