April 1, 2025
Dear Fellow Los Trancans,
EVENT REPORT — 2025 ST. PATRICK’S DAY PARADE: Walking right into our first parade of the season, we were immediately awash in a sea O’green, and an O'cean of crowds. Turnout was very high indeed! We were unit #29, much closer to the front than last year, still sandwiched between two motor units again, but the Marshalls didn’t complain about our pace. The weather was excellent for marching, temps in the 60’s, no rain and just a wee bit of a breeze, with gusts.
We had anticipated 19 members to be able to make the gig, like last year, but in the end, only 14 could. This provided ample opportunity for the band to do what it does best: IMPROVISE. We re-arranged some key players to fill out sections which were light. First, I fulfilled a childhood dream of Boris’s, and promoted him to Drum Major. He took the whistle, people loved him, and we played more renditions of Mickey Mouse than in any other parade I’ve ever been in. Keltie ended up playing the bass drum, very well, I might add, and Carina generously filled in helping Pilar carry the banner, since Jeri was away.
Our Biermeister Hal was instrumental in supplying the keg, banner and bass drum, and we are extremely grateful for all of his efforts. We didn’t win any medals, but the band received an overwhelming outpouring of affection during and after the parade. I am not exaggerating. This super crowd appreciation, expressed by dozens of Irish/American boys and girls, especially in the Plaza, makes ME feel like a winner every year.
Also making this year a winner, our good friend AJ, host and former owner of Club 93, invited us to celebrate at his new bar, AJ’s Bar, on Market Street. We played a small set after we "Walked Right In” and enjoyed a hot, tasty pizza dinner. This is a brand new endeavor for AJ, and we wish him the best Luck ‘O The Irish with it. We played "The Star Spangled Banner” before “Walk Right Out”, to finish out the performance part of our day. The keg lasted until the end, and a good time was had by all.
UP NEXT: The Annual Rehearsal will be held at Cindy Costell’s house in Palo Alto. This backyard event gives us an opportunity to polish up old tunes, improve beginnings and endings of all tunes and learn new tunes. Last year we learned “Finiculi Finicula”, and successfully rolled it out at the Columbus Day Parade. We practiced it at all of our events prior to the parade, and we nailed it at the Review Stand. I would like to practice that song some more, so anyone who has their plastic coated copy of the song should bring that along. I also want to practice one of our bar songs that we need to perfect, and that song is “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling”. It is my hope that we will be able to play this tune next year for the St. Patrick’s Day Parade Review Stand. Please check the RSVP page for full details about the rehearsal.
This is also the perfect opportunity to bring your musical friends along who may be interested in joining the band! Whether they play a horn, or sing, or shake a tambourine, we'd love to have them! We will have some LTWCMB business cards available for band members to take home for recruiting new members when the opportunity presents itself.
We traditionally present the following message from Jack Haderle, and it always retains its importance:
“As you know, missing a rehearsal is a blow to the rest of the orchestra. Not only does it dampen their spirit and cause gaps in the confidence level, the artistry suffers - indeed, the very fiber of the orchestra is threatened. That razor sharp edge, only achieved by years of constant and continuous dedicated practice; that inter- and intra- harmonic balance between highly skilled artists playing together and striving for the ultimate perfect blend of tones and subtle musical nuances; that vulnerable apex, when once achieved - all of it is threatened when less than 100% of participation and wild-eyed enthusiasm is not rigidly maintained.”
ltwcmb.com/rsvp
RSVP: It is important that everyone RSVP for ALL band events so we can plan for the best possible experience for everyone. RSVP WHETHER OR NOT you are planning to show up. Your negative response is just as important as a positive one.
FUTURE EVENTS: This list shows confirmed future events. The event mailing is normally sent out about 10 days before each event, and you can always check ltwcmb.com/schedule.
5/3/25 - Woodside May Day Parade
5/17/25 - Los Altos Pet Parade
7/4/25 - Redwood City Independence Day Parade
7/27/25 - Annual Band Picnic at Huddart Park
12/13/25 - Annual Yuletide Concert in Palo Alto
NEW MEMBERS WANTED: This year, we would like to recruit new members at all levels in our organization. You, our current members, are in the best position to invite your talented friends to join the best marching band in the world! Brass, woodwind, and percussion players are the heart of our sound, of course, but specialty performers are also welcome. Our Executive Committee membership is also included in this effort, so logistics, publicity, party planning, and executive talent is welcome.
For recruiting questions or suggestions, email Ross McCourt director@ltwcmb.com .
EVENT SUGGESTIONS: We are always looking for new ways to share our musical talents with each other and with the public. Email Ross McCourt director@ltwcmb.com if you have a suggestion.
PARTY LINE: Consider joining our free, voluntary email list, allowing you to keep in touch with other band members. It can be used for any topics that may be of interest to band members, and even for carpooling to band events. We currently have around 90 members on the list. To join or un-join, just send an email to subscribe@ltwcmb.com.
PHOTOS AND VIDEOS OF THE BAND: We are always looking for photos and video clips of the band that can put on the band website to share our memories! If you have some good ones that you would like to share, particularly from recent events, please send them in. “Original” or “full size” versions are preferred. For photos, you can just send a few at a time as email attachments. For video clips, or lots of photos, just go to ltwcmb.com/photos to send them via Dropbox, with no file-size restrictions.
NEWSLETTER CONTRIBUTIONS: If, from time to time, any of you have news items that would be of interest to our band members, send them in to Chris Quinn, chris.quinn@ltwcmb.com, and we will include them in the next Newsletter. This could include notes for local gigs involving LTWCMB members.
ADDRESS CORRECTIONS: For address corrections contact Chris Quinn, chris.quinn@ltwcmb.com, phone/text 408-368-7931.
CHARTS ON THE WEB: The band's sheet music and the lyrics to all our tunes are available on the website at ltwcmb.com/charts. You will be asked to log in; enter “charts” for both the name and password.
Ross McCourt director@ltwcmb.com
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