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NEW YORK — Using a bullhorn, a New Yorker yelled out a welcome to the Buena Marching Colts.
Now the guy wasn’t just an ordinary spectator along the St. Patrick’s Day route.
He wore the dark blue uniform and insignia of a cop.
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A gold eagle identified him as a New York police inspector who was assigned to the patrol bureau Manhattan South.
And part of the parade route went through John P. Codiglia’s area of responsibility.
Standing on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 50th Street, Codiglia directed officers to quickly move traffic east and west along 50th during times when there was a break in the parade that an estimated 2 million people were to attend.
Whistling in the bullhorn in a cadence-like manner, he would break into words, “Move them, move them.”
Then came the order to stop so the parade could continue.
As the Buena High School Band came to the intersection, Codiglia yelled, “Welcome to New York, Arizona. Thanks for coming so far.”
With a “sorry for the weather” comment, the inspector continued with his words of encouragement and thanks.
“You sound good,” Codiglia said.
And after the band passed by, he added, “And they look good, too.”
For the Buena band, Saturday started out with a drive from a hotel in Secaucus, N.J., through the Lincoln Tunnel to New York’s Chinatown, where the 162-member contingent from Sierra Vista ate lunch.
Mott Street, crowded with small mom-and-pop shops with fronts facing out to snow and slush-filled gutters, was full of chattering Chinese and a babble of other languages.
After lunch, the group again boarded the three buses for the ride to Sixth Avenue and 46th Street — the assembly point.
Before the buses navigated the crowded streets, made even more difficult to negotiate due to the aftermath of a two-day winter storm that dumped about 5 inches of snow on New York City, band students got out of their street clothes and put on their uniforms.
Although the parade started at 11 a.m., the Buena band was not scheduled to step off until 3:30 p.m.
The band’s instruments were pulled out from one of the buses’ storage, and the students headed for 46th Street, lining up between Fifth and Sixth avenues.
The staging area was in the shadow of a manmade canyon of buildings, creating lower temperatures for the band members to experience. The drum line entertained small groups of spectators who walked through the area.
One lady got into the groove, dancing as the percussionists beat out a catchy rhythm.
After an hourlong wait, the band moved up to Fifth Avenue and made a left turn. They were officially part of the parade.
As the band members marched down the avenue they soon went past St. Patrick’s Cathedral, where Edward Cardinal Egan watched.
Throughout the more than two-mile parade route, the band was greeted by applause and cheers.
More than one person apologized for the cold weather, noting they knew Arizonans were used to warmer temperatures. The high in New York City on Saturday was officially 38 degrees Fahrenheit, with a low of 25.
Over and over the band played two tunes they had selected, both to show off the Southwest. One was “How the West Was Won”. The other was “The Magnificent Seven”, to which three Irish ditties had been incorporated.
As the parade progressed, the temperatures got colder. At the end of the parade, the band members shivered as they waited for the buses to pick them up and deliver them back to a warmer place.
Melissa Vesga, a ninth-grade dancer, was sandwiched between Travis Luevano and Rusty Rivera to share their body heat.
Luevano is a ninth-grade snare drummer, and Rivera is 12th-grade sousaphone player.
Vesga said her uniform is thin and that she was extremely cold by the time the parade ended. Regardless, she said the band did a good job in performing for the spectators.
Rivera said he heard many of the comments from the crowd and was pleased the spectators appreciated the effort the Arizona high school made.
Luevano said he, too, enjoyed the event and hopes he will participate in many others.
Today, the band is in Washington, D.C., where the students are scheduled to take part in a wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery in the morning. This will be followed by a concert on the steps of the Jefferson Memorial in the afternoon.
On Monday, the Buena Show Band will perform at the Old Post Office Pavilion.
HERALD/REVIEW senior reporter Bill Hess can be reached at 515-4615 or by e-mail at bill.hess@svherald.com.
Bill Stein wrote on Nov 22, 2008 7:45 PM: