‘Before we say goodbye’: Clover band marches together one last time to Rose Parade
On New Year’s Day, with millions watching, the Pride of Clover Marching Band will stand at a crossroad. They’ll line up for the Rose Parade in Pasadena, California, with 75 years of rich tradition and an uncommon sense of community behind them. Ahead, a new high school promises change.
One of the biggest parades on the planet will mark the last time these 200-plus students march together as one band. It’ll be “Auld Lang Syne” in mark time.
This fall, the Clover School District split attendance lines between Clover and Lake Wylie high schools, and Lake Wylie will open next fall.
“We have a choice to enjoy the time we have now, or to dwell on what we’re not going to have in the future and miss out on the time we have together,” said Clover band director Rick Langdale.
He sees an obvious answer. It’s one Langdale stressed in emotional moments this fall, including this month when the district announced associate band director Anne Lewis Turner will take over the program at Lake Wylie.
“We’re going to live in this moment,” Langdale said, “because we’re still Clover.”
Clover takes on the Tournament of Roses
The iconic Tournament of Roses celebration will help students live in their moment.
“It’s at the highest caliber of anything I’ve done,” said senior percussion captain Zion Price. “This is definitely the most intense and most prepared we’ve had to be for something.”
Price started with the band in eighth grade. As second-year center snare, he’s the only student who will play for the entire parade route. It’s more than five miles, and close to seven miles of total march time.
Sophomores Eila Conroy and Clara Love, mellophone and baritone players respectively, look forward to telling people for the rest of their lives that they marched in Pasadena.
Only half of the 20 or so bands are unique to each Rose Parade. Six South Carolina bands have participated, but none have gone in the past two decades.
Langdale recalled watching his hometown Walterboro High, since consolidated with Ruffin High to become Colleton County High, march there in 1994. The following year, Fort Mill High became this region’s only participant prior to Clover.
“I was like, I’ve got to get in that parade,” Langdale said. “So it’s been a dream of mine.”
He leaned into this year being Clover High’s last one together in the extensive application process. He sent letters from band pros and civic leaders along with video of field shows and the band performing a 105-degree turn. Those letters not only detailed band accolades, but local support.
The Clover district is well-known for supporting the arts, from its two-time state title marching band to the renowned Clover Choralier program.
It’s also a close group. Six of seven band directors in the Clover district came from Winthrop University. Some have been in each other’s weddings and, over time, they’ve grown together.
Langdale tied in the town’s most common tagline for the Rose Parade application, to convey that closeness.
“I definitely used the catchphrase of, we’re the band from the town with ‘love’ in the middle,” he said.
Change coming for Clover, Lake Wylie high schools
Next school year will test the Clover district. This year has, too.
“Most of my section will pretty much be gone,” said Love, who will stay at Clover High. “So I’m trying to take it all in now and enjoy it while I can. Because I know it’ll look very different next year.”
Langdale went through his roster once attendance lines were drawn to judge the impact. He consoled a few students. He likened the changes to seniors who leave each year, and younger students stepping in behind them to lead.
It’s been an emotional year, but also one where students have appreciated each other a little more.
“It’s just tightened,” Price said, “realizing that we do have a limited amount of time together. We are all still Clover band members for the whole (second) semester. And even when people go to different schools, we’re all still family.”
Getting a full week in California together helps, too.
“It’s a good send off, and a good last year with the band,” said Conroy, who will move to Lake Wylie. “Because next year I have no idea what it’s going to be like. It’s going to be so different, and I won’t see half of my best friends anymore.”
Sibling rivalry for Clover schools?
Clover finished third this fall in the state’s largest marching band classification. Band and sports use different size class systems, but both will up updated this winter with new groups for the coming two school years.
The district projects Clover and Lake Wylie will both be 4A schools in sports. Langdale expects Clover to start in 4A and Lake Wylie in 3A for band, but widespread community growth in Lake Wylie could see that school skip 4A in a future reclassification, he said.
“I love those guys and those are my students right now,” Langdale said. “And I’m going to support them. But I’m also not going to be shy about saying, ‘We are Clover.’ Because we are.”
There’s room for both bands to succeed, he said. Langdale wants his students and staff to cheer for the Lake Wylie band, then just a little louder for Clover.
“I’ve competed with some of my close friends before,” he said. “I like to take the Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner approach where we can compete, but then we shake hands and go hang out afterward.”
Conroy is excited to see how the schools clash on the field, but hopes to hang out with friends if both bands end up at the same competition.
“It’ll definitely be a friendly fire moment,” Love said. “We’re all still going to have a super good relationship, and keep that. But you know, it is competitive. So we’re going to have fun with it.”
Band is a little different from sports in that musicians typically cheer for one another, even as competitors.
Northwestern High director Scot McGuire, whose daughter Chloe will perform in the Rose Parade with the Bands of America Honor Band, talked this summer about how bands don’t play defense. When all three Fort Mill School District bands competed in a Southeastern championship event this fall, directors gathered the bands afterward for a massive group photo to celebrate.
“Any time a band is doing well in our area, that’s a win for us,” Langdale said. “Because it’s bringing attention to band in our area. I will be Lake Wylie’s biggest supporter, outside of being Clover’s biggest supporter.”
One last trip of a lifetime
Along with the Rose Parade, the Clover band gets a trip to Disneyland. There’s Bandfest, two days of field shows at Pasadena City College performed by parade bands. Price is particularly excited about free burgers from parade sponsor In-N-Out Burger.
“How am I going to march for seven miles without food?” he asked.
Mostly, students look forward to hanging out with friends. They still have concert band, jazz band, winter ensembles and chamber groups before the school year ends. For underclassmen, there will be spring training for next year’s marching band season. Actually, for the first time, there will be two spring trainings.
For now, band members practice favorites they’ve honed in local parades and new songs for Pasadena.
The television audience will get “I Want You Back” by The Jackson 5. Fans on site will also hear “Dancing in the Street” and Christmas music. The band will even play its school fight song, for one last time together.
“We’re going to get as much as we can out of this experience together,” Langdale said, “before we say goodbye.”
This story was originally published December 22, 2025 at 5:26 AM.
