St. Petersburg has a lot of great things going for it.  Of course, if I didn’t think so, I wouldn’t have created this blog.  Most of what I talk about and show here in my blog are things that I love about St. Pete.

One of the things that is uniquely St. Petersburg’s is the Awesome Original Second Time Arounders Marching Band!  The first time that I saw this band perform was in the Festival of States Saturday morning parade, more than twenty years ago.  They were not a huge group at that time, but I just loved seeing them march by, playing their instruments, twirling their batons, and making their flags dance through the air.  The band’s beginnings date back to 1983 with an ad in the St. Petersburg Times, looking to see whether any former school band members might be interested in creating a ‘Second Time Arounders’ band.  Lots of people responded, and the band grew every year.  In addition to local events, they’ve played at many other events around the country, and in 2008, they marched and played in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade!  With around 500 members ranging from ages 18 to 85, this is a group that loves to play, loves to show what they’ve got, and loves to have fun!  If you ever have a chance to watch them play, you’ll see that you can’t help but be caught up by their intense enthusiasm…