SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine — On Thanksgiving Day, two band directors from Maine will be marching and playing their instruments alongside 406 others like them from all over the country at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Jen Fletcher, the band director at South Portland Middle School, and Laurie Ellis, the director from the Middle School of the Kennebunks are the only two from Maine playing as part of the Band Director's Marching Band.
Fletcher has been in her role at South Portland schools for six years, and primarily teaches fifth and sixth graders. That's how old she was when she picked up the alto saxophone for the first time.
Macy's asked the Band Directors Marching Band to perform on Thanksgiving after their 2022 Rose Parade performance. Fletcher said they were all invited to New York City without any additional applications or auditions.
"It's been crazy. It's been a year-and-a-half of preparation, memorizing music, walking the dog around the neighborhood to the parade beats, and finding empty parking lots and practice fields to get some steps in," Fletcher said.
Fletcher and Ellis did not know each other prior to playing together in this band. Ellis, who plays trumpet, arrived in New York City on Sunday, as did Fletcher, to perform in a 9/11 Memorial ceremony.
Fletcher said each day is packed with rehearsals and team events, but also allows some time for fun.
"It's like being a kid again. Going nonstop, you feel like you can never sit down, you don't have a break, but that's the fun of it. It's fun to be a kid again," Fletcher said.
She said she did not tell her students about her performance plans until about a week ago. Her students have been sending her messages and videos wishing her luck.
"During the midst of a really long rehearsal, getting those messages meant so much to me," Fletcher said. "I do this for them. I'm a band teacher and I'm in this band of band directors because of these kids. I remember what my band teachers meant to me, and I really just, I want to give that to those kids too, because it was my fifth grade band teacher that was really the catalyst for me to become a band teacher myself."
Fletcher even took over for her former band director, completing the full circle moment in South Portland.
The Michael D. Sewell Memorial Foundation’s “Saluting America’s Band Directors” funds the project. The Michael D. Sewell Memorial Foundation was created in 2017 to carry on the legacy of the late Mike Sewell, longtime band director in the Pickerington, Ohio school system. This Foundation project, named Saluting America's Band Directors (SABD), was conceived as a way to recognize and salute the extraordinary dedication and accomplishments of band directors everywhere—public and private schools at all levels, colleges and universities, the military and community bands.
The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade starts at 8:30 a.m. on NEWS CENTER Maine. Fletcher said people should be able to spot her in the second row to the left of the Macy's red star.