On Sunday, December 2nd, the Bel Air Town Alliance hosted the 23rd annual Christmas Parade and Tree Lighting in downtown Bel Air.
There were many characters in the parade, including Ferrous, the Oriole Bird, the Grinch, Frosty the Snowman, McGruff the Crime Dog and , course, Santa and Mrs. Claus. There were also various groups from Harford County such as the Hoppin’ Hawks, the Humane Society of Harford County, the Titan Drums Corps, the Toy for Tots train, and Boy and Girl Scouts troops.
Also in the parade were multiple high school marching bands from all over Harford County. This included the marching band from Bel Air High comprised of Bel Air High School students.
Mr. Domenico, director of the Bel Air High School Marching Band stated , “The band always does a good job at this parade. This year we were a bit bigger than in the past, as we continue to grow. We took up a whole city block this year.”
The Bel Air Band kept with its tradition of leading the parade. They performed a marching band version of Santa Claus is Coming to Town along with their marching band cadence played by their drum line.
“We did one after school evening practice, and we did one morning practice when the administration let them get out of class and we had like a in-school field trip to practice.” said Mr. Domenico about the preparation for the event. He added that, “during our classes all 3 bands have been rehearsing the music we played in the parade for about 2 or 3 weeks.”
The band will be performing next when they travel to Orlando, FL in late February 2013 to perform in the Laser Light Parade during Magic Music Days in Disney World. This will be their third time playing in the parade.