NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Drury High School band, under the direction of Christopher Caproni, has been invited to perform in the National Independence Day Parade in Washington, D.C., on July 4. 

The band has been rehearsing for many long hours both during and after school to prepare for this honor, said Caproni in a press release. "The process started over a year ago when Senator John Kerry recommended the Drury Band for this national event."
 
Applications to the parade were sent in with a video of the band marching in the Fall Foliage Parade in 2009 and it was accepted in October 2010. The students and the Drury Band Parents Organization have been fundraising during the school year to send 65 students on this trip.

Fundraisers included a bottle drive, the sale of advertising to local merchants for the Drury Band Ad Book, sales of pizza kits, fruit, flower bulbs, gas card raffle tickets, discount cards, and tickets to a midnight showing of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part One."  The band members also participated in an all-night rock-a-thon benefit.
 
The band will leave North Adams early Sunday, July 3. Upon arriving in Washington, students will view the World War II, the Lincoln, Vietnam War and Korean War memorials and tour the Smithsonian Institute's Air and Space Museum.
 
The National Independence Day Parade will march down Constitution Avenue on Monday, July 4. The band, led by drum major Samantha Bator, will perform "Patriotic Parade Sequence," a medley of three songs: "America the Beautiful," "America" and "Battle Hymn of the Republic."  
 
The marching unit includes a four-piece color guard consisting of 2011 class President Evan Schueckler carrying the American flag; Brodey Moran, the Massachusetts flag; Allison DeGrenier, the Drury High School flag and Alyssa Marceau, the rifle. The 10-piece band front, under the direction of Diane Burdick, will carry pom-poms and colored flags and accompany the band with choreographed routines. Student captains are Arissa McLain and Susan Bloom. The percussion section is led by student leader Avery Witherell.
 
The band's 50 instrumentalists will proudly display Drury's colors of blue and white. They will wear their summer uniforms, consisting of blue pants and white shirts with gold ascots and white sashes.  Their white hats are topped with blue plumes.
 
The Drury concert band will perform at the Navy Memorial in Washington the next day. The band will perform Carmen Dragon's arrangement of "America the Beautiful," Leroy Anderson's "Bugler's Holiday" featuring Anuj Shah, rising senior Max Quinn and sophomore Evan Johnson on trumpets, Aaron Copland's "Lincoln Portrait" with narration by Schueckler, and the "Second Suite in F" by Gustav Holst.
 
While in Washington the band will tour the Holocaust Museum, the Capitol, the National Archives and the Jefferson and FDR Memorials. The band will also view the fireworks on July 4 and see the National Symphony perform.
 
The band will be performing the Washington program in a send-off concert on Wednesday, June 29, at 7 p.m. on the lawn at Windsor Lake in North Adams. This is a thank you to the people of North Adams for supporting the Drury band program. The concert is free and everyone is invited to attend.