LIFE IN METHUEN
Methuen Ranger Band
on Parade in D.C.
Kathleen
Corey Rahme
Methuen ranger band on display in D.C.
Memorial Day 2008 will certainly
be memorable for the Methuen High School
Ranger Band. Representing the
Common-wealth of Massachusetts, the 91
members of the 112 member band performed
at the fourth annual National Memorial
Day Parade in Washington, D.C..
The trip was in the works for about a
year and thanks to Fine Arts Director Tom
Walters and MRBPA president Ken
DesLauriers, it became a reality. The
band engaged in various fundraising
efforts such as candy bars, calendars,
and poinsettias along with private
donations which they are still accepting.
To watch these kids walk through
the monuments was overwhelming,
says DesLaurier. They went through
them with such reverence. It really
affected them. The band had the
good fortune of meeting two of the only
five surviving, WWII Navajo Code Talkers
at the Arlington National Cemetery on
Memorial Day. They were able to speak to
them and they each got to shake hands and
thank them. They also saw a wreath laying
ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknowns as
well as the Changing of the Guard.
The trip was filled with exciting tours
of Washington including the Holocaust
Museum, the Kennedy Center, all the War
Memorials, John Philip Sousas house
and the National Cathedral.
Donned in their new band uniforms, the
band took to Constitution Avenue playing
songs that have wooed Methuenites of late
as prepared by Dan Lutz of UMass Lowell.
While conspicuously missing from the
local Memorial Day parade, the band did
our city, state and their families proud
this past Memorial Day. Judy Souza in the
band office said the students
behavior was stellar!
Sharing the street with the likes of
Honorary Marshall Mickey Rooney, WWII
veteran and Bronze Star recipient, the
Methuen Ranger Band, unit number 111 of
the 170 groups on parade were escorted by
the Methuen High School JROTC honor/color
guard. Gary Sinise and Joe Mantegna were
also on hand. The friends and family from
Methuen who attended the parade
positioned themselves in front of the
National Archives Building across from
the grand stand of review.
Also in the parade were members of the
101st Airborne Division
veterans, veter-ans from the Battle of
the Bulge, survi-vors of the Beirut
barracks that was bombed in 1983, Viet
Nam veterans, Buf-falo Soldiers, Tuskegee
Airmen, Korean War veterans, Miss America
2007, four Medal of Honor recipients, and
re-enactors of the civil war and various
actors playing the roles of presidents
Teddy Roosevelt, FD Roosevelt, Abe
Lincoln and George Washington.
Motorcycle enthusiasts Rolling
Thunder was there in the 400,000s.
Edith Shain the nurse, who was
photographed, being kissed on V-J Day in
Times Square, was also there! Our own New
England Caring for Our Military, director
Jim Wareing, was supposed to be among
those on parade but he was in the White
House facilitating a private meeting with
President Bush for the families of
Sergeant Alex Jimenez and Pfc. Byron
Fouty both missing in action.
Being in DC for the Memorial Day
festivities is something my family will
never forget. I would like to thank the
MRBPA and the parent volunteers for
chaperoning our students on this trip.
Congratulations to the Methuen High
School Ranger Band for always being
wonderful ambassadors of of our city.
Job well done!
Kathleen Corey Rahme
is the former City Councilor in Methuen,
is the founder of the Methuen Youth
Corps., and hosts Call to Serve.
You can email her at kcorey rahme@comcast.net or call 978-686-0008
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(C) copyright, Valley Patriot, Inc., 2008
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