High school marching band prepares

Lorain High will march in Detroit Thanksgiving Day parade

The Lorain High School marching band is one of the many participants marching in America’s Thanksgiving Parade in Detroit.

The annual parade will begin at 8:50 a.m. Nov. 23.

“We have the marching band, flag corps and dancers representing our school in the parade,” said Tim Sivik, director of bands and orchestra at Lorain High School. “I think it’s something that everyone is looking forward to.”

Sivik said this is the first time the band has

marched in America’s Thanksgiving Parade.

“We haven’t done anything on Thanksgiving before,” he said. “This will be a new experience in that regard.”

Sivik said, however, the band has participated in parades in the past.

“We’ve performed in parades in both New York and Chicago, so this will not be an entirely new experience for the band,” he said. “We try to set up something like this every year or so.

“We typically try just about anything and I’m glad we can be apart of this one.”

WEWS-TV 5 will broadcast the parade locally. It’s expected that 65 million homes can view the parade nationally.

“This one is nice because family and friends can see the band without traveling,” Sivik said. “We will be near the front of the parade, so everyone should look for us then.”

Sivik said the band was chosen to participate in the parade.

“We had to fill out an application and include what we had done in prior parades,” he said. “We also had to include a video of the band performing.

“I’m not sure how many bands were considered, but I’m glad we will be there.”

Sivik said there also will be a battle of the bands style contest during the parade.

“There will be a contest during the parade that will allow people to go online and vote for the band they feel performed the best during the parade,” he said. “Go to wdiv.com, and go to the battle of the bands section, to vote.

“The band with the most votes will receive a trophy. It’ll be a long shot, because we’re not one of the local Detroit bands, but you never know.”

“We typically try just about anything and I’m glad we can be apart of this one.”

— Tim Sivik, director of bands and orchestra at Lorain High School