Along with marching in the parade, the high schools will tour the U.S. Capitol, visit Mount Vernon and other monuments and museums.

Around 80 Grand Island students are making the trip. Lee said the students cover their own costs, with fundraising largely run though the school’s booster program helping offset the expense.

Bishop Neumann’s 53 students benefited from community donations, along with a holiday greenery sale and fundraisers, which Kellett said helped cover airfare and other costs.

For both directors, the trip carries extra weight tied to the nation’s 250th anniversary.

“That’s a pretty big milestone,” Lee said. “And to be able to be a part of that is pretty neat.”

Kellett said the moment will stay with students long after the parade ends.

“These kids, they’ll be around for the 300th anniversary of the country, and they’ll be able to look back and tell their grandkids, ‘you know, I was there at 250 and was able to march in the National Independence Day Parade,’” Kellett said.

Both bands have spent the summer preparing. Grand Island started working on its music after its final spring concert in May, rehearsing its marching and music together on Tuesday evenings.

Bishop Neumann has rehearsed continuously over the summer and marched in two parades to prepare, a 150th anniversary celebration in Weston and the Papillion Days parade.

Kellett said the band’s last rehearsal in Wahoo drew residents who lined the streets holding signs and cheering the students on.

“The students have come in, and they’ve worked really hard,” Kellett said. “They have their music memorized and they’ve worked on their marching skills, and so all that effort into this they’re ready to go for the parade.”

The parade starts at 9:30 a.m. CT Saturday at Third Street and Constitution Avenue.

Trump arrived in Bismarck aboard the new Qatar-gifted Air Force One plane. From there, he traveled to Medora, in the western part of the state, for a private tour of the presidential library.

His speech is scheduled to start at 1:15 p.m. local time.

HAMDEN, Ohio (AP) — The 16 children found living in “deplorable” conditions inside a small, dilapidated rural Ohio home are part of the same family, officials said Wednesday.

Authorities arrested four adults Tuesday on felony child endangerment charges after finding the children in the home. Some were in dire need of medical treatment, authorities said.

Vinton County prosecuting attorney William Archer said the four adults were charged with second-degree felony child endangering because it involves “serious physical harm.”

Gary Siders Jr., Gary Siders Sr., Christina Siders and Elizabeth Siders appeared in court Wednesday where a judge entered not guilty pleas on their behalf.. They have not yet been assigned lawyers.

Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson said Wednesday that the conditions inside the house in the tiny village of Hamden were almost indescribable, saying it “really looked third world.”

“It’s just almost beyond comprehension,” he said without providing details about what was inside.

It appeared that the children spent most of their time in just one room for much of the four years they lived there, Wilson said.

The house sits on a road tucked away alongside a steep railroad embankment, where tracks carry rumbling trains through Hamden. On Wednesday, its doors and windows stood open to the 94-degree Fahrenheit (34-degree Celsius) heat. A tangle of discarded children’s items — two busted bicycles, a plastic play table, a beach pail and two infant carriers — stood in a pile in the yard.

The Ohio Bureau of Investigation and local sheriff’s department searched the home on Tuesday.

The children ranged in age from 1 1/2 years to 18 years old and included both boys and girls, officials said. Seven were transported to hospitals in Columbus and two were flown by helicopters.

Hamden has a population of less than 1,000 people and is about 60 miles (97 kilometers) southeast of Columbus.

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Seewer reported from Toledo, Ohio.