Watch for locals marching in a 'band of band directors' in the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade

Jordan Laird, Columbus Dispatch
·4 min read
Newark resident Thomas McLeish, 67, a retired band director in Ohio schools, is preparing to march with the Band Directors Marching Band in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. As you might expect, the band is made up of band directors from across the country, and was founded in Pickerington.
Newark resident Thomas McLeish, 67, a retired band director in Ohio schools, is preparing to march with the Band Directors Marching Band in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. As you might expect, the band is made up of band directors from across the country, and was founded in Pickerington.

Watching the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade this year? Keep your eyes and ears open for hundreds of musicians marching in red blazers — it’s a ‘band of band directors’ and it was founded in Pickerington, Ohio.

When 67-year-old Thomas McLeish of Newark steps off from Central Park in New York playing his snare drum, he will be marching for his four grandchildren and all the students he had during his 31-year career as a band director in Ohio schools. He said he wants to show them music is something you can partake in throughout your life.

"I just want them to know that music is a lifetime thing. It’s not something that happens for just a few years while you're in school," McLeish said. "You're never too old."

Newark resident Thomas McLeish, 67, a retired band director in Ohio schools, is preparing to march and play his snare drum with the Band Directors Marching Band in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. He will be honoring his old friend and Otterbein University classmate, Michael D. Sewell, longtime band director at Pickerington High School and Pickerington High School Central, who died in 2017.

McLeish will also be marching for his old friend and Otterbein University classmate, Michael D. Sewell, longtime band director at Pickerington High School and Pickerington High School Central.

Sewell, a champion for music education and a lover of parades, died in 2017 at age 59 — just two years after his retirement.

After his death, his wife Karen Sewell founded the Michael D. Sewell Memorial Foundation and the Saluting America's Band Directors Project.

The project created the Band Directors Marching Band to march in the 2022 Rose Parade in Pasadena, California. Band directors from across the country, from middle school teachers to college band directors, got the opportunity to pick up their instruments again and march.

The Band Directors Marching Band, which was founded in Pickerington, gathered for the first time to march on Jan. 1, 2022 in the Rose Parade in Pasadena, California. Although their uniform in the Rose Parade consisted of black blazers, they will be wearing red blazers in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
The Band Directors Marching Band, which was founded in Pickerington, gathered for the first time to march on Jan. 1, 2022 in the Rose Parade in Pasadena, California. Although their uniform in the Rose Parade consisted of black blazers, they will be wearing red blazers in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Their performance in the Rose Parade was such a hit that Karen Sewell said the organizers of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade reached out to them about applying to be in their parade.

Sewell said a lot of people watch the Macy's parade every year, and she hopes that will spark interest in band.

"We want to get the focus on music education," Karen Sewell said.

Plus, it's nice to give band directors a chance to come together in community and perform. Karen Sewell said Michael would be thrilled to see directors of small bands get a chance to march in a parade they otherwise wouldn't get to be in.

Here are some of the uniforms 67-year-old Thomas McLeish of Newark, a band director in various Ohio schools for many years, collected over his career.
Here are some of the uniforms 67-year-old Thomas McLeish of Newark, a band director in various Ohio schools for many years, collected over his career.

Theresa O'Deens, 25, was one of Sewell's students in Pickerington. She's now Galion City Schools' band director, and she'll be playing her mellophone in the Macy's parade on Thanksgiving.

"I'm really excited about the idea of honoring (Sewell's) legacy and bringing more attention to him and all that he did," O'Deens said. "And it's cool to show students, not only are we teachers, but we can still be performers and do the things we’re asking our students to do."

O'Deens said Sewell and other music educators in her life made her want to become a music teacher. Sewell taught her that not every kid in band will pursue a career in music, she said, but you can still make sure they leave band with a better appreciation of music and a better person.

The Band Directors Marching Band will appear early in the parade, which airs on NBC starting at 9 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day.

Founded in Pickerington, the Band Directors Marching Band gathered for the first time to march on Jan. 1, 2022 in the Rose Parade in Pasadena, Calif.
Founded in Pickerington, the Band Directors Marching Band gathered for the first time to march on Jan. 1, 2022 in the Rose Parade in Pasadena, Calif.

Fun facts about the band

The 385 band directors marching will meet to rehearse together for the first time the week of the parade, but organizers aren't worried. Leadership is confident they'll have practiced and memorized their music for the parade, which includes the show tune "Seventy-Six Trombones" in honor of Sewell, who played the trombone.

This band will be the most experienced marching band ever assembled, said Sanford Meisel, a volunteer who does communications for the group.

The Band Directors Marching Band will appear early in the parade, which airs on NBC starting at 9 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day. The group is pictured here at the Rose Parade in Pasadena, Calif., on Jan. 1, 2022.
The Band Directors Marching Band will appear early in the parade, which airs on NBC starting at 9 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day. The group is pictured here at the Rose Parade in Pasadena, Calif., on Jan. 1, 2022.

Here are some facts about the Band Directors Marching Band in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade:

  • 385 marchers

  • 49 states plus Mexico, Japan and Bangladesh will be represented. Wyoming is the only missing state.

  • 7,162 total years of experience teaching and directing music

  • 645,000 students taught by marchers over the years

  • 77 years old: oldest marcher

  • 61 directors from Ohio

  • 25 marchers worked with Michael Sewell or were his students

  • 73 directors are marching with a family member who is also a band director

Paying their respects in New York

While in New York City, the Band Directors Marching Band also planned to honor first responders with a performance at the World Trade Center site on Nov. 20.

Karen Sewell said this is extra special because Michael Sewell's Pickerington High School Central band was the lead band in the Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York in 2001, about a month after the attack.

And in a different kind of tribute, the band directors band members will wear green heart-shaped pins on their blazers that say 'Daler Strong' in honor of the community in Farmingdale, New York. Farmingdale High School's marching band was on their way to band camp in September when one of their buses crashed, killing their band director, 43-year-old Gina Pellettiere, and a chaperone, 77-year-old Bea Ferrari.

The foundation is also giving the Farmingdale band students a donation to create a memorial at their school, Karen Sewell said.

"Their story touched all of us," Sewell said.

The Band Directors Marching Band, pictured here in Jan. 1, 2022, also plans to honor first responders with a performance at the World Trade Center site, on Nov. 20.
The Band Directors Marching Band, pictured here in Jan. 1, 2022, also plans to honor first responders with a performance at the World Trade Center site, on Nov. 20.

jlaird@dispatch.com

@LairdWrites

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio-founded band directors group to be in Macy's Thanksgiving parade