MCMB Goes International For The Second Time in 50 Years

Molly Spence, Co-Editor-In-Chief

March 28, 2025

Submitted photo

Early in the morning on March 16, 2025, the Marion Center Mean Green Marching Machine left for their journey to Toronto, Ontario, in Canada, for the annual Toronto St. Patrick’s Day Parade. The journey was a little over 6 hours long through the remaining night and early morning times, and then at noon the students marched down the streets of Toronto proudly.

The trip was made to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the 1975 Marching Band trip to Ireland with Keith R. Bloom. On March 15, 2025, the day before the band left for Canada, members of the 1975 Marching Band reunited to celebrate the first Marching Band international trip. The Ireland trip included 85 band members and 17 chaperones.

The 2025 Marching Band marched to March Grandioso, the same song Keith R. Bloom had the 1975 Marching Band march to in Ireland. The parade was there. There were 75 band members and 22 adults. They marched on Sunday, March 16th, then stayed in Toronto until Wednesday, March 19th. During their time in Canada, they made long-lasting memories on their once-in-a-lifetime trip. Some fan favorites of the activities they did were Famous People Players, Casa Loma, Ripley’s Aquarium, The Lion King at Princess of Wales Theatre, lunch at Skylon Tower, and a visit to Niagara Falls.

Mr. Page, the marching band director, said, “The Ireland Trip from 1975 is a landmark part of Marion Center history. We wanted to celebrate that trip while also treading new ground, and the possibility of the Toronto St. Patrick’s Day Parade literally landed on my desk at the end of last year. It was perfect timing, and I couldn’t be happier with the result.”

The students experienced a parade completely different from what they are used to. For those students, this was a brand new opportunity to meet new people outside of Indiana County and Marion Center, as well as a whole new country. This trip was unforgettable for the members who participated.

Marching Band

Donate to The Stinger

Your donation will support the student journalists of Marion Center Area High School. Your contribution will allow us to purchase equipment and cover our annual website hosting costs.

About the Contributor

Molly Spence, Co-Editor-In-Chief

“Remember there is good in this world, and bad, and ugly.” -Unknown Hello, welcome to The Stinger! My name is Molly Spence, I am a class of 2026 Junior and the Co-Editor-In-Chief for The Stinger Newspaper. I am involved in the Newspaper, Marion Center Mean Green Marching Machine as one of the Section Leaders for the Color Guard, a representative of Marion Center High School for both United Way and SULT (Students United Leadership Team), Athena Club as the head of public relations, Art Club, Mock Trial, Freaky Friday The Musical cast, and library assistant. This is my third year in Newspaper. I’ve been assistant editor for two years, and this is my first year as Co-Editor-In-Chief. My future goals include attending Lycoming College to major in Psychology to accomplish my career goal of being a clinical psychologist and continuing my education (master’s and doctoral degrees) at another college. Apart from my aspiring career and education dreams, something people may not know about me is I twirl batons (1, 2, and 3 batons). I was a competitive twirler, as for right now I’m doing my own training, improving my skills, and learning new tricks. I also love ducks. I have two ducks who hate my batons when I’m twirling but love to go up to them and peck them when I’m not twirling. I don’t allow them anywhere near the fire batons, of course. My ducks and twirling are giant parts of my life, as well as psychology class here in the high school and my own research and education. By being a part of The Stinger, I want to make everyone’s voice heard and leave no one behind, because after all, we, Marion Center High School students, are all in this together.