New Year/Sugar Bowl Parade

2015 was a great year in so many ways. I got to teach a graduate class at UNO instructing directors how to work with actors, I acted in several more movies and I completed another book (though a series of computer crashes prevented me from publishing The Secret of the Other Mother: A Charlotte Reade Mystery in 2015 – hoping to have it out my the end of January). And like so many things here, I got to celebrate it all with a parade and fireworks. The New Year’s Eve Parade was actually put on by the Sugar Bowl and its many sponsors and the festive Kern Studios floats reflected that. 

We didn’t attend the Sugar Bowl but we enjoyed the bands from Oklahoma State and Sugar Bowl victors – Ole Miss. Local high school bands included Landry Walker and Warren Easton.  Chicago offered bands from Carl Sandburg High School, Thomas Kelly High School and Schaumburg High School who pulled off the nifty trick of marching backward so drummers could play the cymbals ahead of them (photos below). Florida was represented by North Port and Cooper City High School whose grey ombre flags from  were spooky and stunning. There were a few other fun bands including Northridge High School of Alabama.

The routines and marching songs were great but I’m always going to be partial to the chaos and culture packed into a local brass band and Social Aid and Pleasure Club. The beautifully decked-out Big Steppers accompanied by the funky Young PinStripe Brass Band was my favorite part of the parade.

Thanks to my readers for another year! May the year ahead be our best.

king of parades, Blaine Kern

Barry Kern

Oklahoma State baton

Oklahoma State flags

Oklahoma State parades

Oklahoma State band

Sugar Bowl Committee

throwing to crowd

Ole Miss baton

Ole Miss parades

Landry Walker High School

Landry Walker majorettes

Landry Walker parades

Landry Walker stepping

Landry Walker band

Landry Walker flags

Raising Cane’s float

Warren Easton Charter High School

Warren Easton flags

Warren Easton horns

Warren Easton band

French Market Coffee

Carl Sandburg High School, Illinois

Carl Sandburg High School

Cooper City High School, Florida

Cooper City flags

Cooper City horns

Cooper City drums

New Orleans Hotel Collection

Big Steppers Social Aid and Pleasure Club

Big Steppers

young Big Stepper

Big Steppers parade

Young PinStripe Brass Band

Ernest N. Morial Convention Center float

Convention Center float

Thomas Kelly High School

Thomas Kelly clarinets

Glo Airline float

Schaumburg High School, Illinois

Schaumburg marching backward

Schaumburg marching backward,

Abita Beer float

LOPA float

Mardi Gras World float

North Port High School, Florida

North Port flags

North Port band

Sunshine Kids

the crowd

Northridge High School, Alabama

Northridge batons

Northridge drums

Coast Guard

French Quarter Hotel Collection