Gladiola Jimenez, head drum major for the Chaparral High School marching band, looks to the crowd of family and friends gathered to watch during the last practice Monday July 1, 2024, before heading to Washington DC to play at the national July 4th parade.
Wednesday, July 3, 2024 | 2 a.m.
Ahead of a big summer trip to Washington, D.C., this week, Gladiola Jimenez said she was looking forward to seeing the capital’s museums, the Lincoln Memorial, “and of course, the parade.”
The trip is an opportunity for Jimenez to not only see several top tourist attractions but perform on a huge stage with the rest of her fellow artists from the Chaparral High School marching band at the National Independence Day Parade. The invitational show, which will be nationally televised, allows only one marching band per state. The Chaparral Cowboy Pride got the nod from the governor’s office after its performance in last year’s Helldorado Days parade in downtown Las Vegas, when the city named it best marching band.
Jimenez, an incoming senior, will guide her band as it marches a mile along Constitution Avenue, just off the National Mall; as a drum major, she will keep the tempo while displaying showmanship, flair and leadership. Years from now, she will tell her children and grandchildren about the parade, she said.
She said she didn’t know where she would be without band. Her mom and siblings have never missed a football game where she’s performed at halftime. She was honored that her band was selected, and that her teachers have created an energy and culture for the band, she said.
“This is such a special place for me,” Jimenez said.
The Chap band, about 50-strong plus their teachers and chaperones, will be in the capital through Saturday, soaking up the educational and artistic opportunities. Seniors who graduated in May will be back for this last and large hurrah.
To thank their supporters, the band suited up in their sharp black, white and orange uniforms Monday evening to give an abridged run-through of their program on their eastside school’s track and field.
Chris Pierson, one of the band’s two directors, said a band doesn’t succeed without the support of its community.
“We’ve got a strong community right here,” he said.
Support comes from the parents, local government officials and everyone who chipped in money online or by buying candy bars, pretzels, poinsettias or fireworks. Enduring pop icon and Westgate resident headliner Barry Manilow was especially generous, giving the band $25,000 after the students took in one of his shows in March and had a question-and-answer session with his band. (The Chap band is well-versed in classic pop culture; its last two field shows were arrangements of Queen and Santana hits, and next year’s is a Beatles show.)
It was during the visit that Manilow found out the band was to perform at the parade but was still well short of the $75,000 needed. As the band members sat in their bus in the Westgate parking lot about to head home, a representative from the singer’s Manilow Music Project climbed on board to tell them that their funding gap had been closed.
For decades, the Manilow Fund, by way of the associated Manilow Music Project, has given instruments and funds to young musicians, music educators and school programs. Manilow also knows about patriotic Independence Day performances, having headlined “A Capitol Fourth,” a gala concert outside the U.S. Capitol, more than once.
Danny Jensen, another band teacher and director, said he was so grateful for the donation he cried. The band learned Manilow’s “Copacabana” in gratitude.
Matt Parrish, president of the Manilow Fund, wished the band the best of luck in D.C.
“Given Barry’s long association with ‘A Capitol Fourth’ and his tireless work to support music in the classroom through his Manilow Music Project, it was a no-brainer to help these outstanding ‘Chap’ students make the trip to D.C.,” he said in a statement. “We know they will make Nevada proud.”
Kayda Soto, an incoming senior who plays bass drum, said she was nervous to play in Washington, broadcast on national television. But she’ll be able to tell people she’s not only been on the other side of the country — 2,100 miles as the crow flies from the football field where she usually plays — but that she crossed the country for music.
“I didn’t think music would get me this far,” she said.
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