Different trip planned for Elko band

ELKO -- The Elko High School Band has decided to skip President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration next month and accept a different offer: an invitation to march in the National Cherry Blossom Festival Parade in Washington, D.C., on April 4.

Band director Walt Lovell said last week that the band was sticking with its plans to visit the nation's capital next month even though it didn't get a formal invitation to march in the inaugural parade.

Lovell says next month's trip has been scrapped, however, so band members can participate in the Cherry Blossom Festival, which draws more than 1 million people to Washington each spring.

He says they intend to visit Arlington National Cemetery, the U.S. Capitol, the Smithsonian Institute and as many of the monuments as possible.