The many cheers and complements received for the community marching band at the Summer Celebration! grand parade proves the point that a parade is not a parade without a marching band.

All sections of the marching band included Island citizens ranging in age from 10 to 93. The trombone line was led by a father-daughter combination: Dave Menz and his 12-year-old daughter, Emily. Other trombonists were Mandy Berman, Michael Finn and Greg Lee. Playing trumpets were Charles Bloom, Mike Gregg, Dan McKnight, Charles Neff and Dani Orman. Saxophonists were Jakob Bloom, Ashley Bobman, Steve Bosette, Ben Fong and Robby Sotelo. Flutists were Zoe Sheill Yang (10) and Caley Petrucci. Mellophone players were Dylan Anderson, Monica Lee and Geoff Ma. Clarinetists were Aaron Azose, Nikole Sotelo and Aidan Wang. Robert Harris was on the snare drum, and Bert Pound was on the cymbals. Providing the bass in the last row were Carla Redmond and Dan Kaputo. Others too numerous to name here helped out, including those who provided sheet music, musical expertise, extra instruments, publicity, rehearsal space and T-shirts, and rounded out our effort.

It has been a pleasure putting this band together for our Island residents. After all, the prime enjoyment of any musician in learning to play an instrument is to play for an appreciative audience. Let’s make sure we continue this tradition next year.

Bert Pound