The Tournament of Roses Parade is a New Year’s Day celebration held in Pasadena, California. This year marked the 137th parade and first rainy day in 20 years. Students from various schools had to compete against one another for a spot to represent Pasadena City College in the parade. Luckily, three students from Cypress High School were able to claim spots and march this year.

“It was pretty difficult. There were a lot of people trying out [and] not a lot of spots open…,” said Senior Owen O’Gara. The audition process is full of surprises, but at the end of the day “the real Rose Parade was the friends we made along the way.”

Another student who marched in the parade was Senior Jayden Vuong. He enjoyed marching with his friends both old and new, but the rain heavily affected him. “My legs and shoes were drenched and my poncho was really foggy. I couldn’t see the person next to me.” Except for the rain, marching in the Rose Parade was “thrilling.”

Not all students hated the rain. Junior Curtis Thurmond said, “It honestly saved me, if I had to wear a shako (a common type of hat worn by marching bands) I would have been sweating more if the sun was up.” The rain helped cancel out the body heat from students, so rather than overheating, they were actually at a normal temperature. There were many things Thurmond enjoyed from this experience, “when we were under a bridge mid-march, our instructor told us to play as loud as we could. It was so fun because I just slammed the bass drum.”

The Rose Parade is an annual event where many organizations and schools come together. Cypress High Band was well-represented this year!