Modesto father and son will march in Rose Parade on New Year’s. Part of huge bagpipe band

John Holland
·2 min read
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Michael Akard of Modesto and his son, Elisha, will march with 54 other bagpipers in the Rose Parade.

The 135th annual event will take place on New Year’s Day in Pasadena and be televised live nationwide.

The Akards were chosen for an entry called Pipes on Parade, which also will have Celtic drummers and dancers from around the United States.

Michael Akard teaches English as a second language at Modesto Junior College, aiding students from various countries. In his free time, he enjoys bagpipes and other aspects of his own Scottish ancestry.

Elisha studied history at MJC and Stanislaus State University. He is working on a master’s degree in history and archaeology at Veritas University in Albuquerque.

Bagpiper and author Michael Akard has published a history of the bagpipes. Photographed in Modesto, Calif., on Thursday, Oct. 7, 2021.
Bagpiper and author Michael Akard has published a history of the bagpipes. Photographed in Modesto, Calif., on Thursday, Oct. 7, 2021.

The Modesto Bee featured Michael Akard in 2021, when he published a bagpipe history. The book recounts how the instrument rallied ancient warriors on the battlefield. Today, bagpipes sound off at funerals, weddings and other events.

One bagpiper is plenty loud, let alone the 56 who will march Monday. The player begins by blowing air through a pipe to fill a leather pouch. The air is then squeezed through three other pipes to create a constant drone while the melody is performed on a fifth pipe.

Bagpipers wear kilts with varying designs. In Pasadena, the elder Akard will wear his kilt from the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department’s Honor Guard Pipes and Drums. Elisha’s is from the Emerald Society Pipe Band of Ripon.

The 5.5-mile parade is part of the Tournament of Roses. It also features the afternoon college football game between Michigan and Alabama, a semifinal for the NCAA title.

The parade will run from 8 to 10 a.m. on ABC, NBC, Univision and a few other channels.

About 700,000 people watch along the parade route and another 28 million on TV, the event’s website said. The logistics mean a 3 a.m. wakeup call at the bagpipers’ hotel, Michael Akard said by email.

The online parade guide shows no other Stanislaus County participants. However, the central San Joaquin Valley produced the grand marshal: Broadway star Audra McDonald, who was raised in Fresno.