It’s a tradition that launches the start of the holiday season, when Santa makes his arrival at Woodfield Mall. This year, the jolly old elf parades around the shopping center at 6 p.m. on Thursday. The tradition stretches back more than 50 years, back to when Woodfield opened. And the drumline from the Conant High School marching band has set the beat since the beginning.
(Photos courtesy of District 211)
“From what I’ve been told, the Conant High School Marching Band has had this role with Woodfield Mall dating back to its opening in September of 1971,” says Conant Band Director Kreg Moorehouse. “The kids love it. It is a great opportunity for our students to be involved in their community and help provide more energy for Santa’s arrival at Woodfield.”
While Moorehouse does not know why Conant was tapped to amplify this tradition, perhaps it has something to do with history. Conant opened in 1964 and its band program was well established when Woodfield opened in 1971, while Schaumburg High opened in 1970, just one year prior to the arrival of the mall.
Either way, Conant band members have held onto their prominent holiday role all these years, with an average of 17-18 percussionists taking part. They wear their marching uniforms, making them look like toy soldiers escorting Santa through the mall. For his part, Moorehouse works the front end, with mall management clearing the way for the parade to make its way down the corridors of the shopping center.
“Once students have experienced the 15-minute march with Santa around the mall,” he says, “they see just how much excitement they are helping to build as mall patrons start to line up to see Santa’s arrival.”
The parade winds up at the Ice Palace in the mall’s Grand Court, where Santa will meet with little ones and pose for photos through Christmas Eve.
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