On August 14th, 1972, a letter was sent home with each of Dover’s band students. The letter informed parents that on November 22, 1972, the band would depart for New York City to march in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. This was a huge opportunity for the school, the band students, and the town.
Preparations for the trip began right away. It would be quite expensive, but the citizens of Dover were ready to help. The band raised more than $12,000 from a chicken barbeque, a September band festival, a concert at the outdoor amphitheater, a collection at a football game, and countless contributions from businesses and clubs. Guy Smith, the former mayor of Dover, held “Tag Day” on Saturday, October 28th of the same year. On this day, the residents of Dover could purchase “Tornado Tags.” These were small signs that could be put on windows to show support for the Marching Tornadoes. They were sold for $1, but most buyers donated much more. After a lot of fundraising, all 130 members of the band were able to go on the trip.
Aside from money, the Marching Tornadoes were exceedingly underprepared for the 2.5 mile parade route in New York City. Dover Band director Fred Delphia was granted access to the Midvale Speedway to help train the Tornadoes for the march. Dover Band Alumnus Eric Botdorf said that “Midvale Speedway is 1/3 of a mile long, so we had to march around it 12 times while playing our Christmas music that we would be playing in the parade.” The band had to run laps, march, and practice non stop to get in shape. It took a lot of hard work, but the Marching Tornadoes took the challenge in stride. They also had one practice on a very cold and rainy Sunday afternoon in downtown Dover. City officials closed parts of Walnut and 3rd street so that the band could practice making the turn from the Macy’s camera area to the end of the parade. After enduring the nonstop practices, they were ready for the parade.
The trip to New York was an exciting one, especially for the band. For many of the students, this was their first time taking a trip in charter buses, rather than regular school buses. In the days leading up to the trip, the town square was adorned with a large banner that read: “This is the land of the Great Dover Band.”
On the evening of November 22, the band gathered at the high school before departing for New York. The chaperones were introduced, luggage was stored under the buses, and final preparations were made. The buses left the high school at 10 pm. Class of 1976 piccolo player, Marcia Lukens, had this to say about the start of her trip: “Our send off out of town was so exciting as it seemed almost everyone who lived in Dover lined the street by the high school to cheer us on.” After all the excitement of their departure had cleared, the band members settled in for a night-long drive to the big city.
“Most of us had never been to NYC and we were very excited going across that bridge and seeing all those huge buildings. We were excited to tour the city and ride the Staten Island ferry past the Statue of Liberty,” said Brenda Rees, a class of 1975 Saxophone player. Upon arrival in New York, the Tornadoes would stay in the Statler-Hilton Hotel. About half of the students had never stayed in a hotel, adding to the excitement. Band members were packed into rooms in groups of four, taking up around 34 rooms just for the students. Being that the chaperones were in charge of over 100 high schoolers, they had to deal with a plethora of problems. For example, Marcia Lukens’s suitcase got stuck under a bus seat. “My piccolo was in my carry-on suitcase. I couldn’t get it out. I told the bus driver and he said “sure your instrument is in your suitcase, I will believe it when I see it.” They had to unbolt the seat to get it out and I actually had to show him my piccolo. That was the start of my trip.” Eric Botdorf mentioned that “there were 2 band members that forgot their pants. Needless to say, they didn’t get to participate in any performances with the band.”
Their first performance was in New Rochelle for a night Christmas Parade. The next morning, the Tornadoes had to wake up at 4am and get ready for a camera and sound check with NBC before the Macy’s parade. Being that it was late November, mornings in New York could reach extremely low temperatures and were far from comfortable. According to Brian Botdorf, a trombone player from the class of 1976, “one of the things that most people don’t realize with the Macy’s Parade is that there is a dress rehearsal in front of the Macy’s building at 4:00 a.m so the television networks can get camera angles for the live performance during the parade right. Back in 1972, at that time in the morning, the temperature was below freezing. The wind was whipping through the streets, around all the skyscrapers, making the wind chill almost unbearable. The trumpets, mellophones, baritones, and sousaphones all had issues with their valves freezing shut. I am a trombone player and that is the only time I experienced my trombone slide freezing to the point where I couldn’t move it. Luckily the sun came out that morning and warmed the temperature above freezing. The band had no problems playing in the parade.”
During the parade, it was only 27 degrees outside but otherwise clear and sunny weather. Class of 1974 Majorette Kim Sowinski had this to say about the performance. “I remember my fingers almost being frozen and just hoping I didn’t drop my baton. We were all too excited to notice otherwise.” Brenda Rees mentioned that she “played saxophone, but our brass had to be concerned about their valves and slides freezing so they came up with a mixture I believe of kerosene and winter green oil which worked great.”
As the excitement set in, the band got into place behind Cinderella’s float. Aside from keys and slides freezing, the band members had a lot of fun in the parade. Brenda Rees said that “Singer Freda Payne was in front of us singing Band Of Gold and it was so hard to hear our cue to start marching but we did it. It was awesome to hear our sound coming off of those tall buildings…Betty White and Raymond Burr were the hosts for the Macy’s Parade so that’s why we played the theme from Ironside which was the show on NBC that Raymond was on.” Marcia Lukens mentioned that “When we performed, the crowd went wild and cheered, it still brings goose bumps to me. An experience I will never forget.”
After the parade, the band went back to the Statler-Hilton Hotel to watch the rest of the parade. They were treated to Thanksgiving dinner at Mamma Leone’s restaurant in Manhattan. To celebrate the holiday, the restaurant had a live turkey in a cage sitting in the entryway.
In addition to Macy’s parade, the band performed in New Rochelle, Saint Reynolds church, and marched in a Christmas parade in the Bronx. They were invited to watch a performance of a drum and bugle corp called the New York Knickerbockers. They got to spend time shopping at the original Macy’s department store, and see a play at Radio City Music Hall. Kim Sowinski shared that “it was amazing walking around New York City and looking up at all those tall buildings, having never been out of Ohio very much in my life; let alone the big city.”
After their last day in New York, the band left the city and spent the night at Stewart Air Force Base. The next morning, they enjoyed breakfast at the base and made a stop at West Point Military Academy for a tour.
At noon that day, it was time to head home. After a little bus trouble, they were on their way. Traffic through northern Pennsylvania was bumper-to-bumper because of the holiday weekend and hunting season. As if that didn’t slow them enough, they ran into a heavy snowstorm, and had to drive very carefully. They had made arrangements with a restaurant to arrive for dinner at 6, but didn’t end up making it until 10pm that night. According to Brenda Rees, “we were to be home around 10:30 that night, but because of the weather we didn’t get back into town until 3am and still had to go to school in the morning. We tried real hard to convince our principal Robert Shrock and Superintendent Bill Kinneer to let us off, but they said no.”
When the band got to Bolivar, they were met with a police escort. Cars were crowded along the Dover exit and most of Commercial Parkway to provide a caravan back to the school. Even though it was 3 in the morning, the residents of Dover were lining the streets to welcome the band home. Signs were posted at the homes of every band member that read “Welcome Home Marching Tornadoes”.
These were the final thoughts of the band alumni who shared their stories.
Eric Botdorf: “Coming home was awesome. As I remember, it looked like the entire city of Dover greeted us. They treated us like heroes.”
Brenda Rees: “We were tired but so glad to be home from a trip that still means so much to all of us.”
Brian Botdorf: “as a freshman, New York City, the Macy’s Parade and everything in-between was bigger than life.”
Marcia Lukens: “We really were the best band, of which I have so many wonderful memories.”
Kim Sowinski: “It was a pretty amazing site to see flashing lights and all the cars lined up to welcome us home. Truly emotional!”
Performing in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade was a once-in-a lifetime experience for the Marching Tornadoes and surely one they will never forget.
Thank you to Eric and Brian Botdorf, Brenda Rees, Marcia Lukens, and Kim Sowinski for their contributions to this article.
Photos courtesy of Kim Sowinski
