Belpre High School Assistant Band Director Robin White was recognized for his participation in the Service Through Music Initiative that is part of his participation in the Band Directors Marching Band at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. (Photo provided by Robin White)

BELPRE — Belpre High School Assistant Band Director Robin White was recognized for his participation in the Service Through Music Initiative, which is part of the Band Directors Marching Band that participated at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

He got involved with the Band Directors Marching Band a few years ago when he ran across a Facebook post offering the opportunity to apply to march in the Rose Parade in Pasadena, Calif. It had been a dream of White’s to at least attend the parade, but the idea of being a part of it was beyond his comprehension. He decided to apply and found out a few months later that he’d been accepted. Although they were postponed a year due to the pandemic, everything came together to assemble the Saluting America’s Band Directors Project’s first Band Director’s Marching Band for the 2022 Rose Parade.

The band is a project of the Michael D. Sewell Foundation, a Pickering-based foundation that recognizes the importance of music education.

Once they finished the Rose Parade, there was a strong desire to continue the project. The band leaders were contacted by the organizers of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and invited to participate this year. More than 900 directors applied for a spot, 400 were selected with 61 of them from Ohio, including White.

The band’s Service Through Music program highlights contributions bands make to their communities while also giving musicians a way to share in the values and ideals of Saluting America’s Band Directors, according to the organization’s website, banddirectorsalute.org.

Belpre High School Assistant Band Director Robin White was recognized for his Service Through Music Project with his cast of Newsies’ performance of “Stand in the Light.” (Image provided by Robin White)

This year, since the band was performing in New York, the project focused on the efforts of first responders, not only on 9/11, but all around the country, every day.

The band was asked to use a performing ensemble to pay tribute to local first responders. Members were invited to submit a video of them playing an arrangement of “Amazing Grace,” and organizers compiled it into a group video. More than 100 people submitted videos, and the end result was released on 9/11.

White chose to do something a little different for his Service Through Music project since he had a strong love of musical theater. He was in the midst of directing “Disney’s Newsies” at the Actors Guild of Parkersburg and told his cast about his opportunity.

“They were so excited that I thought it would be special to involve them in this project. I chose the song ‘Stand in the Light,’ and we learned it before our final performance of the show,” White said. “We gathered on stage, recorded the song and compiled a video tribute for first responders as well as others encouraging bravery and to stand in the light and be true to who they are.”

The Band Directors Marching Band was also part of a wreath-laying Ceremony at the 9/11 Memorial in New York prior to the parade. They performed “The Star-Spangled Banner,” “Taps” and “Amazing Grace.”

Around 400 people were selected for this year’s Band Director’s Marching Band with 61 of them being band directors from Ohio. (Photo provided by Robin White)

“After the ceremony, we filed out of the memorial area, and there was such a peaceful silence among all of the directors,” White said. “It was an incredibly special performance and something I will never forget.”

Before the parade, the band organization had a banquet where every director that submitted a Service Through Music project was recognized with a plaque. White said receiving the plaque was a “nice gesture and was also very humbling”.

White said that his journey with the band was a “whirlwind” and that the organizers did a tremendous job with the details. White spoke of several highlights from each day leading up to the parade from the first rehearsal to rehearsing in Herald Square in front of Macy’s.

White said their day at Herald Square began Thursday at 1:45 a.m. and lasted until 3 a.m., where they practiced the TV portion of their performance, and then it was parade time. The route is 2.5 miles, but White said that the crowd’s enthusiasm made it fly by.

“I knew the general area where my family had secured a spot for viewing and I kept watch. As we approached, I could hear them yelling and I spotted them jumping up and down,” said White. “Of course, I waved furiously, and shed a few tears. It meant so much having them there to experience this with me.”

On Thursday, the band started their day at 1:45 a.m., rehearsed at Herald Square around 3 a.m. where they practiced the tv portion of their performance, and then it was parade time. The route is 2.5 miles, but White said that the crowd’s enthusiasm made it fly by. (Photo provided by Robin White)

After the parade, the director of the band had them play Amazing Grace one last time, which White says made him very emotional and the “experience was something that I just wanted to remember every single moment and the sound of the music all around me will forever be in my heart”.

White says that he doesn’t take his membership in the Band Director’s Marching Band lightly.

“I have always been a part of the ‘small school community’ both as a student and as an educator. My experiences in the Tournament of Roses Parade and now the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade have impacted my life beyond my imagination,” White said. “I want students in this area to see that just because they are from a small area, doesn’t mean they can’t do big things. You have to dream it. You have to take chances. You have to go for it. In the BDMB we believe that “the band makes us strong” — and I believe this with all my heart. Music makes us strong.”

White’s history with local arts goes all the way back to his elementary school days when his music teacher, Maxine Whitehead, became a huge inspiration to him and showed him how much music and theater go hand in hand.

“Growing up, I was fortunate to have wonderful music teachers all through school,” he said. “As an educator, I’ve always included music in my classroom, regardless of the subject I was teaching. Music has a way to transform the most boring topic into something magical.”

On Thursday, the band started their day at 1:45 a.m., rehearsed at Herald Square around 3 a.m. where they practiced the tv portion of their performance, and then it was parade time. The route is 2.5 miles, but White said that the crowd’s enthusiasm made it fly by. (Photo provided by Robin White)

White became involved with the Actors Guild of Parkersburg many years ago and has directed musicals with both young people and adults.

In later years, Whitehead attended shows at the Actors Guild of Parkersburg directed by White and it “meant the world to have her in the audience”.

“For me, one of the most exciting parts of a musical is when the orchestra hits the downbeat and signals that something exciting is about to unfurl in front of your eyes,” he said. “I love the nuances in the music throughout the show and how it communicates a character’s innermost thoughts or desires.”

Gretchen Dowler can be reached at gdowler@newsandsentinel.com.

On Thursday, the band started their day at 1:45 a.m., rehearsed at Herald Square around 3 a.m. where they practiced the tv portion of their performance, and then it was parade time. The route is 2.5 miles, but White said that the crowd’s enthusiasm made it fly by. (Photo provided by Robin White)

Around 400 people were selected for this year’s Band Director’s Marching Band with 61 of them being band directors from Ohio. (Photo provided by Robin White)