Musician Terry Oldfield and his wife, Bonnie, glued their eyes to the television every year during the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, Calif., on New Year’s Day.

Terry always muttered, “I could have been there.”

Well, nearly 60 years later, Jan. 1 this year, “could have” turned into reality.

It’s important to note it was not just Terry making the trip from his Rancho El Dorado home to Pasadena, but Bonnie was with him for the unforgettable experience. It was one of the final memories together for the couple that shared their lives for 54 years. She died days later.

The musical journey for Oldfield began in North Royalton, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland. A self-described “band geek,” he was awaiting his turn as his two older sisters enjoyed the opportunity to march with the high school band in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City and at the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, D.C.

The invitation for the Rose Bowl Parade came in the spring of 1965. Oldfield, a trumpeter at the time, and his bandmates sold everything from Scotch tape to light bulbs to candy to raise funds for the trip. The itinerary involved a four-day train journey, three days in Southern California and four more days to travel back home.

There was concern, however, among some parents about the group of teens making such a long excursion. The rumor mill at the time said the students would miss too much class time and the school could lose its accreditation, Oldfield remembered.

Whatever the reason, the trip was cancelled. Oldfield and his bandmates were crushed.

Life goes on

Life went on despite the nagging musical void.

Oldfield enjoyed a 23-year career in the U.S. Navy. He became a medical technologist, based at Naval Station Great Lakes in Illinois before serving on a variety of amphibious assault ships, including the USS Okinawa. Later, he was senior enlisted instructor at the Hospital Corps School at Great Lakes. After his naval retirement, he worked 22 years for the Illinois Department of Public Health.

Most importantly, Terry and Bonnie began their lifelong union.

“We met singing together for the USO,” he recalled, with the pair also playing the guitar and piano. You can add the banjo and mandolin to his instrumental repertoire. “Instead of watching TV, we would sing songs.”

When he decided in his mid-40s, in a self-described midlife crisis, he wanted to start playing the bagpipes, Bonnie was the encourager. Terry shared, “She told me, ‘You need to learn those bagpipes.’”

The bagpipes are unique in the musical world. They’re certainly not the most common instrument, and they are far from easy to play.

“You can’t go into a music store and say you want to learn the bagpipes,” Oldfield said. “They would think you are crazy.”

It took him several years to find a teacher and another year of practicing with the chanter, the instrument’s melody pipe, to begin to learn how to play. Oldfield went on to perform with a pipe band, the Dearborn Highlanders, in the Chicago area from the early 1990s through 2010.

“It’s not just playing music,” he described in talking about the tradition and the emotion involved. “It’s like you are marrying your bagpipes.”

Reviving the dream

Terry and his wife retired and moved to Maricopa in early 2013. He eventually found two other bagpipers in the city, and they performed various functions, military and beyond. It was one of those two comrades, John Gilleran, who alerted him in May last year a pipe major in California was attempting to assemble a large bagpipe band to perform in the 2024 Rose Bowl extravaganza.

“I met Terry at the Veteran’s Day ceremony at Province in 2021,” recalled Gilleran, who also moved to Maricopa from the Chicago area. After seeing the Rose Bowl solicitation in a Facebook group dedicated to the craft, “The first person I thought of was Terry. I brought him all the information, but I wasn’t sure he would do it.”

Oldfield was immediately intrigued but also had his doubts.

“Am I too old? Can I play well enough? Should I even submit the video application?” were among his questions. “My wife said, ‘You will never know until you try.’”

Terry played, Bonnie recorded and the videotape was submitted. Preparing for the worst, Oldfield was pleasantly surprised at a late-night email that read: “This email is to congratulate you on passing our audition requirements and to say welcome to the team.”

He was among 67 of about 300 applicants accepted.

While elated, Oldfield admitted reality soon set in. The Rose Bowl Parade, at 5.5 miles in length, was easily more than twice as long as any previous marching effort. And while he was comfortable playing for 20 minutes, this required the stamina to perform for closer to two hours.

A preplanned vacation in July didn’t stop Oldfield from beginning his preparations. Practicing during a stop at an RV campground in Texas, he recalled being told to “please stop playing those bagpipes.” He also completed a “pretend march” for 5.5 miles on a bike path in Minnesota.

Back home in August, he enlisted the help of an instructor in Phoenix to master two of the tunes the band would play in the parade. With the hot weather still scorching on, he spent much of his time marching in circles and playing inside his house. As the temperatures cooled in ensuing months, he moved outside and modified the nearly 4-mile route around his Rancho El Dorado neighborhood to the 5.5 miles he would need in January.

December brought more practice and fine tuning. The day he awaited for more than six decades years was imminent.

Coming up roses

Terry and Bonnie drove to Pasadena Dec. 28. There were 113 pipers, drummers and dancers in the group. They came from Scotland, Ireland, Canada, Australia and all over the U.S. The youngest was age 11. Oldfield was the oldest at 76.

“I was very nervous,” he said about the experience. “I got to the ballroom, set up my pipes and had another piper check my drones for tuning. One of the pipers started playing set A and all the other pipers joined in as they tuned up. It was amazing how we all came together as one band.”

The next few days included practice sessions, a BandFest performance where all the musical groups in the parade played and a New Year’s Eve show at Disneyland. The last two days of 2023 were rainy in Southern California but not enough to stop the shows.

The sun was shining on Monday, Jan. 1. But not at the 4 a.m. bus call or 5:30 a.m. arrival. It would be another two hours before the group — Pipes on Parade: The Massed Pipes & Drums — would reach the starting line.

“It was scary, a bit overwhelming,” Oldfield shared. “Especially that morning — this was it. All the work leading up to this. After spending three-quarters of the year getting ready, it was great. The bagpipes are loud, but you could still hear the roar of the crowd.”

While the route was every bit as long as expected, he said he was grateful the drummers did a drum salute and cadence between each set of tunes. Near the end of the parade, Oldfield’s left toe caught the rim of a manhole cover. Fortunately, he was able to catch himself and get back in step.

Overall, “It was an experience I’ll probably never have again. At age 16 or 17, it probably would have been a different type of experience.”

Crushing reality

Terry and Bonnie returned home from what Oldfield terms an “ecstatic high.” Only five days later, that high turned into the lowest of lows. On one of their frequent visits to Starbucks — “we liked to sit, dream and talk” — Terry said his wife’s hand dropped from his and he knew something was seriously wrong.

On Jan. 8, Bonnie was diagnosed with brain cancer. She died less than two weeks later.
“Most of the things I did in my life I did to impress my wife,” Oldfield revealed as he fought back tears. “Many Navy marriages don’t last; ours only grew stronger. Bonnie was always extremely proud and extremely supportive.”

Gilleran remembers the patience Bonnie always displayed when the bagpipers would practice at the Oldfield home and the love she had for sewing. As for his friend Terry, “He is such a great guy. He did it — and that is just great.”

Endurance is part of Terry’s DNA. The 5.5-mile parade route came closer to 8 miles when adding in the distance to the start line. In his late 50s, he traveled even further, running the Chicago Marathon — taking a short break in the middle to play the bagpipes, of course — and still finishing in a time that qualified him for the prestigious Boston Marathon.

The Rose Bowl band immediately began receiving offers for future performances. While Oldfield will likely pass on a Colorado event later this year, he’s looking forward to participating in an annual Navy parade in Hawai’i in December 2025.

After all, he did wait nearly 60 years to see his Tournament of Roses Parade dream fulfilled. What’s one more?