Hollywood High on the Upbeat : Music: It’s band has been out of the Christmas march for 8 years. But this time, the parade will not pass it by.
The Hollywood High School marching band, such a sad excuse for a band that it has been unwelcome in the Hollywood Christmas Parade for eight years, will be back in the lineup Sunday, with snappy new uniforms, a renewed spirit and a host of new members.
It has been a long road back to respectability for the band, which at one point lacked enough members to form the H in Hollywood. As far as the Sheiks are concerned, they have arrived.
“This is going to be our crowning glory,†said band director Joe Montgomery. “Two years ago we had seven people.â€
The band now boasts 99 members, although only 50 will strike up “Christmas Greetings,†their chosen song, in the parade. The reason: For all their progress, the Sheiks only have enough red-white-and-silver uniforms to outfit half of their members.
“It’s done amazing things in terms of raising the spirits of the entire school,†said Montgomery, in his third year as director. “You start a fire and it spreads.â€
The school’s inability to secure a place for its band in the parade has been a source of embarrassment.
After all, for decades the band traditionally led the parade.
Since 1982, in the eyes of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, the parade sponsor, the band did not measure up to parade standards. Some years, the band was too small to apply. One year, chamber officials said they were excluding the band to “protect the quality†of the nationally televised parade.
For years, the band has been impoverished. Members had to provide their own white jeans and sneakers to go with the red imitation-satin jackets supplied by the school. The school did not have much of a music program.
Over the years, the school has changed from the mostly white, middle-class institution that Carol Burnett, Lana Turner and other celebrities attended, into one of the most ethnically diverse schools in the nation. Its 2,000 students, about 80% of them immigrants, speak an estimated 80 languages. Many must struggle to master English and pass their courses, and many work after school to help support their families.
“They had so many ethnic groups, no one wanted to play an instrument. . . . All they wanted to do was study,†said parade chairman John Golden.
Enter Montgomery. Undaunted by the diversity and language barriers, he began recruiting musicians. Among those marching in the parade will be a Chinese trumpet player, a Vietnamese drummer, a Hungarian drum majorette, an Armenian bell player and a Salvadoran saxophonist.
As band members prepared for yet another after-school practice on Tuesday, they could barely contain their excitement.
“Since we came from my country, we’ve always watched the parade. But we never saw Hollywood (High School) in it,†said the Salvadoran saxophonist, Jose Guzman, 18. “We’re making Hollywood come alive again--that’s how I feel.â€
Chamber officials, stung by criticism over barring the band, have contributed about $10,000 in the past two years for uniforms and new instruments. Musician Herb Alpert kicked in another $5,000. In all, more than $50,000 has been raised.
Montgomery says the band has no intention of resting on its laurels.
“Next year,†he said, “we would like to lead the parade.â€
The parade starts Sunday at 6 p.m. at Sunset Boulevard and Van Ness Avenue. It will proceed west on Sunset to Highland Avenue, north to Hollywood Boulevard, east to Bronson Avenue.
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