Stepping to the metronome in the hot summer sun. Lengthy rehearsals learning intricate pieces of music. Hours, weeks, even months of preparation were put in for four minutes of fame. This past January, 20 T-birds had their four minutes of fame the in the annual Tournament of Roses parade.

“It was actually pretty hard because we had like, three hours of practice,” said senior Tori Nye. “We’d go out and march the streets in Powell, and it was super-hot outside, which made it really hard. During the school year we just did after school practices where we marched around the hallways for like an hour of half getting ready for the parade.”

The Tournament of Roses Parade is part of the annual New Year celebration and the traditional Rose Bowl football game. Twenty members of the East High band were offered the opportunity to march in the annual event that is a salute to the community spirit and love of pageantry that have thrived in Pasadena for more than 100 years.

“It was really cool because I got to do a lot of cool stuff, meet new people and did the largest parade in the world,” said sophomore Jeremiah Withers. “It was really fun because now I get to brag to everybody that I basically did the largest parade in the world.”

This year’s Rose Bowl theme was ‘Find Your Adventure.’ As a state which features more than its fair share of adventure, the Wyoming All-State Marching Band was invited to perform in the parade. The Tournament of Roses was looking for to add celebrations from coast-to-coast.

“It was awesome getting to see [California] because we are from Wyoming,” continued Nye. “It’s a different thing to see. Taking your first steps onto the parade route, there’s so many people.”