Marching down the streets of Reedley, California, is the Big Green Marching Band. It is one of the largest on the West Coast, consisting of over 300 students from Reedley High School, under the direction of Daniel Paulsen, Samuel Gipson, Lisa Dewhirst, Jason Aubrey, and Michael McGraw. This year, the Band built on the efforts of last year to fundraise for their trip to Disneyland.
I can't keep writing how great those Fiesta's of a half century ago were when every year there are fewer around to remember them. Thinking of friends gone by, a conversation came to mind between myself and the late Dennis Olson about the pride we both had when we watched our Reedley High "Pirate" Band march down Colorado Boulevard during the Pasadena Rose Parade in 2000. So, I thought to myself, "Self, what a better tribute to the Fiesta than to drop by and see Mr. Burl Walter Jr. and chronicle the story that led him to Reedley."
