Chinese New Year Parade will feature reunited St. Mary's performers

The newest members of the St. Mary’s Drum and Bell Corps are still learning, but everyone is looking forward to the return of the corps who will for the first time rejoin the drill team at this year's Chinese New Year Parade.  Drill team member, Ava Gee says, she missed them, "before I really loved hearing like, the music that they made. I think that really made everything more lively."

Drill Team Captain Amberly Wong says she "feel(s) feel like there's going to be more energy. And you can really feel the spirit of the Chinese New Year."

This will be just the next chapter of St. Mary's long history with the San Francisco community. Deacon Simon Tsui says, "In 1921, we start the school, both, Chinese language school and also the English day school. So it's two schools parallel."

St Mary's was formed as a church and a school, but from the beginning there was also a commitment to preserving and promoting Chinese culture and traditions and that's what led to the formation of both groups.

Deacon Simon explains the "Drum and Bell because, besides the language, we also want to introduce the music and also the instrument, to the students. And so in 1940, we established this group is called drum from the very beginning is Drum Corps. And then later on they changed the name to Drum and Bell."

Deacon Simon says the drill team focuses on formation and marching while wearing outfits made from silk.  In the early days they would buy uniforms from China.

Since the beginning, both groups have been a part of the Chinese New Year Parade. "Since the very first year, they invite or they have this parade and we were there," says Simon.

The St. Mary’s Drum Corps performed at JFK’s 1961 inauguration and traveled around the country and around the world, but recent years have brought changes.  

Today you will still find language classes on the weekend at St. Mary’s and the drill team has consistently had practices there as well. But the Drum and Bell Corps was a program run through the day school. So, when in 2016 when the day school closed for financial reasons the Drum and Bell corps also eventually dissolved.  

Last year when the drill team performed in the Chinese New Year parade, they did it alone, but Simon says it felt like something was missing.  

"Last year when we were in the marching and it was raining and we just noticed that with no music, with the Drum and Bell, just the drill teams carve a little bit, out of sync."

And so, the decision was made to bring it back.  With the help of a former member to lead them, they found a handful of kids who were willing to learn.

With six kids, it is a small start, when you consider that in its heyday the Corps boasted around 30 members, but it represents the start of the next chapter and the continuation of a tradition remembered and beloved by so many.

For Zheng its "just the bond we've made, and, like, just a nice family that, you know, Fan Drill is."

Team member CeCe Chen, says that’s what she likes most, "how we can bond with each other and just, like, get to know each other."

The Drum and Bell Corp and the Drill team are together again, and Gee says when they hit the streets of San Francisco for the Chinese New Year Parade she hopes the tens of thousands of people who come to watch, "see the community that we've built and how we just, love doing this for our culture. "