By: Paige Fry, Editor-in-Chief
With the year marching along, Seminole High School’s band prepares for another out-of-state performance. This December, the band will take the long flight over to Hawaii to perform in the Pearl Harbor Day Parade.
One of the reasons why the band is going to Hawaii is because of the very prestigious honor of being one of only 12 bands invited to perform in the parade. Another reason is due to the hands-on history lesson that Hawaii can give the students about WWII.
Band teacher Mr. PL Malcolm feels that the band is very humbled to have the opportunity to travel to Hawaii. It may seem exotic that they’re going to Hawaii, but they’re going there on a mission. Malcolm’s goal is to have his students understand that there are a lot of sacrifices Americans have made for our country. In WWII there were many young soldiers, only two years older than most of the high schoolers going on the trip, who had to make the ultimate sacrifice that ended up changing the whole world.
Along with the privilege of being included in the parade, the band will also be doing some sight-seeing. A few of these adventures include: arriving in Honolulu, spending an evening on Waikiki Beach, and relaxing on the North Shore Beaches. Other activities to participate in include snorkeling, surfing, hiking in the Diamond Head Crater, visiting museums, and boarding a Navy launch to the USS Arizona Memorial.
In order to afford the Hawaii trip, members had to do various fundraising for the last year and a half in order to afford the $2,000 fee per person. Some members are choosing not to attend because of this.
Senior Sallie Proudfoot says, “You can send letters to friends and family asking for donations. We also do quarter days where we play and talk to people for four hours outside of Publix and Sam’s. Or you can pay for it on your own, some kids just turned in a $2,000 check.”
The members that are able to raise enough money are then able to go to Hawaii and play in the parade. The majority of the members planning to go are seniors and juniors; only a few sophomores and freshmen are going to attend. The members planning to participate will start preparing for the parade later in October. Right now, they’re still in marching season practicing their fundamentals.
This trip to Hawaii isn’t the first WWII based trip the band has taken. In 2012, they visited America’s capital, Washington D.C., where they performed at the WWII memorial and presented a wreath at the tomb of unknown soldiers. During the D.C. trip the band also visited many historical landmarks, such as the Lincoln Memorial, Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, Washington Monument, and the White House. Last year, for the annual trip, they flew overseas to visit Japan for even more insight on WWII.
Junior Cameron Clark talks about experiences in Japan, “We had to stay in people’s houses, which was pretty crazy. They tried feeding us weird foods, like octopus on a stick and strange dumplings. Overall, I had a good experience, just a lot of crazy things happened. We had so much fun, and got to bond a lot with each other.”
Next year, Malcolm plans on taking the band again to Washington D.C. or to New York. The year after that he is planning to go overseas again to Europe.