3/20/08
MHS band shines for the Emerald Isle in Savannah
By Jerriod Grizzle

JERRIOD GRIZZLEv/Manning Times

Manning High School Band Director Ray Francis takes one last check of his band to make sure they have uniforms and instruments Thursday, March 13, before he and his students leave to play in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Savannah.

For 39 members of the Manning High School Marching Band and 12 chaperones, this past St. Patrick’s Day is one they will never forget.

“Every year Mike Brady, the director of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee in Savannah, Ga., has called me to see if I was bringing a band and this year was no different,” said MHS Band Director Ray Francis.

Savannah has the second largest parade on the Eastern seaboard next to New York City’s.

According to the Savannah officials, last year’s festival drew in over 400,000 people. Francis said he expected over 500,000 people at the parade this year.

Band members lined up along the streets surrounding Forsyth Park to march the 3.5-mile route around the mile wide by mile long historic district. The trek is anticipated to take three hours.

A special treat for MHS was that not only were they part of some forty other bands in the parade but they were in one of the top ten spots in the band line, an honor for any performing group.

“We were the first ones to turn in our application for the parade so that constituted a big position,” Francis said.

Crowds of fans and parade goers cheered the band as they played “I Want You Back,” by the Jackson Five, “Papa Was Rolling Stone,” by the Temptations and “Ice Cream Man,” by Master P.

“It was wonderful! There were more people than you could shake a stick at and the crowd was really in the mood,” said Francis.

Francis said what made this St. Patrick’s Day so special was his band members’ performances.

“These kids are very special and very musical. I have never conducted a band with this many musical kids who have had so much talent,” he said.

Another reason Francis said that what made the day so special was a 40th band member who was there in spirit.

The uniform bag of the late Patrick Miller accompanied the band on their trip, a significance that Francis said he cannot underscore.

“He was a great kid and enjoyed everyone. It’s only natural that we bring his bag with us. He was a part of us,” he said.

The 14-year-old Manning High School student and band member was killed in February after being ejected from a crashed vehicle.

Francis said next year, he wanted for all the school’s band members to go and make an even bigger impression on Savannah’s roaring St. Pat’s day crowds.