Galion senior marching in Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

Submitted article

Jacob Bash is taking his musical talents to the streets of New York City for Thanksgiving. Bash, a senior at Galion High School, will be performing with the Macy’s Great American Marching Band for the 88th annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Bash has served as the percussion section leader the last four years. He joined the Tigers Marching Band in 8th grade, and has played snare drum the last five years. Jacob will be playing cymbals with the Macy’s Great American Marching Band.

“This is a tremendous opportunity for Jacob to perform with outstanding musicians from other high schools in the United States,” Galion Band Director Jessica Hammond said. “He looked up the audition requirements, learned the piece that was required, recorded himself, sent in the recording and was selected by their committee making the selections after reviewing recordings from students all over the country.”

Bash is no stranger to performing on big stages. He has participated in the Ohio Music Education Association District 2 honors band for 2 years. Jacob has also performed in the Capital University Honors Wind Ensemble for one year and the Capital University Honors Band for three years.

“I watched the parade last year and decided that since it was made up of high school students that I would research the audition process and send in the required information to be considered for the band,” Bash said. “I borrowed one of the school’s snare drums, recorded a video and shared it with the committee.”

Bash and his family have taken the initiative to raise money for him to have this opportunity, and he is a little nervous about the experience.

“I’m a little nervous, but I’m very excited about it,” Bash said. “I’ve been looking forward to this ever since I was informed about my selection to perform with the band.”

The 88th annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade will be broadcast live from 9:00 a.m. to noon on NBC.

“On behalf of the Board of Education, I would like to congratulate Jacob on being selected to represent the Galion City School District in the Macy’s Great American Marching Band,” Superintendent Mark Stefanik said. “I will be watching the parade with pride knowing that Galion is represented well by Jacob. I hope everyone from the Galion community will watch as Jacob showcases his musical talents for the world.”