Image retrieved from archives via Newspapers.com
The headline from the Nov. 27, 1966 edition of The Birmingham News heralds the first Christmas Parade appearance for the marching band from Mountain Brook High School.
In 1966, just months after opening its doors and fielding its first football team, Mountain Brook High School added another milestone — a debut performance by its marching band in Birmingham’s Christmas Parade.
Led by Drum Major Rick Jones, the black-and-gold-clad Spartans made their inaugural public appearance downtown in what was billed as Birmingham’s answer to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. For the band, which had only recently begun rehearsing as an ensemble, the chance to march alongside established bands from across Jefferson County was both thrilling and daunting.
Injured just weeks before the big event, Jones suffered a leg injury during a football game but was determined to lead the band on both feet — no crutches, no excuses. “I wouldn’t miss it if I had to hop on one leg,” he told The Birmingham News. True to his word, he recovered in time to guide the group down 20th Street from Municipal Auditorium with full command and Spartan pride.
The 1966 Mountain Brook band was under the direction of Arthur Nyquist and featured baton twirlers Candy Hamilton, June Garza and Jane Spencer — each helping bring movement and energy to the group’s very first parade performance.
It was a moment of pride for the school and its surrounding community, a symbol that Mountain Brook High School was beginning to find its voice — not just on the field or in the classroom, but in the rhythm and spirit of its students.
Nearly 60 years later, the tradition of excellence in music lives on in Mountain Brook, but it all began with that determined first march through the heart of Birmingham during the city’s holiday season kickoff.
