Remember the Alamo!

Second Time Arounders^® Marching Band remembers the Alamo! April, 1998 - The slightly pared-down Rounders road company of 275 members participated in Fiesta events, including the Battle of the Flowers Parade, Battle of the Flowers Band Competition (as guest band), Fiesta Flambeau Illuminated Night Parade (the largest illuminated parade in the WORLD) and performed a stand up concert on the steps of the San Antonio post office (across the street from the Alamo). In addition, band members did their civic duty in aiding the celebration by doing some serious partying, consuming huge quantities of local delicacies such as cerveza, margaritas, gorditas, calf fries, tacos, etc.

Second Time Arounders^® Marching Band on Post Office Steps(looking at the Alamo!)

(photo from Saturday Apr 25, 1998 San Antonio Express-News page 10b)

Old musicians band together

By Carmina Danini
Express-News Staff Writer

Today's Battle of Flowers parade has added some cute wrinkles.

Americans love parades, so decades after performing with
their high school or college band, many still love marching.

               Take the Greater St. Petersburg (Fla.) Area Awesome
               Original Second Time Arounders Marching Band and The
               One More Time Around Again Marching Band from
               Portland, Ore.

               What was a one-time marching gig for the St. Petersburg
               Rounders has blossomed into a cohesive band that
               performs annually at the St. Petersburg Festival of States.
               The Portland band is managed by the Portland Rose
               Festival.

              The Rounders, with 500 members, have
               been in existence since 1983; the
               Portland band, with a fixed size of 560, was
               founded in 1984.

               The two mammoth marching bands are
               making their San Antonio debuts for
               Fiesta. The Rounders will appear in both the
               Battle of Flowers today and Saturday's Fiesta Flambeau.
               The Rounders also appeared at the 61st annual Battle of
               Flowers Band Festival last night at Alamo Stadium.

The Portland band, which did not arrive until Thursday,
will perform in the Flambeau.

               Vanguard for the Battle of Flowers begins at 11:30 a.m.;
               the parade starts at 12:45 p.m. at the corner of Broadway
               at Grayson Street.

               In addition to the Rounders and Portland bands, two
               other mega-bands, The University of Texas at Austin
               Longhorn Band, and for the first time, the Southwest
               Texas University Band, will perform in the Flambeau, said
               John Sanchez, immediate past president of the Fiesta
               Flambeau Parade Association.

               "The St. Petersburg and Portland bands are the largest,
               permanent marching adult bands in the entire world and
               they're great," said Sanchez, a parade junkie who has
               attended most of the top parades in the United States.

               Sanchez, who is serving as escort and liaison for both
               bands this week, said no matter what their age, band
               members enjoy performing.

               At 90, Aileen Chapman is the oldest member of the
               Rounders. A retired music educator, she plays alto
               saxophone.

"She's a pistol," said Lynn Wiegand, an assistant to
Rounders band director Bill Findeison.

(photo caption) Members of the Awesome Original Second Time Arounders Marching Band from St. Petersburg, Fla., practice Thursday in Alamo Stadium for the Fiesta Flambeau and Battle of the Flowers Parades. At right is the eldest member of the band, 90 year-old Aileen Chapman, while Dr. Don Hallas (center) and Brenda Buescher practice next to her.
The oldest person on the Portland band is an 81-year-old
man who loves to march, said director Lambert Morris.

               Both bands include doctors, lawyers, accountants,
               housewives, bankers, teachers, computers programmers,
               and firefighters.

Mike Wetzel, the trumpet soloist on the Rounders band, is
a Baptist minister.

The Rounders do not require auditions, said Weigand.

"People just have to know which end of the mouthpiece to
blow in," Weigand joked.

               Joining the Portland band is not that difficult, either. All
               that's needed, Morris said, is that "a person be able to
               breathe and know how to march."

The bands have performed at festivals in each other's city
and the members are friends, Wiegand said.

               "What we all have in common is that we remember what a
               great time we had in band," she added. "We still have a
               great time, only now we don't have to worry about
               curfews."

Friday, April 24, 1998 (this article was featured on the FRONT PAGE of the Express-News, Apr 24, 1998 -Ed.)

FLAMBEAU PARADE WINNERS NAMED:

Winners in Saturday's Fiesta Flambeau Parade judging
were:

Parade director's award -- Original Second Time
Arounders Marching Band (St. Petersburg).

President's award -- One More Time Around Again
Marching Band (Portland).

               Junior vanguard marching -- North Forest Drill Team
               (Houston), first; Lanier Jr. Voks Youth Organization,
               second; Saritas Dance & Exercise Studio, third.

               Junior vanguard floats -- Priscilla's Dance Co., first;
               Danza San Antonio, second; (tie) Hawthorne Elementary
               and Nazarene Christian schools, third.

               Large bands (out-of-town) -- Hempfield High School
               (Greenburg), first; Hondo High School (Hondo), second;
               Central Dauphin High School (Harrisburg), third.

               Small bands (out-of-town) -- Stephen F. Austin High
               School (Houston), first; Roy Miller High School (Corpus
               Christi), second; Lone Grove High School (Lone Grove),
               third.

               Large bands (public schools) -- Burbank High School,
               first; Brackenridge High School, second; Thomas
               Jefferson High School, third.

               Small bands (public schools) -- John F. Kennedy High
               School, first; Sam Houston High School, second; Fox
               Tech High School, third.

               Commercial floats -- San Antonio Spurs/The Spurs
               Coyote, first; Ballet Folklorico Festival, second; Michele
               Angulo's Imagen Dance Company, third.

               Non-commercial floats -- San Antonio Lutheran
               Coronation Association, first; Floresville Peanut Festival,
               second; Helotes Festival Association, third.

               Marching units -- San Antonio Street Dance & Drum
               Co., first; Texas Starlite Dance Troupe (San Antonio
               Parks & Recreation), second; Order of Granderos de
               Galvez, third.

Equestrian -- San Antonio Charro Association, first;
Concurso de Adelitas, second; No prize awarded.

Monday, April 27, 1998

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