Mahomet-Seymour students overcome with gratitude after Fiesta Bowl Parade performance

BY DANI TIETZ
dani@mahometnews.com

“(Being in the Fiesta Bowl) is so cool because when you were walking, people are like, ‘Thanks for coming!’ and you realize how crazy it is that we’re from Illinois and in Arizona,” senior Cora Walker said.

The fact that the Mahomet-Seymour Marching Bulldogs, from a town of almost 15,000, were in a city of over 1.6 million and marching in the Fiesta Bowl Parade on Saturday was not lost on the student.

The fact that a band from Illinois in “crisp” uniforms came to entertain an estimated 100,000 people was not lost on spectators as they emphatically greeted the students throughout the entire 3-mile march.

But it wasn’t just a crowd of strangers along the path. Nearly 100 Mahomet-Seymour parents made the trip, some with the band, others on their own, to watch their loved ones.

“When our parents started cheering for us, I personally started sobbing,” senior Color Guard Captain Lexi Mohr said.

The trip to the Fiesta Bowl was the first for these Mahomet-Seymour High School students, but the experience is one that generations of Bulldogs have shared.

An online spectator, Andrea Wallace, commented on the Mahomet Daily’s video of the band rehearsing. “This brings back memories of when we went there in high school. So amazing that they get to experience this.”

The novelty of the experience was not lost on the students.

“It’s different than going on vacation with your family,” Walker said. “You get to go out with your friends and your school.”

“We’re lucky to have Mr. (Michael) Stevens and Mr. (Phil) Meyer, who are able to make these trips possible,” Moore said. 

Band members, along with chaperones and parents who are touring the area with the group, arrived in Phoenix on Dec. 26. 

On Friday, the group braved the rain to go horseback riding through the mountainous desert region. 

“It was beautiful,” Lexi Watkins said.

Moore said the group was a little tired and sore after riding the horses the day before the parade. The color guard, especially, was very cold as they set up in the shade before taking their first steps down Central Avenue.

“My hands didn’t warm up until about a mile-and-a-half into the parade,” Watkins said.

The color guard also had to work around lost pole weights and wind throughout the parade. 

But for the Bulldogs, who have been practicing the march in the Mahomet-Seymour Fieldhouse since November, the trek didn’t feel like 3 miles.

Unlike the band members who play instruments, the color guard had to keep a smile on their face for almost an hour-and-a-half.

“My only way to keep the smile was to listen to people (cheering) around me,” Walker said.

After the parade, the band was dazzled by an organist at the Organ Stop Pizza. 

Watkins was already ready to head back to the hotel and swim.

Temperatures in Phoenix did not match those back home in Bulldog Nation on Saturday. Although the marching band members were hot after wearing their crisp band uniforms and marching, the high was only 51-degrees compared to 55-degrees in Mahomet.

That didn’t bother Watkins, though. She was ready to spend the afternoon with her friends at the pool. Walker and Moore agreed, but they said they would find the hot tub before the group of 200 students headed off to dinner and a rodeo at Corona Ranch.

On Sunday, the group will leave their hotel at 7:30 a.m. to see the red rocks of Sedona on a Pink Jeep Tour. This event is what Walker and Moore are looking forward to the most. By 8:30 p.m., the group will be at the Phoenix Zoo for Zoo Lights.

The Bulldogs’ final day in the Phoenix will also be jam-packed.

They will begin at the Musical Instrument Museum, then shop at Old Town, in Scottsdale. 

A late-night flight will put them back home before the New Year rings in.