Concord Minutemen march on Hollywood

Dec. 1—HOLLYWOOD — Unlike most parades, the Hollywood Christmas Parade stepped off on a red carpet that was all lit up this past Sunday evening.

Concord Band Director Scott Spradling said it was exciting to represent Indiana at a national parade. The Concord Marching Minutemen was the only band from Indiana to take part.

"That was kind of awesome to represent the Hoosier state out in California," he said.

During the two-mile parade, the band marched and played music from about 6:30 p.m. on the West Coast (9:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time) until about 8 or 8:30 p.m. (11 or 11:30 p.m. local). They had to be at the parade three hours prior to stepping off though, he said. So it was a long day.

There were parade watchers throughout the route. All were friendly and yelling "Merry Christmas!" at the band members, Spradling said.

"They were saying thanks for coming and thanks for being here — it's amazing how kind all of the people are (here)," he added, while waiting in line the next day at Disneyland's Star Wars ride. "They went out of their way to be welcoming."

There were even Star Wars characters in the parade. Spradling said an evil Star Wars character asked where the band was from and wanted to know where Elkhart was.

The trip wasn't all about performing, though. The band went to the Pacific Ocean, Disney and Universal Studios. They made the return trip home Wednesday.

Spradling said the kids were all excited and were great to travel with.

"It's cool to see their faces when they get to do things," he said.

Besides the Star Wars encounter, Spradling said some of the highlights were actor Eric Estrada waving at him, seeing some celebrities, including grand marshal Danny Trejo, and there was a lot of cultural representation.