We've Got The County Covered
We've Got The County Covered
On Wednesday, December 31, members of the Band Directors Marching Band, including Dan Owens from Harlem, traveled to Arcadia High School where they practiced on a closed-off street so that bands could rehearse their marching sequences.
Selected from Harlem High School's Music Department, Dan Owens participated in the Band Directors Marching Band at the 2026 Rose Parade in Pasadena, California, on January 1.
Mr. Dan Owens, Band/Music Instructor at Harlem High School played the sousaphone-tuba while marching with the Band Directors Marching Band at the 2026 Rose Parade in Pasadena, California. The parade began at 8:00 a.m. Pacific Time, and his group was 65th in line, approximately the middle of the parade.
The annual presentation of flora celebrated its 137th year with spectators forced to wear rain gear, the first inclemently rainy parade day since 2006. According to the parade website, this year's theme: The Magic in Teamwork intended to honor "the sense of accomplishment in knowing that by working together, we can collectively achieve outcomes so much richer than we can ever experience as individuals." Former Los Angeles Lakers star Earvin "Magic" Johnson served as the parade's grand marshal.
About his involvement, Owens reported that he was selected after completing an application process. Band directors from all 50 states, Mexico, Canada, Panama, and Japan participated in the event.
Owens left Montana on Sunday, December 28 and returned on Saturday, January 3. Although he had to make his own arrangements to reach California, once there, Grueninger Music Tours handled travel to and from the airport, hotel accommodations, meals, and related incidentals.
Commenting on his participation, Owens stated: "This trip has been an experience of a lifetime. To be among such fabulous musicians from all across the country and the world has truly been amazing. I have so many memories from this trip that it's hard to narrow the most memorable aspect of the entire experience down to just one thing. But if I had to name something, I would have to say the professionalism and camaraderie. From the moment I got to the first rehearsal, everyone was friendly and welcoming."
The band's first rehearsal was held in the Westin Bonaventure Hotel on the night of their arrival. On Monday and Tuesday, the group practiced on Glendale Community College's football field, while on Wednesday they traveled to Arcadia High School where members practiced on a closed-off street so that they could rehearse their marching sequences.
Sponsored by the Michael D. Sewell Memorial Foundation, Saluting America's Band Directors is a project in keeping with the Foundation's mission "to recognize and carry on the work of the late Mike Sewell, who dedicated his life to the school and community music programs in Pickerington and the Central Ohio area for nearly 40 years." Founded in 2017, the organization serves "to enhance, support, and assist the arts at both a local and a national level for specially considered musical efforts," events like the Rose Parade.
According to the Foundation's website, "The extraordinary dedication and accomplishments of band directors are well known to their students, to their families, to parents and to school teachers and administrators. These dedicated music educators and leaders work long hours to not only teach and conduct music, but to teach life itself. Student lives in particular are positively changed by motivational leaders who teach, inspire, and mentor them. For this reason, we chose the theme for our project to be America's Band Directors: We teach music. We teach life."
When asked how this experience might impact his work with students, Owens responded: "I think we showed our students that even band directors can get together and move people with music. If you try, you can achieve most anything."
