Pulaski Red Raiders band heads to D.C.

Tom Busch made this trip before — in 2002. It was only nine months after Islamic terrorists attacked the World Trade Center. Fear of another attack on U.S. soil lingered in his conscience. So before Busch led his 150-odd Pulaski Marching Band to Washington D.C. for the nationally renowned national Independence Day Parade on July 4, 2002, he needed to gauge the fear factor.

More than 300,000 people in one area, plus the thousands of performers. A sensation of trepidation was natural. So Busch took a straw poll with the parents of the band members to decide whether or not to attend the parade. The final call was virtually unanimous.

“We said, ‘Listen. This is our birthday, our celebration. These are our kids who have this opportunity. We aren’t going to let the (terrorists) tell us what to do. They want us to be afraid to do things. That’s what terrorism does,’” Busch recalled. “We said, ‘Let’s do our best and God help us that nothing should happen.’”

The experience was a booming success. Through sultry heat, the Pulaski High School musicians represented their state along with one other marching band from Wisconsin. Six years later, they represent the entire Midwest. For whatever reason (gas prices, Busch guessed), Wisconsin’s surrounding states aren’t sending any bands to the parade. Tuesday, Pulaski rolled out four coach buses packed with 170 students.

Gov. Jim Doyle has even pronounced this year’s Fourth of July in Wisconsin as Pulaski High School Red Raider Marching Band Day.

“We don’t just speak for Wisconsin,” Busch said. “We’re doing our best to represent our region.”

The marching band squeaked one last practice in Friday morning before leaving for D.C. at 1 p.m. The Red Raiders circumnavigated the high school parking lot with Busch tracking their path, providing last-second pointers. On Friday, Pulaski will join 25 other United States marching bands on Constitution Avenue for an honorable experience that lasts a lifetime.

“When you get the chance to do things that are a little more nationally recognized like Macy’s or the Tournament of Roses, they’re wonderful experiences for kids because it’s such a memory-maker,” said Busch, who has been the director of Bands at Pulaski for 14 years.

The Tuesday-to-Sunday D.C. trip is not one-dimensional, either. More like a midsummer vacation. The group will visit the White House, Arlington Cemetery, Mt. Vernon and the U.S. Capital building. They’ll also attend the PBS-televised “A Capitol Fourth” concert, which will include performances by Jimmy Smits, Huey Lewis and the news and Taylor Hicks. For the cherry on top the Pulaski students will visit Six Flags in Maryland on their final day. In 2002, Busch was skeptical. The heat. The fears. The long parade. And frankly, he thought the teens may view the D.C. trip as a drag — six days eaten out of their summer. All doubts were quickly erased.

“They said they really enjoyed it and had a great time,” Busch said. That’s the reason we’re going back.

“When you get to do something like this when you’re the representative in an honorable position, that’s by no means subpar or substandard. This is big time. This is very important. Visiting our nation’s capitol is something you’d hope every American gets the opportunity to do.”

For the parade, Pulaski will pound out the state song, “On Wisconsin” and “Patriots on Parade” — a remix of different patriotic numbers. The parade officially begins at 11:45 a.m. Friday and consists of between 120-130 units. Busch said his marching band is toward the end, in the 110-range.

As part of the festivities, drum major Lystra Charnon will lay the wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The senior-to-be “freaked out” a month ago when she found out she’d perform the vaunted ritual. Charnon was visibly stoked Friday.

“I’m really excited,” the 17-year-old Charnon said. “It’s going to be really long and really hot, but I think it’s worth it. We’ve been counting the days down. Just representing the whole Midwest is really awesome.”

The marching band is a conglomeration of three groups at Pulaski High School — freshmen, concert and the upper-level wind ensemble. Over the past three weeks, the group has had three-hour rehearsals on Tuesday and Thursday nights. Color guard members and percussionists started an hour b before, equating to eight hours of practice per week.

The hard part’s done.

“This is the culmination of that,” Busch said. “I just try to have the students have some type of perspective. You work hard to play hard. We put in our effort and do our best and then when we get there it’s ‘OK. We’ve done our practice — now let’s enjoy the sights and sounds of everything Washington D.C. has to offer and just relax.”

Pulaski has become a marching band institution. A second appearance in the National Independence Day Parade further imprints their status on the national map, Busch said. Charnon and baritone sax incoming junior Alex Smithback said they’re proud to represent their school, their state, and this July — the entire Midwest.

“The band before us got us into it and now we’re trying to get younger kids involved,” Smithback said.

Added Charnon, “It’s a lot of honor and responsibility because all the people behind you have worked so hard so you have to keep that going for everyone else.”

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Pulaski Red Raiders band heads to D.C.

Tom Busch made this trip before — in 2002. It was only nine months after Islamic terrorists attacked the World Trade Center. Fear of another attack on U.S. soil lingered in his conscience. So before Busch led his 150-odd Pulaski Marching Band to Washington D.C. for the nationally renowned national Independence Day Parade on July 4, 2002, he needed to gauge the fear factor.

Businesses owing city money denied licenses

Beer and liquor, soda, cigarette and amusement licenses were in limbo Tuesday for five businesses due to unpaid property taxes and other bills owed to the city.

The following is a list of July 4 events (along with some July 3, 5 and 6 events) to help you plan a weekend full of celebrations. By a production error, the event listing from last year was printed in the June 26 Spotlight. The Shawano Leader regrets the error and any confusion it may have caused.

Gresham