There's enough Esoteric Band History (i.e., stuff stored in closets that we've forgotten about) that we probably haven't captured all of the nice things that people have said about and awarded to the band -- but here's a good selection.
[Click photos to enlarge]
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Many thanks to the folks at Making Music Magazine for a terrific story on GAL in their July/Aug 2007 issue. The online version of the story is shorter, but still says enough nice things to make us blush! | |
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We made it to national radio!!! National Public Radio's All Things Considered did a wonderful 5-minute segment on the band on their Sept 25, 2006 broadcast (thanks a million, Miriam!!!). Click here for the story and to listen to the segment. ATC also did a follow up during their "letters" segment on Sept 25; click here to hear it. | |
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Thanks to the NPR story (above), we were contacted by the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric. On Fri Sept 29, 2006 GAL appeared on the Assignment America segment of the evening broadcast as one of three "story potentials". Unfortunately, our fans were enthusiastic but not sufficiently voluminous to win the final vote. But hey - it was a great 6 seconds of fame! |
| Event | Location | Years |
| Gasparilla Pirate Fest Parade | Tampa, FL | 2008 |
| Walt Disney World Parade | Lake Buena Vista, FL | 2008 |
| San Antonio Fiesta Flambeau Parade | San Antonio, TX | 2001, 2003, 2007 |
| King William Parade | San Antonio, TX | 2007 |
| Queen Victoria Days Parade | Victoria, BC | 2006 |
| Time-Based Art Festival | Portland, OR | 2006 |
| Pasadena Doo Dah Parade | Pasadena, CA | 2005 |
| Disneyland Parade | Anaheim, CA | 2005 |
| Animal House 25th Anniversary Celebration | Cottage Grove, OR | 2003 |
| Boise River Festival | Boise, ID | 2002 |
| Seattle SEAFAIR Torchlight Parade | Seattle, WA | 1999, 2000, 2001 |
| Meier & Frank Holiday Parade | Portland, OR | 2002, 2003, 2004 |
| Albany Veterans Day Parade [largest Veterans Day Parade west of the Mississippi] |
Albany, OR | 2000, 2006 |
Not a complete list since it took us a while to start keeping track -- but here are a few places that made nice on the band!
| May 2008: Somebody finally figures out EXACTLY how to think of us -- we win 1st place in the "Novelty Marching Unit" category at Loyalty Days in Long Beach, Washington. | |||
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May 2007, our tallest trophy ever: We carried home the Sweepstakes Award as the top entry in the May 2007 Loyalty Days Parade (Long Beach, Washington). | ||
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Woody Allen (among others) has been credited with saying "90% of life is just showing up". In April 2007 the band made its third visit to San Antonio for Fiesta and came home with the "Furthest Entry" award from the Fiesta Flambeau Parade. |  |
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In 2006 we did our first event in Long Beach, Washington. Here's the beautiful First Place award from the Loyalty Days Parade. | ||
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They like us in Astoria! Here's our 2005 1st Place award for Bands in the Astoria Regatta Grand Land Parade. | ||
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Astoria's Grand Land Parade bestowed the President's Award on us in 2004. | ||
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Here's the Chautauqua Award we brought home from the 2004 Gladstone Chautauqua celebration. | ||
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San Antonio's Fiesta Flambeau Parade is one of our all-time favorites. We came home from our 2003 visit with the Best Out of State BandAward - yeee-haaaaa! Here's the nice letter they sent us to accompany the plaque. | ||
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Showing off the Grand Award from the 2000 Multnomah Days Parade | ||
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Way back in 1999, we snagged First Place Band and First Place Drill Team in the Astoria (OR) Grand Land Parade as reported in The Daily Astorian. | ||
