St. Cloud, Meier Grove Bands Participate in Firefighters Parade

SPALT, GERMANY (WJON News) -- The St. Cloud Municipal Band and Meier Grove Band’s trip to Germany and the Czech Republic is moving along.

On Sunday morning the group had a short museum tour in Spalt, Germany and some of the members had a joint rehearsal with Spalt’s city band in preparation for a parade.

The band then went to Rittersbach, Germany for the Firefighters Parade and Festival. 12 members of the group joined Spalt’s band in marching in the parade.

Afterward everyone attended the festival and watched all the fire teams take part in a department banner-waving competition. 60 fire departments and 24 bands were in the parade celebrating the 125th year of the festival’s salute to firefighters. Then it was back to Spalt to get some sleep for an early morning departure.

On Monday, the group said goodbye to their friends in Spalt and headed for Prague in the Czech Republic. Once in Prague, the band got a guided tour of the Hradcany Castle district, Golden Lane, and cathedrals. All the buildings were very impressive and the group got to learn a lot about the country’s rich history. They checked into their hotel at about 7:00 p.m. and had a few hours to explore Prague.