Fairy tale characters and devoted drummers will be a big part of the Gazette Holiday Parade

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Cold temperatures are expected Saturday night. That means snowflakes might also show up, and crash the annual Gazette Holiday Parade on State Street.

Drummer Shekinah Boston and her sisters Zoe and Rhema will melt any arctic visitors with musical notes from the warm Caribbean. The girls, along with fellow musician Neiman Ortiz, will perform as the Hamilton Hill Steel Drum Band.

“It’s different and unique,” said Shekinah, 16, who like her sisters lives in Albany and is home-schooled. “You won’t hear steel drums anywhere else in the parade. The sound is heavenly.”

The traditional kickoff to the holiday season in the Capital Region begins at 5 p.m. at State and Lafayette streets in downtown Schenectady.

Parade fans have another treat this weekend: The sixth annual Johnstown Holiday Parade will step off Friday at 7 p.m. Floats, marching bands, choral groups, firetrucks and military vehicles will be part of the show in the city’s downtown section.

In Schenectady, heavenly sounds will be joined by heavenly sights.

“The theme is ‘Fairy Tales and Bedtime Stories.’ So we expect it to be particularly fun for all the children, which is really who the parade is for in the first place,” said Nell Burrows, group services manager at the Chamber of Schenectady County and co-coordinator of the 39th annual street party. “We’ve got floats like the Three Little Pigs and the [Big Bad] Wolf. We’ve got Little Red Riding Hood. We’ve got Old MacDonald had a Farm. We’ve got the Little Train That Could. And, of course, we’ve got the giant Price Chopper balloon with Curious George.”

The route has also been changed from the 2007 line of march. Musicians, dancers and costumed fairy characters will walk down State Street from Lafayette and proceed west to Schenectady County Community College on Washington Avenue. The marchers will walk onto the Western Gateway Bridge and turn off the exit ramp that leads to college parking lots.

As usual, the parade will feature marching trumpet and flute players from Amsterdam, Mohonasen, Schalmont and Schenectady high schools. Drummers might have the strongest ties to the Christmas season, thanks to the traditional song “The Little Drummer Boy.”

It’ll be a rush

Rum-pum-pum-pum will sound a little different when Shekinah, Zoe, Rhema and Neiman strike their rubber-tipped sticks to round, steel surfaces and produce a sound that may remind some of high-pitched xylophones. The girls are looking forward to their time on the Hamilton Hill arts float, and time entertaining thousands of people.

“It brings a rush,” said Shekinah.

“It’s exciting, it’s an honor; people want us there,” said Zoe, 14. The sisters have been playing the steel drums since Rhema, 12, became interested in the island sounds about four years ago.

Shekinah and Zoe play single tenor drums. Zoe is on the double second drum. Different sounds come from the different types of steel instruments, which resemble giant bowls.

“If you were singing the words to a song like ‘In the jungle, the mighty jungle,’ that would be for the tenors,” said Ahmel Williams of Schenectady, the steel band’s coach. “The ‘a-weema-weh, a-weema-weh’ that would be for the doubles to play, the background, kind of like harmony.”

Rhema is anxious for melody and harmony Saturday night.

“I guess the words would be amazing, outstanding, just, like ‘Woo-hoo,’ ” she said. “There’s nothing like being in a parade. You watch parades on TV and you’re like ‘That is so cool.’ Then you’re in one, and it’s like ‘Oh my gosh!’ ”

Percussive company

The Hamilton Hill quartet will have percussive company. The Excelsior Drum and Bugle Corps will also be on the move and march during the parade.

Donel R. Mysliwiec, the group’s director and drum major, said 15 drummers are on the team — eight snare drums, two “quint” drums (five drums in a single harness) and five bass drums. The crew’s black and blue uniforms are just right for the yuletide season.

“We look like the Nutcracker,” said Mysliwiec, 42, who lives in Clifton Park.

“Most of us are very moved by this Christmas time of year,” she added. “It’s really about being able to participate in the community at this level, we don’t normally get to. We do some other parades, but they’re usually like firemen’s parades, things where we’re judged and we have to be a certain way. Everything has to be so militant.”

At the parade, Excelsior members can slip into a merrier mood.

“Last year, we got involved with the Schenectady High School Marching Band,” Mysliwiec said. “Their drum line came back and marched with us when we were marching, and we marched with them. It was very red, white and blue. Their kids had all their red uniforms on and we had all our blue ones. The crowd was very receptive to us.”

Seeing is one thing. Hearing is another — drums do not pause during parade gigs.

“Percussion never stops playing,” Mysliwiec said. “The entire parade, from front to end, we play what we call a ‘cadence’ or a street beat. They play it over and over again and then we do a roll off, play our music, then we go back to the cadence. These guys are the heartbeat; they drive the marching, keep us in step, but mostly it’s just entertaining for the crowd. We try to do cadences that are from current pop tunes so people right away are recognizing the sounds.”

The high-profile appearance can also help attract new members.

“Twenty years ago, there were eight drum corps in the area,” Mysliwiec said. “Today, we’re the last one left. We’re still trying to create a competitive drum corps.

Excelsior members Phil Fisher, 19, of Clifton Park and Mark Sanford, 19, of Schenectady, are sold on the group. They’re also sold on the holiday march.

Exhilarating experience

“To be a part of it, just watching the glow on people’s faces while you’re marching by, seeing how they’re smiling and having a good time especially when a song is being played they recognize and they can sing along to,” Fisher began.

“You hear that roar after the song ends,” added Sanford. “It’s exhilarating.”

In addition to The Daily Gazette, Price Chopper and the chamber, other parade sponsors are the City of Schenectady, Holiday Inn, 109th Air National Guard, Fox 23, 1st National Bank of Scotia, Marshall Sterling, General Electric Co., Stewarts Shops, First Niagara Bank, Ellis Hospital, Sportime, Brown Transportation and Mohawk Ambulance.

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