"Mrs. Hoggans group, grab your stuff and go!"
Instead of marching to music, they're marching to orders.
It's organized chaos as 200 American Fork marching band members get ready to board three planes to Indianapolis and the Grand Nationals. Drum Major Richard Flores tells me what he’s thinking during it all. "I didn't really know if it was going to happen. I thought it would be a possibility, but this is crazy." That because it has been a whirlwind week for the band. You see, right after the band’s regional win over the past weekend, parents, instructors and band members made a decision to try to raise enough money to get to and compete in the finals. The price tag - nearly $250,000. And they basically had two days to get the money to make arrangements.
"We had a woman come in with retirement money because she was in the band 30 years ago. And businesses came through with money." Parent and Band Dad, Derek Rasmussen says the support was incredible. He also says parents came up with most of the money, in fact, he says it was probably the first 65 percent of the cost.
Of course, this isn't the first time the band has gone to Nationals. They went last year and they went in 2006. But they told me, in light of what happened last month, this will be the most important trip. Junior and Clarinet player Haylie Lund explains. "When Heather died, it took on a whole new emotion and meaning, and it felt like nothing before." Woodwind instructor Heather Christensen died in a band bus crash last month as the team was coming back for winning a competition in Idaho. Haylie and others say, since then, things have changed. Some say it brought the band “close together.” Haylie says it created a desire or maybe an opportunity to let their emotions go and become even better. "I think it will definitely change our show and how we feel about it and how we play and the way the audience reacts to it."
The band is set to compete Friday afternoon and will learn Friday night if they will advance to the finals on Saturday.
