The Montezuma-Cortez High School marching band will participate in the country’s oldest Fourth of July celebration on Saturday.

Established in 1785, the Fourth of July military, civic and firemen’s parade will step off at 8:30 a.m. Mountain tine in Bristol, R.I. Hundreds of thousands of spectators are expected to line the five-mile parade route.

“We’ll be performing a patriotic medley of hymns from each branch of the military,” said M-CHS band director Rodney Ritthaler.

To prepare, the band practiced daily throughout the last three weeks of school. Once school was let out, the band practiced every Monday for an hour.

During Ritthaler’s tenure, the band has traveled across the country to perform at various parades. He said the one in Bristol tops all the others.

Asked about the strenuous five-mile parade route, Ritthaler explained that the narrow streets in Bristol would be packed, and the energy created from spectators would help to boost the band.

“People come to Bristol just to watch that parade,” he said. “It’s pretty exciting.”

In addition to the parade performance, the transcontinental trek for the 43-member M-CHS marching band featured a four-day visit to Boston. There, students planned to take part in tours of the USS Constitution, Bunker Hill, Paul Revere’s House, Revolutionary War battle sites at Lexington and Concord, and the JFK Library and Museum.

tbaker@cortezjournal.com