From staff reports
Dalton Daily Citizen
DALTON — The Dalton High School Marching Band will perform in the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Savannah on Wednesday, said band director David Henry.
“It’s the second-largest St. Patrick’s Day Parade in the U.S.,” Henry said on Monday. “We had to apply in December, and the school board granted us the days out of school. There will be 50 or more bands performing.”
The band of about 90 students will leave Dalton Tuesday around 4 p.m., then be ready to march at 10:15 a.m. on Wednesday. Their choice of music is “It Better Be Tonight” by Michael Buble, a tune with a Latin flavor, Henry said.
The band will tour Fort Pulaski on one of the outer islands for a slice of Civil War history Wednesday afternoon, then stop in Macon on Thursday for a visit to the Georgia Music Hall of Fame.
“This is the first time the band has done an out-of-town parade in a long time,” said Henry, a 1978 DHS grad who took over the band in 2004. “Dalton High marched at the 1965 inauguration of LBJ (President Lyndon Baines Johnson) and in the 1987 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade (in New York City). We’re thankful to the school board, and to Superintendent (Jim) Hawkins and Principal (Debbie) Freeman for going all out to help us do this, and to the band boosters for paying for most of the trip.”
Henry said the parade will probably only be broadcast regionally on Savannah TV stations.
