Baltimore City College Marching Knights ready to put on show at Veterans Day Parade
The Baltimore City College Marching Knights have been hard at work in preparation for this weekend's Veterans Day Parade.
The parade will feature a slew of military-supporting organizations, ROTC programs, and marching bands. WJZ is the proud media sponsor.
Preparing to march
The Marching Knights are looking forward to performing in Saturday's parade, which starts at Baltimore's Washington Monument.
They've spent months working to perfect every step along the route.
"The only thing to prepare for marching is to march," said Baltimore City College Band Director Jaylin Jackson.
This is Jackson's second year with the marching knights.
"Typically, we go through the patriotic parade sequence, which has like three different songs, one including America the Beautiful," Jackson said
On with the show
Jackson said part of his job as band director is the introduce the musicians to patriotic songs that may be unfamiliar to them.
"Especially when it comes to like the Armed Forces Medleys," Jackson said. "Being a veteran myself, it's very important for them to be able to recognize."
The marching band will also add some hip-hop in the mix.
"I just hope it goes smoothly," said City College junior Kaelyn Hamlet. "Just making sure that we get all our songs together and that everything sounds good."
Supporting the veterans
Hamlet is looking forward to the parade and honoring those who served.
"I'm glad we can have something that can celebrate them and give honor to them for putting in all the work that they did, so it feels good," Hamlet said.
Freshman clarinetist Sara Kunharadt wants veterans to know her generation supports them.
"We're willing to do all this and practice to show that we still support and care about them," Kunharadt said. "These people are giving up their lives, they're spending all this time fighting for their country, and I think they deserve respect."
"I'm glad we can have something that can celebrate them and give honor to them for putting in all the work that they did, so it feels good," Hamlet said.
Here's a look at the parade route
The parade begins at noon on Saturday at the Washington Monument.
The route heads south down Charles Street, turns left on East Baltimore Street, left on North Gay Street, and ends with a ceremony at War Memorial Plaza.
The reviewing stage is at East Baltimore and Holliday streets.
