Bulldogs on Broadway FAYETTEVILLE HIGH SCHOOL'S MARCHING BAND PREPARES FOR A BIG APPLE BASH
Posted on Sunday, November 16, 2008
ANDY SHUPE Northwest Arkansas Times Ashley Seat, left, Samantha Stocker and other members of the Fayetteville High School band and color guard perform at halftime of the school’s last home game Nov. 7 against Rogers Heritage High School.
In intervals measuring about 4 feet long, the battalion marched in unison. Instead of its usual formal black-and-purple attire, its members wore sweatshirts and jeans as they tried to visualize the same routine on a much grander stage.
On this overcast Monday morning, like so many others before it, Fayetteville High School band director Barry Harper had his group practice its stride on Harmon Field’s track in preparation for what lies ahead.
“Horns up!” Harper would bellow through the help of a headset microphone, followed later by “C’mon, energy !”
With Earth, Wind & Fire’s “September” and Kool & The Gang’s “Celebration” serving as continuous feel-good battle cries, the band has been rehearsing for months in anticipation of the school’s second appearance in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. Now, if only Harper could replace the mostly barren trees with a forest of skyscrapers and have a couple of million people watch them, then the members could potentially get a true feel for the conditions that will confront them on the morning of Nov. 27.
Star treatment
Since the announcement in May 2007 that the group would be one of 10 bands — and only one of six high school bands — out of 300 applicants to play in this year’s parade, all efforts have been made under the theme “I’m in a New York State of Mind.”
Or perhaps, to change the famous song of Billy Joel, a “New York State of Shock.”
“Going to New York, I just have a feeling that it’s going to blow my mind,” said senior trombone player Zach Yocum, who will make his first trip to the country’s largest city.
He’s not alone. At one point, Harper took a survey of who had already taken a bite out of the Big Apple. Out of the nearly 200 band members representing the school’s three classes, about 145 students did not raise their hands. It’s a good bet that no one has ever marched in front of 3.5 million people in person while being watched by about 50 million others on a national television network like NBC.
“I try not to think about it because if I do, I’m totally going to freak out,” said sophomore trumpet player Margaret Schweiger, one of those who have been to Gotham. This will be her third trip to New York. Her most recent experience happened last April during a trip to Carnegie Hall as a member of the now-defunct North Arkansas Symphony Youth Orchestra. She is one of slightly fewer than 100 sophomores in the band.
“Every second of every day there’s always something going on,” Schweiger said. “It doesn’t matter where you are. There’s always going to be something even if you know it or not.”
She recalled how, along with another orchestra member and a chaperone, she stumbled upon a Greek pride parade back in April. The Bulldogs made their first appearance in the world-famous parade in 1998 on rain-slickened streets in Manhattan during Harper’s fourth year teaching at the school.
“It was so prestigious just to get in,” Harper said. “We just wanted to make sure we did a good job. We spent one night — and we’re doing that again — letting them walk down Times Square and let them look at everything because we don’t want them to do that during the parade.”
Harper went back to New York for last year’s parade along with assistant director Brett Lawson to take notes on logistics and other issues.
“It’s just unbelievable the way people will respond to you. They will treat the kids like celebrities. … There’s a lot of celebrities in that parade,” Harper said. “Some people on the route were stopping kids and taking their picture.” The 82nd version of the parade will feature appearances and performances by such singing stars as Miley Cyrus, David Archuleta, James Taylor, Darius Rucker and Trace Adkins.
No time for rest
What nerves that could attack the band on Thanksgiving Day might be lessened by a case of sleep deprivation. When the group arrives in New York City at about 2 p.m. Nov. 23 after a 24-hour-plus charter bus ride, it will start a five-day whirlwind of an itinerary that will include highlights such as a dinner cruise around the Statue of Liberty, a presentation of Cirque du Soleil’s “ Wintuk” and a performance of “ Shrek The Musical” on Broadway. Harper said that “ Shrek” was chosen mainly because the show’s director, Jason Moore, who also directs the acclaimed “Avenue Q,” is a FHS graduate. He is going to meet with the band at some point either before or after the show.
“The closer we get, the more exciting it feels, the more realization we get that it stinks to only be there a week,” said sophomore percussionist Mason Lietzke. “It’s a huge privilege to be able to go there. I mean 10 out of 300 bands is pretty amazing.”
The band will have an early curfew of 8 p.m. the night before the parade so it can get up at 2 a.m. on Thanksgiving. Then, the band will go through an early morning rehearsal with parade officials to make sure everything looks as expected before members march the two-and-a-half mile route from Central Park to the Macy’s flagship store on Herald Square.
“That’s why you drink lots of caffeine or stay up all night,” joked senior flutist Annika Kolb.
Still, adrenaline might give the band members all the energy they’ll need.
“It’s bad enough during a marching competition. You get nervous then,” said sophomore clarinet player Kaleb Abram. “ I know I’ll get nervous. I’ll be fine up until the starting line before we go. You just have to buckle down and focus.”
Two Saturdays ago, amid blustery conditions, Abram had the energy to create enough warmth wearing only a gray Ramay Junior High band T-shirt and jeans during the removal of padded seats at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium. Band members met at 8 a.m. to unscrew, carry away and stack close to 7,600 padded seats that were purchased by UA football season ticket holders.
Teamed with David Skinner, a sophomore tenor saxophone player, Abram worked with great haste. The tandem set a blazing pace by hauling away more than 300 seats before a lunch break at 11:30 a.m. Using a power drill to loosen brackets, Skinner acted as if he was removing lug nuts on a NASCAR pit crew while Abram would catch the brackets and place them on the seats.
The band earned the initial invitation on the tape that Harper sent in of its performances during the 2006 football season when this year’s sophomores were still in junior high — something that Skinner will always remember.
“We didn’t earn the right to go to Macy’s,” he said. “We’re reaping the benefits of the bands before us. Their video tapes got us there.”
“Hopefully,” Abram added, “we can continue on that trend.”
Money matters
The event was just one of several efforts the band has been involved with to raise funds for the upcoming trip over the past few weeks. It was originally estimated by those in charge that each band member would have to raise $1,250 individually to cover all the expenses while in New York. To help meet this mark, the boosters struck a deal with the Razorback Foundation to run certain parking lots for UA football and basketball games, allowing each student to earn $5 an hour for their individual travel accounts.
When the band went to the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, Calif., in 2006, the set number per student was set more than $1,000 as well, Harper said, but the group also received more than $97,000 in cash from 180 donors. No one, though, could predict the current economic hardships that have shackled the country. As of Wednesday, the band had raised only $16,000 in cash and $10,000 in promotional services from more than 60 donors.
The band still needs to raise about $42,000. A majority of the estimate comes from expenses not covered by the students ’ individual fees, including transportation costs for instruments and uniforms, road meals and parade jackets. The rest — about $10,000 — is the money that is needed to fully fund all of the members’ accounts.
Over the past few years, the booster club has raised an average of $40,000 annual to take care of such concerns as instrument repair and purchases and regional and state competition expenses. If the boosters have to dip into their savings account to cover the unmet costs, an impact will be felt at some point, said Count Darling, the vice president of the Fayetteville Band Boosters Inc.
“It might not happen before we get to Macy’s, but it will definitely happen when we get back,” he said.
“It will set us back further in the spring. We’re trying to prevent what’s going to happen later,” added Michelle Yocum, the club’s president.
Darling noted that donations are welcome at any time to help soften the harsh reality of what the group might face when it returns home.
While sitting in his office, it did not take long for Harper to put out a plea for additional patronage.
“Imagine all the money spent on promoting Fayetteville, Arkansas. We’re going to reach three-anda-half-million [people] live and 50 to 60 million [people] on television representing Fayetteville, Arkansas,” Harper said. “I cannot imagine the tourism department having an opportunity like that. We’re going to be representing our school, our city and our state and we’re going to do it in a positive way.
“ We’re only one of 10, so obviously the students have earned the right to go to special things. Two hundred and 90 bands, which is probably thousands of students, are going to be sitting at home wishing they were in a band that was capable of getting that invitation, so that speaks well for not just the band but the school system. ”
Zach Yocum, though, is a young man of far fewer words when talking about potential donors.
“It maybe something small for them, like a little donation,” he said, “but it applies to something really big for us.”
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