Bedford High School band marches to a magical beat

Dreams really do come true. Just ask the Bedford High School Marching Band members who marched in the Main Street Parade at Disney World Monday.

Forty-two Bedford students, from eighth-graders to graduating seniors, performed “September” and “In the Stone” by Earth, Wind and fire, as they strode along the parade route before thousands of park visitors from around the world.

 “Disney has become the ultimate stage for young performers because there is such prestige in the name and its high performance standards,” said Bedford High School Band Director Jim Felker. “Plus, for most of these kids, it will be the largest performance of their lives.”

Felker should know. He has marched at Walt Disney World as a Haverhill High School freshman and returned twice as Haverhill High’s assistant band director.

“Marching down Main Street is a bit surreal, especially for folks who have never been to Walt Disney World before,” he said “There’s this place that you've seen on TV a million times and all of a sudden you're the featured performer. It’s quite a rush.”

According to Felker, it is no small feat to get the call to perform at Disney. the band must first submit an audition tape along with a photograph of band members in uniform. once accepted to play, there are several pages of guidelines to follow. “Most of them deal with appearance and uniformity,” he said, down to matching socks.

they got cheers from onlookers throughout the parade route, including some of their parents. “they never looked sharper and they never sounded better,” said Bedford band parent Monica Vafiades.

 “It was a very emotional experience to see these kids who’ve worked so hard to get here,” said band parent Sharley Robertson. “When I saw my daughter Samantha, it brought tears to my eyes.”

before the parade they gathered in Frontierland, where Disney staff led them through discretely placed doors where the “magic happens.”

Behind a gate the kids and adults were welcomed into a private world that is usually shielded from visitors. they were given a talk by Disney staff and shown to a space designated just for them, with changing rooms, plenty of water and a practice area. Just before they went on – Bedford was the first of three bands scheduled Monday – they got into formation where Disney staff conducted a final uniform inspection.

And then they were marching. “When the gate opened and they announced our name, it was unbelievable,” said junior Alisa Granada. “There were all these people and they were cheering. It was crazy.”

Dreams really do come true. Just ask the Bedford High School Marching Band members who marched in the Main Street Parade at Disney World Monday.

Forty-two Bedford students, from eighth-graders to graduating seniors, performed “September” and “In the Stone” by Earth, Wind and fire, as they strode along the parade route before thousands of park visitors from around the world.

 “Disney has become the ultimate stage for young performers because there is such prestige in the name and its high performance standards,” said Bedford High School Band Director Jim Felker. “Plus, for most of these kids, it will be the largest performance of their lives.”

Felker should know. He has marched at Walt Disney World as a Haverhill High School freshman and returned twice as Haverhill High’s assistant band director.

“Marching down Main Street is a bit surreal, especially for folks who have never been to Walt Disney World before,” he said “There’s this place that you've seen on TV a million times and all of a sudden you're the featured performer. It’s quite a rush.”

According to Felker, it is no small feat to get the call to perform at Disney. the band must first submit an audition tape along with a photograph of band members in uniform. once accepted to play, there are several pages of guidelines to follow. “Most of them deal with appearance and uniformity,” he said, down to matching socks.

they got cheers from onlookers throughout the parade route, including some of their parents. “they never looked sharper and they never sounded better,” said Bedford band parent Monica Vafiades.

 “It was a very emotional experience to see these kids who’ve worked so hard to get here,” said band parent Sharley Robertson. “When I saw my daughter Samantha, it brought tears to my eyes.”

before the parade they gathered in Frontierland, where Disney staff led them through discretely placed doors where the “magic happens.”

Behind a gate the kids and adults were welcomed into a private world that is usually shielded from visitors. they were given a talk by Disney staff and shown to a space designated just for them, with changing rooms, plenty of water and a practice area. Just before they went on – Bedford was the first of three bands scheduled Monday – they got into formation where Disney staff conducted a final uniform inspection.

And then they were marching. “When the gate opened and they announced our name, it was unbelievable,” said junior Alisa Granada. “There were all these people and they were cheering. It was crazy.”

a Disney staffer shepherding the students through their appearance in the park told them that the marching band tradition goes back to Disney’s early years in California, when Walt Disney wanted all park visitors to feel at home. what better way than to invite band kids from every main street in America to participate on Main Street, USA?

So Bedford’s Marching Band performed under a cloudy sky in 85-degree heat, while Julia Simoneau, 9, and Ellie Ferguson, 12, both sisters of band members, carried the Bedford High Marching Band banner and led the group along the same route all parades follow at Walt Disney World.

It is an event that will stay with the students.

“I started and ended the show,” said senior Areen Kalantari, 17. “I hit the first note and I hit the last note. It was amazing.”

For some kids, like junior Augustine Villanueva, 17, it was a real kick from beginning to end. “I wasn’t nervous at all,” he said. Senior Aryn Colonero, 18, felt the same way. “It was phenomenal, incredible, like nothing I've done before,” he said.

While the casually dressed spectators cooled themselves with spritzes of water and ice cream, the band members wore their traditional Bedford-blue-and-black twill uniforms with thick braid, half capes and 10-inch plumes, and tried to keep cool thoughts. To onlookers on the sidelines, they stood tall and looked crisp.

 almost all of the kids who marched on Monday had been to Walt Disney World before. Many noted that watching the parade during past visits had been a highlight. So for them, their participation Monday as “stars of the show” was particularly poignant.

“I’ve seen the parade three times,” said sophomore Jackie Nguyn, 16. “but I never thought I'd be in it.”

Bedford High School band marches to a magical beat