On March 17th 2023, Emerson Jr./Sr. High School’s Marching Band and Color Guard went into New York City to perform for the St. Patrick’s Day Parade. A Coach bus was rented, and the students left at 10:15 am and arrived at around 11:30 am at their eagerly-anticipated destination.

From 11:30 am until around 2:00 pm, the Emerson Jr./Sr. High School Marching Band marched around East 44th Street, ending at East 79th Street. It was all because of Michael Lione, EHS’s Marching Band Director, and the music sponsors for making this trip possible for the marching band!

Lione explained that EHS’s Marching Band has performed before in the NYC St. Patrick’s Day Parade (as early as 1971 and then between 2011-2017) before this year’s performance.

It’s an honor for all involved, and so he’s looking forward to EHS participating in next year’s parade and beyond.  He’s not alone.

“I liked being able to be a part of the parade because I was able to go back and colorguard with my friends. I feel like I would definitely do it again because I had so much fun during the parade,” said Color Guard member Olivia Karathomas.

Isabella Hassett, also a part of EHS’s Color Guard Team, exclaimed, “ It was such a fun experience to be part of something so well known across the country. We put so much work into it, and I hope everyone who saw us was able to tell.”

Ms. Pascual, the advisor for EHS’s Color Guard, stated, “I’ve had a great time getting to know the Color Guard this year. There have definitely been a few changes since I started working with the team, but they’ve been able to adapt and work through them. This was our second parade this season and we have one more coming up. (Join us in the city for the Greek Independence Day parade on 4/30!) It’s a great way to represent Emerson and get our name out. We’ve had a great season, and I’m really looking forward to next year!”

Whether you saw the parade live, on tv, or online, it was definitely great to see Emerson represent!