1:28 p.m., Jan. 12, 2010----While most members of the University of Delaware community were enjoying their holiday break, the UD Marching Band celebrated the season with an international flair by joining the University of Massachusetts Marching Band and performing in a pair of parades in Ireland.

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The trip to the Emerald Isle, which ran from Dec. 26 to Jan. 4, included performances in Galway on Dec. 29 and in the first-ever Dublin New Year's Day Parade on Jan. 1.

Making the holiday trek to Ireland from UD were 164 students, 53 alumni, 10 UD faculty and staff members, and 54 parents and friends.

While the Irish weather mirrored conditions in the First State, the UD visitors found much to appreciate in the rich culture and breathtaking beauty of the country, said Heidi Sarver, associate professor of music and UD Marching Band director.

“The weather was cold, snowy and rainy but the experience was phenomenal. We saw the first snow storm to hit Galway in over 12 years, a whopping one inch of snow, and their world came to a screeching halt, but it was indeed beautiful,” Sarver said. “To stand on the grounds of a 6th century monastery was staggering, both in trying to fathom the centuries that had passed, and the lasting impact it made and is still making, on the country.”

To prepare musically, Sarver said members of both marching bands rehearsed individually at UD and the University of Massachusetts in Amherst before leaving for Ireland.

“The one and only combined rehearsal occurred on our arrival day, Dec. 27, in a basement parking garage under one of the hotels because of the weather,” Sarver said. “The rehearsal lasted one hour, and that was that. Everything came together instantly.”

The experience, Sarver said, made all involved wish that they had done something like this sooner.

“Many students, alums and parents from both groups had never traveled abroad before. Some had never been on a plane, and still others had never left the confines of their home states,” Sarver said. “Providing experiences for our students, ones they otherwise would never be able to have outside the realm of being in the band, is one of the larger goals of the UD Marching Band.”

Matthew Pazoles, a senior international relations major, said he enjoyed seeing the sights, experiencing the culture, tasting the local flavors, marching through Galway and performing in the inaugural New Year's Day parade in Dublin.

“The lord mayors of Galway and Dublin came out to hear us perform and said a few words to mark the occasion,” Pazoles said. “When we weren't performing, we went to the gorgeous Cliffs of Moher, the Abbey of Clonmacnoise and to Trinity College in Dublin, to see the Book of Kells (a 9th century illuminated manuscript), as well as exploring the winding roads of both cities. It really was a trip with a lot of once-in-a-lifetime experiences.”

Megan Nixon, an Honors Program student and sophomore music education major, also said that the UD Marching Band's trip to Ireland was something she will never forget.

“Especially, being of Irish heritage, it was incredible to see the area where parts of my family lived,” Nixon said. “I feel very lucky to be part of such a wonderful organization, the UD Marching Band, and to have had the opportunity to march in Dublin's first official New Year's Day parade.”

Members from both marching bands and their guests especially enjoyed the idea of the spirit of partnership that helped define the experience, Sarver said.

“What made this particular trip extraordinary is that two college bands came together, worked together, and performed as one unified group for the enjoyment of others,” Sarver said. “In a world where competition is king, we put aside all rivalry for 10 days and joined together in the spirit of commonality. That is something to celebrate.”

Article by Jerry Rhodes