By Jeff Vorva
Why in the world has Sandburg’s marching band been rehearsing outdoors in the cold — sometimes freezing — weather in December?
Because the band is visiting another part of the world and will participate in a prestigious parade.
The Eagles were selected to march in the New Year’s Day parade in London and were scheduled to leave for England on Dec. 27.
Prior to that, they marched in the cold weather either in the school’s athletic stadium or a driver’s education parking lot.
Band director Stewart Bailey is crossing his fingers that the weather in London on Jan. 1 will be milder than the weather in Orland Park in recent weeks.
“It looks like it’s going to be a little bit warmer,” Bailey said. “They are saying upper 40s and a chance of rain. We’ll take it. It’s definitely better than 15 degrees and a snowstorm.”
Sandburg received the official invitation in March from former British Lord Mayor of Westminster Duncan Sandys, who is also the great-grandson of Winston Churchill.
When he addressed the band in the school’s auditorium, Sandys said the Eagles would be participating in “the greatest event in the greatest city in the world.”
He boasted that the audience could be a half-million people with 340 million more watching on TV from around the world. He also said that there would be 80,000 participants, which doubles the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City.
“A lot of the kids are excited,” Bailey said. “We hope it’s going to be the trip of a lifetime for them.”
The band will also perform at the St. John’s Church in Smith Square in London in an indoor concert.
“It’s a beautiful historic church in the 1700s and was bombed out in World War II by the Germans,” Bailey said. “It was rebuilt from the bottom up and now it’s a concert hall in downtown London.”
The Eagles will also be visiting Windsor Castle, the Tower of London, Piccadilly Circus and other sites.
“We want to give them as much of a taste of all of London as we can,” Bailey said.
Awesome! Mr. Bailey has done an awesome job getting Sandburg to this point. Congrats Mr. Bailey and Sandburg.