Two school districts from the North Hills marched in the nation’s largest two St. Patrick’s Day parades — in New York and Chicago — during festivities March 17.
Hampton High School’s marching band ambled up Columbus Drive near Lake Michigan in Chicago, while its counterparts from Shaler Area High School marched parallel to Central Park on Fifth Ave. in New York.
Though his band is no stranger to large-scale events, Hampton band director Chad Himmler said Chicago’s famed parade was the largest his students had ever participated in.
The experience was aided, he said, by clear skies and warm weather, phenomena which often are few and far between during Chicago’s winter.
The band, he said, played its rendition of The Who’s 1969 classic “Pinball Wizard,” which Himmler said made the group sound “strong.”
Having participated in Washington’s National Cherry Blossom Festival Parade and Louisville’s Kentucky Derby Parade, Hampton senior Alaina Pursh, a member of the color guard, said she ultimately preferred Chicago’s event. Observed by a national audience, Pursh said it was especially cool to hear the school announced before the green-clad crowd.
In between stops at Notre Dame and Northwestern universities, Himmler said students also had the chance to see Windy City landmarks such as Wrigley Field, Willis Tower and Cloud Gate, more commonly known as “the Bean.” After the parade, students said they also caught a glimpse of the Chicago River, which the city dyes green for the occasion.
Shaler Area students in New York found themselves on Broadway to see a showing of “Aladdin” after spending some time at the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, according to Shaler Area choir director Kristin Tepshich.
As for the parade, Tepshich said the gathering of millions of spectators and thousands of performers was “organized chaos.”
“People were saying, ‘Welcome, Pittsburgh, we’re so happy to have you in New York,’ and you could see little smirks on their faces,” Tepshich said. “It was very special.”
But even if students were “exhausted” by the end, Shaler Area band director George Tepshich said they were “super excited” as they made their way from 44th to 79th streets in Manhattan.
In the future, both Tepshichs said they will seek out other large-scale events for Shaler Area students.
“I think it’s really exciting to put our small town on a national stage, so I hope we keep finding other parades like this,” Kristin Tepshich said.
