Screenshot restored with AI software

On a snowy day in January 1961, Sharon Ann Morris, head majorette, Deering High School Marching Band, Portland, Maine, climbed aboard one of three silver passenger buses and headed for Washington, D.C. She, along with her fellow majorettes and band members, were bound for President John F. Kennedy’s inaugural parade.

The home movie below was filmed by a band parent on 8mm film. One of the more charming aspects of this footage is the Maine law enforcement escort in a 1960 Ford Custom 300 with police package. The classic gumball emergency light atop the vehicle twirled like a little red lighthouse as it made its way down the snowy streets of the nation’s capital 65 years ago.

The day before the inauguration, a blizzard dumped eight inches of snow on the District, threatening cancellation of the parade. But crews worked through the night to clear the parade route, and by morning the skies were clear. Despite temperatures remaining in the low 20s, 32,000 marchers and 86 bands braved the weather for a chance to make history.

Sharon Ann Morris died last month at the age of 83, but thanks to a band dad’s determination to film the event in freezing weather, Sharon can still be seen leading her band in “one of the proudest moments of her life.”