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Second Time Arounders wins a ticket to big time

The all-ages band that plays for the sheer love of it grabs a Macy's Parade spot.

By WAVENEY ANN MOORE
Published April 8, 2007

ST. PETERSBURG - They're headed for the national spotlight. St. Petersburg's unique marching band of adults who continue to make music, twirl flags and strut, will march in next year's Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

The Greater St. Petersburg Area Awesome Original Second Time Arounders made the cut from a field of 500 hopefuls and will be one of just 10 bands in the New York City parade.

Bill Findeison, band co-founder and director, was ecstatic at the news last week.

"Bill, I think we're about ready to make your day," he remembers hearing by phone.

"It brought tears to my eyes," he said.

Findeison was sworn to secrecy, as the official announcement was not to come until days later.

Macy's wanted to wait to tell the entire band on Saturday night, during the band's 25th anniversary banquet at the St. Petersburg Yacht Club. For the first time, parade organizers wanted to deliver the news in person.

Orlando Veras, a Macy's spokesman, said officials simply wanted to see the band's reaction. They also wanted to build excitement for the band's New York performance, he said, and "get the community behind them right away."

"They were the first band we selected for this year," Veras said. "They were just really great."

Findeison said he knew the band had stiff competition and that many other bands had tried repeatedly, without success, to be part of the parade, which draws more than 3.5-million spectators and 50-million television viewers.

"It was a long-term dream, not so much for me, but for the band, the members who come to rehearsals every year," Findeison said.

The Second Time Arounders, made up of members who travel from as far away as Orlando and Miami, has attracted married couples, pastors, attorneys, teachers, retirees and other adults with a passion for music and a longing to belong to a marching band once again. Over the past 25 years, the band has had as many as 500 members, ranging in age from late teens to nonagenarians

The band has played at such venues as Walt Disney World and Epcot and one year even traveled to Dublin for the Irish city's St. Patrick's Day Parade.

Last weekend it performed in the opening ceremony of the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. On Friday the band will march in the Festival of States Night Parade. It will follow that performance with a concert in front of the St. Petersburg Yacht Club, 11 Central Ave., St. Petersburg.

For the April performance, and all others that follow until Thanksgiving 2008, the Second Time Arounders will display a gift from the famous department store: a banner that says: "Macy's Bound."

Waveney Ann Moore can be reached at 727 892-2283 or moore@sptimes.com.

[Last modified April 7, 2007, 22:18:22]