Two local musicians have retuirned from Pasadena, California, where they participated in the annual Tournament of Roses parade.
“The Rose Parade is the granddaddy of all parades and the largest crowd I have ever performed for,” said trombonist Paul Blake, of Otego.
Nearly 70 million people watched the parade on television, organizers said. The national and international TV broadcasts are available for replay on multiple YouTube channels by major networks for those who missed it.
The Tournament of Roses Association estimates that another 850,000 to 1 million people attended th parade in person on New Year’s Day.
Both Blake and clarinetist Michelle Fritts, of Springfield Center, were part of a group of 350 band directors who marched in the 137th Rose Parade.
The parade featured 19 marching bands, several equestrian units and multiple floats covered with millions of flowers, sponsored by organizations such as Honda, Disney and Shriner’s Hospital.
Typically, the parade attracts high school, university and military marching bands.
The Michael D. Sewell Memorial Foundation in Central Ohio assembled the 350 band directors from all 50 states, Mexico, Canada and Panama.
It is the first organization to have both a float and a marching band composed solely of band directors in the parade according to a press release from the foundation. The band is named e.
The band directors performed multiple times over their one-week stay in Los Angeles. They played at Bandfest at Pasadena City College a few days before the parade and Floatfest. The floats were on display from Jan. 1 to Jan. 3.
They performed “Strike Up The Saints,” “March Trio Medley,” “Brand New Day,” “76 Trombones” and a new composition of “Amazing Grace.” Musicians received those compositions four to six months in advance. Blake said they memorized them.
The Rose Parade’s theme for 2026 was “The Magic in Teamwork,” celebrating the teamwork needed to put out California’s recent wildfires, as well as the teamwork needed to create the floats. San Francisco’s float featured a 7-foot-tall Bay bridge. The UPS float had a 34-foot-tall seahorse.
The float “One Legacy Donate life” was parked next to the foundation’s float, Blake said.
First, the band honored the firefighters and first responders who worked to extinguish the wildfires that ravaged California in 2025. Next, conductor Jon Waters had his band directors play “Amazing Grace” again for families who lost loved ones and who donated their organs to save other lives.
That was a highlight of the trip for both Blake and Fritts, they said. They learned that one of their fellow band directors had lost an 8-year-old daughter. Her caricature was part of the organ donors’ float, Fritts said.
“There was not a dry eye in the room as we played for those families,” Blake said.
“Musicians are specifically called to use their skills and gifts to inspire and lift up the community,” the foundation said.
The wife of the late Mike Sewell, a band director from Ohio, is the catalyst behind the project.
Fritts marched with the Foundation in the Rose Parade in 2022 and returned in 2026. “Opportunities to march for adults are practically non-existent,” she said.
It was Blake’s first time participating. Blake described his experience as “absolutely amazing” and said, “It was a lifelong dream and bucket list item.”
The parade route is 5.5 miles long. It is not easy to march that distance and play trombone at the same time, Blake said.
“Performing for a second time in the Rose Parade was a completely different experience than the first,” Fritts said.
“The buckets of rain that let loose on us as we marched into TV corner was an experience! It didn’t matter though — our smiles and our music said it all,” she said.
Blake played in the jazz band and Fritts played in the concert band called Saluting America’s Band Directors. Both performed at a formal banquet the foundation organized. The jazz band also performed at a breakfast for the Tournament of Roses directors.
Band directors apply and are invited to join The Band Directors Marching Band. Each performer pays their own way. The professionals had three days of rehearsal prior to the nationally televised parade.
It cost Fritts about $4,500 including airfare. Blake took his wife and son. It cost him $7,000, he said. The fee covered their stay at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel, a banquet, their uniforms and the cost of building the float.
Blake credits family, friends and especially Heather Mann of Soda Jerks in West Oneonta for helping him raise enough money to have the experience.
“I have been financially supported by friends, family, my church family and the bands I play with,” Fritts said. “I am very thankful for their support.” She also had two fundraisers.
Locally, Blake and Fritts both perform for the Catskill Valley Wind Ensemble in Oneonta.