It's an honor for any band to be selected to march in the Tournament of Roses
Parade each New Year's Day in Pasadena, California.
Each of the bands taking part is unique in its own way.
It's a little different for one band from Columbus, Ohio.
All of its members are blind.
"The Ohio State School for the Blind" marching band was formed about 4 years ago.
They are still the only blind marching band in the world. All 32 members are very talented musicians and can learn most of their music in mere weeks. It took a little more creativity though to show them how to march and place their feet correctly.
Music director Carol Agler explains the help they receive.
"By putting our hands on the their on the back of their backs and doing a left face or a right face that way so they can learn how to move their feet," she said.
In addition to learning the steps, they are also given some help from marching assistants.
"The marching assistant is only there," Agler explains, "To stop them from veering off course or running into somebody else."
The band is committed to doing whatever it takes to get it right. They even practice sometimes in the rain.
They learned a year ago they would be performing in Pasadena.
"I felt like I wanted to jump out of my shoes," said one band member.
Because they were accepted into the parade, more training was added to their busy schedule.
They look at the training as more of an opportunity to teach. They want to show that if they can do this, so can other blind students.
Agler said it's a chance to break the stereotype of blindness.
"These are blind kids," she recalled some people suggesting, "What can they do? That's what I am hoping to change."
Not only is the band the first vision-impaired band to march in the Tournament of Roses Parade, it's also the smallest to ever take part. Until now, the smallest band had been 120 members.
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