PUHI — For members of the All Kauai marching band, hard work and juggling schedules has been part of the practice routine. During the 2015 Lights on Rice holiday parade, band director Sarah Tochiki was running down Rice Street to
PUHI — For members of the All Kauai marching band, hard work and juggling schedules has been part of the practice routine.
During the 2015 Lights on Rice holiday parade, band director Sarah Tochiki was running down Rice Street to direct both the All Kauai marching band as well as the Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School band, which were both part of the large festive parade.
“We have students who play in both bands, and they were running, too,” Tochiki said. “But this has been part of the routine ever since we started practice.”
Eileen Winters, parade coordinator with the Rotary Club of Kauai, was among the people who noticed this effort.
“We had three bands in the parade,” Winters said. “There is always some magic in having bands in parades, and we had three in the Lights on Rice parade.”
Accompanied by other parade coordinators and fellow Rotarians, Dr. Addison Bulosan, Lani Nagao, and Dr. Tyler Chihara, Winters presented Tochiki with a check for $3,000 to help with their trip to Washington, D.C. where the All Kauai marching band will be performing in the Memorial Day parade.
“We try to do a big event every two years,” Tochiki said. “We have gotten a lot of support from people for this trip, like the Kauai Community College and Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School who allow us to practice on the roads so the kids get an idea of what they’re working with.”
Tochiki said the parade they will participate in is only a little longer than a mile, but they have other engagements scheduled for the trip to the nation’s Capitol, including sit-down performances at the Air Force and Gettysburg.
“There is still a lot of work to do,” Tochiki said.
