Capuchino Band to Revisit Glory Days in Posy Parade

A sizeable group of alumni from Capuchino High School’s past marching bands will be joining with the current Cap Band this summer for a march down memory lane – otherwise known as San Mateo Avenue – in the 72^nd Annual Posy Parade on Saturday, June 3, 2012. 

Once a formidable, award-winning entity, the band in recent years has dwindled in size due to budget cuts and other hardships. Cap’s current drum major Colleen Sammut found former drum major Mick Geronimo (’86) on Facebook and reached out for inspiration, asking what it was like to be in the band during its “glory years.” Impressed with Sammut’s initiative, Geronimo wondered if there might be a way to give Sammut and her fellow bandmates a sense of what Cap Band was like years ago. 

“I reached out to a few friends I’ve kept in touch with all these years to see if there was interest in marching along with the current band in the Posy Parade,” Geronimo said. The response from those few was positive, so he started a web page and a Facebook group, and word began to spread. “Many of us have very fond memories of our time in band, and it was an invaluable resource in teaching us discipline, teamwork and camaraderie,” Geronimo pointed out. 

Geronimo’s original goal was to double the size of the current band, and though that milestone has been reached, the group is hoping to recruit even more alumni. The group has been working closely with Band Director Justin Cottrell, and have received additional support from Terra Nova High School Band Director Michael Pens who is lending marching drums for the alumni percussionists. 

In addition to supporting the band in numbers, the alumni group is hoping to help the Cap Band Boosters raise funds for instruments, uniforms and other equipment. 

The Posy Parade weekend events will include a comprehensive rehearsal for the combined band on Saturday, June 2, followed by a reunion BBQ on the Capuchino High campus. Then, on Sunday, June 3, the band and alumni will march together in the historic Posy Parade, followed by a short performance at the end of the parade route in San Bruno Park. All Cap Band alumni are invited to join the event. For information and to sign up or support this effort, visit: www.directorschairstudio.com/cap.html or email CapBandReunion@gmail.com.