Members of the Old Bridge Marching Knights perform at the 2014 US Bands Yamaha Cup. On June 3, some 60 members of the marching band will represent the East Coast at ceremonies commemorating the 71st anniversary of the World War II D-Day invasion of Normandy. PHOTO COURTESY OF OLD BRIDGE HIGH SCHOOL OLD BRIDGE — For some, a trip to France is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
On June 3, that opportunity will become a reality for 60 members of the Old Bridge Marching Knights as they represent the East Coast at ceremonies commemorating the 71st anniversary of the World War II D-Day invasion of Normandy.
“I thought it was a joke at first,” said Old Bridge High School (OBHS) freshman Jeanie Wester, recalling her reaction when she learned the marching band was selected to perform in France.
Wester, who plays the clarinet, along with her bandmates — freshman Stephen Perry, tuba; sophomore Jonathan Tam, trumpet; freshman Kristina Schreiber, alto saxophone; and freshman James Parisi, baritone horn — are calling their upcoming trip to France from June 3-10 a “big privilege and honor.”
Melissa Thatcher, who has been band director for nine years, said Earl Hurrey, a retired gunnery sergeant with the United States Marine Corps and a retired member of the President’s Own U.S. Marine Band, contacted her.
“Earl said he had heard about our band and asked if we would be interested in representing the East Coast either for the [commemoration of D-Day] or Pearl Harbor,” she said. “There were a certain number of bands allotted for Pearl Harbor already, so we would have been put on the waiting list. So we decided on the D-Day commemoration.”
The Old Bridge Marching Knights, which has 82 members, is a nationally ranked band that won state and national championships in 2012. Since then, the band has placed in the top five in competitions.
“We are very accomplished,” said Thatcher, who added that the band logs 500 to 600 hours of practice a season. “The [students] have extreme dedication. … This is their life away from home. I’m very proud of them.”
Thatcher said the majority of the music they were able to select includes marches and swing pieces. She said they were asked to put together a small ensemble to play at a 13th-century church where they will perform selections such as “Amazing Grace” and “The Longest Day.”
The band’s first performance will be in the small town of Sainte-Mere-Eglise, which became the first town in France to be liberated by the U.S. Army 82nd Airborne Division. As part of the commemoration, there will be a parade with people dressed in period clothing and vehicles from that era.
“Five bands will participate in the commemoration,” Thatcher said. “Each band will have 20- to 30-minute time slots to play.”
Students will also perform at a cemetery.
During their time in France, students will get plenty of time to sightsee and take a tour of Paris. Some of the places they will visit include the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre museum and Omaha Beach, where the most intensely fought battles took place on D-Day.
To understand the enormity of what happened on June 6, 1944, the students will watch “The Longest Day,” a 1962 war film based on the 1959 book of the same title by Cornelius Ryan, who wrote about the D-Day landings at Normandy, Thatcher said.
The trip costs approximately $3,300 per student, which includes the cost of travel, shipment of instruments, hotel accommodations and food.
Sixty out of 82 members of the band are set to travel to France, along with an army of chaperones made up of band parents and school staff.
The Marching Knights Band Parents Association organized a number of fundraisers that were held throughout the year to help offset the costs for the students, including a dance marathon; Skate Knight, sponsored by Old Bridge Township-owned John Piccolo Ice Arena; a Wine and Cheese Knight; a 5K run; and the first annual Marching Knights Golf Outing.
On May 1, the band held its final fundraising event with a performance by Evan Ruggiero, a 2008 OBHS graduate.
Ruggiero was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a rare bone cancer, when he was a sophomore at Montclair State University pursuing a degree in musical theater. The cancer resulted in the loss of his right leg.
Within 18 months after the amputation and only two days after receiving his prosthetic, Ruggiero was tap dancing again. He currently performs at 54 Below in New York City and has been featured on “The Ellen Show” and “American Idol.”
Other alumni who performed at the fundraising event included drummer Ray Carega, singer-guitarist Brendan Daily, Olivia Polci and Justin Hunt.
Thatcher said donations are still being accepted for the Old Bridge Marching Knights’ trip to Normandy. For more information, visit www.tkob.org.