MARLBOROUGH – By the time you head out the door on Thanksgiving morning for that football game or visit with family, Angie Crockwell will be marching in Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City.
Crockwell, a music teacher at Marlborough High School, will be joined by 400 other music educators from across the country in “The Band Directors Marching Band,” part of the Saluting America’s Band Directors project.
The band will be part of the first unit of the parade, which steps off at 8:30 a.m. It will perform under the theme “America’s band directors: We teach music. We teach life.”
Crockwell will be playing saxophone and wearing something from Marlborough High School.
Crockwell has nearly three decades’ worth of music education under her band cap. It started at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, where she majored in sociology with a minor in music.
“I became highly involved in the music program,” she said.
She was part of the UMass Minuteman Marching Band, where she met her future husband.
After a few years working in social services, Crockwell decided to change careers; she earned her teaching certification from Miami University in Ohio. She returned to Massachusetts, and she worked as a music teacher in Newton, Franklin and Grafton, before coming to Marlborough High School seven years ago.
Crockwell currently conducts workshops in piano and guitar, teaches orchestra, and is the adviser for the TriM Honor Society.
“I became a music educator because of my high school band director and my college marching band director, George Parks, University of Massachusetts. They inspired me because of their passion, enthusiasm and dedication for music,” said Crockwell. “My goal is to mentor, inspire, and share my passion of music with my students and the broader community, showcasing the value of music education in schools, and to show students that they can achieve anything at any age.”
Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
It was through a former student teacher in Grafton that she learned about the Saluting America’s Band Directors project.
Crockwell picked up the link to the website, applied and was invited to take part in the band’s performance at the Tournament of Roses parade in January 2022.
This, of course, was during the COVID-19 pandemic. That meant plenty of rehearsals done remotely. The first time Crockwell met the other band members in person was just before the parade.
“Just being there with 300 other teachers, with the same humor … The first time we rehearsed together I almost cried,” she said.
The band performed so well that it was invited to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade.
“This is really a special group, and I am really excited to be marching with them once more at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. I am honored to represent Marlborough Public Schools and Massachusetts again,” said Crockwell.
Crockwell and her family will head to New York City the Tuesday before Thanksgiving for rehearsals. In addition to the parade, the band will perform at the 9/11 Museum.
Crockwell has family in the area, so there’s no problem when it comes to the big feast after the parade.
“My cousin’s doing dinner,” she said.
The Saluting America’s Band Directors project is sponsored by the Michael D. Sewell Memorial Foundation, based in Pickerington, Ohio. The foundation was created to recognize and carry on the work of the late Mike Sewell, who dedicated his life to the school and community music programs in Pickerington and Central Ohio for almost 40 years.
For information, visit https://banddirectorsalute.org/.
