Kankakee HS Marching Kays ready to shine in Thanksgiving Parade

KANKAKEE — Turkey and pie are not all there is to look forward to this Thursday.

An award-winning band is set to march in the Chicago Thanksgiving Parade and represent Kankakee.

Kankakee High School’s Marching Kays are gearing up to perform in the annual big-city holiday parade following a successful season for the band.

Thursday’s group will feature about 48 students, including musicians and majorettes.

Invited back after participating in the 2022 parade, the KHS band members are preparing for an early Thanksgiving morning.

They will get to school at about 4:30 a.m., as they prepare to arrive for the parade lineup in Chicago by 7 a.m.

The parade itself will be from 8 to 11 a.m., taking place on State Street from Ida B. Wells Drive to Randolph Street.

It will be broadcast live on Pluto TV, a free streaming service.

Additionally, crews from HBO Max will be there collecting clips of Thanksgiving celebrations around the U.S.

The Kankakee band’s unit number for the parade is 74 B.

Along with the typical marching songs, the Kays will be performing “Treasure” by Bruno Mars during their TV spot.

Band Director James William Render III said the band has been performing so much this season — from football games to out-of-town performances and winning a grand championship title — that nerves are pretty much “out the window” at this point.

“We’ve performed so much, we’re good,” he said.

The band practices almost daily, with rehearsals lasting an hour to an hour and a half.

While Kankakee schools were on holiday break for the entire week of Thanksgiving, band members came to school at 8 a.m. Tuesday for yet another practice.

To be part of the band, students have to understand the level of commitment involved.

“We’ve got a real good group of kids who understand band and the philosophy of band,” Render said. “We all have to be here, and it’s all about ‘us,’ not about the individual. We all succeed when we all come together and make this happen.”

Marching band members earned several accolades earlier this fall while participating in the Rich Township Raptor Rumble Battle of the Bands.

The band won First Place for Division A Show Style, titles for Best Drum Major in Show and Best Percussion in Show, the Esprit de Corps Award for band pride, and Overall Grand Champion of the festival.

The Best Drum Major Award went to Kylee Cunningham.

Additionally, the Marching Kays represented Kankakee while performing at the Circle City Classic Parade in Indianapolis.

“I am very proud of my guys,” Render said. “I didn’t see it going this way, but they really, really showed up, even with the new kids, the freshmen coming in, all the kids really bought into what I was doing in the building of the program and everything this year.”

Render noted he was particularly proud of the band for earning the Esprit de Corps Award.

In his eyes, the award for displaying band pride is almost as important as being named grand champion, as it exemplifies the culture of Kankakee’s program.

“Yes, we got the grand champion, but when they could see that, hey, the kids are enjoying what they are doing, they are putting that energy in, they’ve got that pride and that spirit; you can’t fake that,” he said. “So when you get that award, that is truly a genuine thing, and kids were very genuine during that festival.”

Render has been director of the Kankakee program for three years.

He introduced the band to show-style marching, which features high steps and on-field dancing and is popular at historically Black colleges and universities.

In comparison, corps style marching features marching in all directions and moving across the field in complicated patterns.

“They really accepted the change,” Render said. “Some people have a different context with show style, but mine is a classy show style, so they’ve bought into what I’m doing and everything, and the [students], they love it.”

Render said he aims for the band to participate in the Thanksgiving parade every other year.

https://daily-journal.com/news/kankakee-hs-marching-kays-ready-to-shine-in-thanksgiving-parade/article_e1270d82-ac24-11ef-9675-6b35a105db02.html