ANDERSON — For members of the Anderson High School Marching Highlanders, Saturday’s trip to Indianapolis to participate in the 66th AES 500 Festival Parade was an exciting way to wrap up a year of hard work and standout programs.
The opportunity to march along with professionally designed floats, Indiana celebrities and the 33 drivers who would start Sunday’s Indianapolis 500 was also a memory maker for several seniors who gave their final band performances.
“It’s one of the coolest things that I can end my career on,” said Zach Imel, a snare drummer who will graduate next week. “It was a lot of fun and really cool to do. It was just a really good experience.”
The Marching Highlanders were one of 14 bands invited to participate in the parade, which followed a 1½-mile route through downtown Indianapolis and unfolded before an estimated crowd of 200,000.
AHS Band Director Richard Geisler said the Marching Highlanders received the invitation to the parade after being named Band Day champions at the Indiana State Fair in 2019. However, the event had been canceled for two years running because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The kids had a great run today,” Geisler said. “They played the entire parade route from start to finish. They had the strength and endurance to sound and look great.”
The band’s selections during its route — “Scotland the Brave” and “The Crags of Tumbledown Mountain” — harkened back to its Scottish roots in a nod to the parade’s theme, “Back to Traditions. Racing Forward.” Geisler said the band had been practicing in the evenings twice weekly since mid-April in preparation for Saturday’s performance.
Although this year’s graduating seniors have enjoyed performing before large crowds at the Indiana State Fair’s Band Day, the crowd in downtown Indianapolis was a new experience altogether.
“It was just exhilarating to be in front of a crowd that big,” said Hannah Knost, a senior clarinet player. “You’re performing for the people, and it’s just a fun thing.”
Imel said he’ll remember many moments from the parade — marching past the Indy 500 drivers and seeing one of them wave back to him, and getting an autograph from an Indiana Pacers cheerleader were two that he mentioned — but added that the entire day was a fitting way to end his high school career.
“In a way it felt like any other parade — there were just a lot more people than I was used to,” he said. “But it was great to end my career with the program I’ve been working with for the past couple summers. I was really excited.”
This article appeared in The Herald Bulletin on May 29, 2022.