“Mrs. Ort, your band is ready for you,” junior Western Wayne Drama Club vice president, Bobby Scramuzza, announced over the loudspeaker to the faculty and staff of the Western Wayne High School and Middle School, as part of a special surprise tribute to the district’s beloved band director on Friday, Nov. 17. Ort represented Western Wayne at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade as a part of the project Saluting America’s Band Directors.
Students in the Western Wayne high school marching band, color guard, drama club, and middle school band along with faculty and staff paid tribute to Mrs. Ort with a special parade through the hallways of the high school and middle school. The procession was led by drum major junior Lia Hartman and, of course, Mrs. Ort herself. Hartman and senior drum major Caden Wilson conducted the musical selections for the traveling tribute played by the high school marching band with members of the color guard and drama club in tow.
The procession ended at the middle school gym where Ort was surprised to see her 7th and 8th grade students ready to play “Let’s Go, Cats!” with the high schoolers as a special send off for the closing number. But first Ort was treated to a unique rendition of “Hey, Baby!” played by the high school marching band featuring new lyrics for her send off and sung by everyone in attendance, “Hey, Mrs. Ort! Oo! Ah! You’re gonna go to New York City!”
Before embarking for the Big Apple on Sunday, Nov. 19, Ort was interviewed and featured on WBRE-TV news with her high school band students. In addition, she did an interview with local radio host Rocky Rhodes in which Rhodes promoted her feature by calling her a “superstar.”
Ort is humbled by all of the attention and felt extremely proud to represent the district at Macy’s. In addition, she did a playing spot on the Fox & Friends morning show on Tuesday, Nov. 21, to promote the upcoming performance of Saluting America’s Band Director’s in the Thanksgiving Day Parade.
“I was so honored to represent Western Wayne and all of my music students in NYC!” Ort said.
Ort had an amazing experience at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade playing with the America’s Band Director’s Band and can’t wait to see what event they may play at next.
On Monday, Nov. 27, Ort did a follow-up interview on WBRE’s PA Live to discuss her performance experience in detail. See link below
