SHS Mighty Sailors to perform in London New Year's Day Parade

Members of the Sarasota High School Mighty Sailor Band will be ringing in the new year five hours before the clock strikes midnight in the United States. The group will be celebrating the arrival of 2015 in London, where they are scheduled to perform in the New Year’s Day Parade.

Anticipation for the performance and trip has been building since the Mighty Sailor Band was formally invited in September 2013 to participate. Since then, the group has been collecting funds for the trip, which costs $3,200 per student. A total of 66 students will join more than 8,500 performers from 20 different countries marching in the parade. Band director John Roseboom attributes the invite to the band’s improvemet over the years.

“I am excited,” he said. “I think this is a great opportunity for the band program and Sarasota High School.
“It’s been a long time since the band’s been out of the country, and it’s great to be on that level where people are inviting us.”

The last international trip that Roseboom recalls for the Mighty Sailor Band was in the 1970s to Mexico City.
A total of 88 students, staff and chaperones will be making the trip. For the six days the group is overseas, the band members plan to take in the sights of Windsor Castle and Cadogan Hall.

Tune in
Spend your morning Jan. 1 watching the New Year’s Day Parade in London and catch the Sarasota High School Mighty Sailor Band perform. The parade will be available for friends and family in the United States to live stream online.

Where: lnydp.com

When: 7 a.m. Eastern time