Islander will join Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade

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Mitch Lowe of Oak Bluffs (center) will perform in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade as a member of the University Of Massachusetts Minutemen Marching Band. His UMass band mates from left: Matt Pohl, Peter Swan, Ian Svagdis, and Matt Paul — Photo by Laura Hilliard

On Thanksgiving Day, Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School graduate Mitchell Lowe will get a taste of the Big Apple. Mitch is a member of the University of Massachusetts Minuteman Marching Band, which makes its debut in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Thursday. He plays the bass drum.

It will be the largest audience for a UMMB performance in history, with an estimated viewership of more than 50 million people, according to a press release. The band will be performing one of the program’s most well-known tunes, Big Noise from Winnetka, featuring the top collegiate percussion section in the nation, at the Macy’s storefront at 11:24 am on NBC. The UMMB will also be playing four tunes on the streets of New York City: the fight song, “Fight Mass,” another traditional tune, “Roll Down the Field,” “God Bless America,” and “Sweet Caroline.”

The 394-member band is led by Director Timothy Todd Anderson and Associate Director Thomas P. Hannum. Founded in the 1870s, the Minuteman Band is the largest collegiate marching band in the Northeast, and one of the most decorated.