Drum major kicks it old school in parade debut

Saturday wasn't exactly Beach Boys weather, but the Larkin High School marching band brought the sand and surf of the California rockers to Elgin during the city's annual Fourth of July parade.

The band, dressed in royal blue polos and black pants, was among the 130 entries in Saturday's parade.

Clouds hung over the festivities like impending doom, giving the hundreds of Elginites who lined Douglas Avenue a break from the seasonal swelter of most Fourth of July parades.

But Cassi Heider, Larkin's newest drum major, wasn't focused on the rain.

In a feat of coordination, the Larkin senior had to march backward while conducting the band and keeping in step to old school jams like "Low Rider."

It was 17-year-old Heider's debut as the Royals' drum major.

"I'm definitely pretty excited," Heider said. "This is my first time doing the parade. It will be my first public experience."

Saturday wasn't Heider's first time in a parade. She marched with the Larkin Royals for three years as a flautist. But being drum major has a unique set of challenges.

"As drum major, I have to make sure everyone's in time," Heider said. "You have to keep track of everyone else and not just yourself and your music."

The hardest part of her new role, she admitted, is the backward march.

"When we're going around corners, we have to walk and conduct backward sometimes," Heider said. "You have to make sure you don't run into anything. It's the hardest part to get used to."

While the Larkin band made it look easy, preparing for Saturday's parade was no cakewalk. It took three nights of drilling and a two-mile practice run to get the band up to speed.

"It's not as easy as it looks," Heider said. "Keeping time and in step is more complicated that you think."