A staple of the Brecksville Broadview Heights community is the beloved homecoming parade, but most students do not know the festive Marching Bees have been the staple in it since the 70s. Roughly 53 years of roll-stepping and booming music has been performed for the hundreds of people in attendance of the parade.
On Thursday, September 21 at 7 pm, the Marching Bees will be showcasing all their hard work at the annual homecoming parade to keep the Bees spirit alive. In the past the parade has always been in Brecksville, with the bonfire happening in the old stadium; however, this year, the parade will take place in Broadview Heights leaving Hilton and going up Mill to end with the bonfire at the high school practice football field.
In previous years, marching band director Steve Cocchiola has worked with individuals who run special events in Brecksville, but this year he is doing a few things differently due to the change of scenery. Some of these changes include speaking with different people than he has in the past which include city workers from Broadview Heights.
Other than this scene change, Cocchiola has no plans to alter any other traditions because the traditions are what make the parade and homecoming game memorable.
People like Christine Stojkov, an alumni of BBH class of 74, recalls fond memories of the homecoming parade back in her day, around 50 years ago beginning traditions like each class designing a float for the parade together. Stojkov says they also drove the floats around the track with the homecoming court joining them in convertibles.
Cocchiola says that everything that the band does builds up to the parade, and they don’t really have a set practice for the event. He believes the biggest challenge the band faces in preparation for the parade is that many students in the band also participate in other organizations that are celebrated in the event. These students’ absences can cause the sound to be different and cause it to not sound how it does when they practice.
Cocchiola says the bonfire is like a big pep rally. The band’s job is to pump everyone up and get them excited for the homecoming game the next night.
During the homecoming game, the band is allowed to decorate their instruments. This can make it difficult to play, but to counteract this, there are regulations that students must follow and they are encouraged to be in uniform throughout their sections.
Cocchiola’s favorite part of the homecoming game is seeing the band’s hard work on the ‘Script Bees’ drill come to life. Script Bees is a movement the band does to the song “Les Regiments”, a tradition derived from Ohio State University’s Script Ohio, but instead of spelling out Ohio, the band spells out Bees.
He especially likes how sections will get together to eat dinner after the games. He thinks it’s great that students get to spend time together.
Cocchiola is most excited for this year because it’s the “most normal year since COVID.” On top of that, the band will be receiving brand new uniforms sometime in the near future.
These new uniforms were shown off as prototypes to the band last spring and have been a long time coming. The students are very thrilled to be able to have something nice and new to march in.
The band prides itself on its diverse collection of marchers who do many other things outside of the band. It sets the Marching Bees apart from other bands. Cocchiola hopes that students “get as much out of band as band gets out of them”.
Cocchiola is very proud of how far the band has come, and tells students to look forward to having a night that is different.
