Updated at 10:10 p.m., Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Hawaii marchers 'a big hit' in Rose Parade
Advertiser Staff and News Services
The streets of Pasadena, Calif., were filled with hula dancers and songs of Hawaii this morning as hundreds of students from all three Kamehameha Schools campuses thrilled spectators at the 2008 Rose Parade.The colorful event, which was seen by millions of television viewers across the nation and throughout the world, was the first time that marching band members from the Maui and Big Island campuses of Kamehameha Schools joined their O'ahu peers.
"It was fabulous weather, really sunny and fairly warm, so that was a blessing," said John Riggle, band director for Kamehameha's Kapalama campus on O'ahu, shortly after the parade ended at 8 a.m. Hawai'i time.
"Everything went on time, flawlessly, and the Neighbor Island kids who were in there for the first time did a great job," he said. "For their first parade ever, and the biggest in the world, they're kind of like they can't believe they were in it."
The hula ensemble was especially well-received by the crowds lining the parade route.
"The people were just going crazy," he said. "Lots of crowd noise and applause all the way through the 6 miles. They were a big hit, which is what we'd hoped for."
The city estimates more than a million people visit Pasadena during the parade and Rose Bowl festivities. Thousands who spent New Year's Eve camped curbside were joined at dawn by giddy visitors arriving by car, bus and train.
