It’s hard to think about December in the middle of a heat wave, but that's exactly what members of the Lancaster High School marching band are doing.
- Lancaster Marching Band headed to Hawaii
- They were selected to represent the State of New York at Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day
- They are looking for people to place names on their Honor Banner
They're getting ready to perform in Hawaii for Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.
The Pearl Harbor National Memorial staff invite the best high school marching bands every year to perform and this year they selected Lancaster to represent the State of New York.
Nearly 80 students will perform alongside bands from eight other states.
Richard Goss, the band’s director, had written a performance for the band to play as a tribute to his father, a pilot in the United States Air Force.
“We were creating this show and then we got this invitation two days later,” said Goss. “We said this almost seems like destiny that we should go to Pearl Harbor because we have this show that pays tribute to our armed forces.”
As they put in the hard work, they are reaching out to the community for help.
Boosters created an honor flag that students will march with at Pearl Habor. It will bear the names of military service members, both active and veterans, who are from Western New York. They invite anyone to send names to put on the flag for a twenty dollar donation.
"Just hearing the stories of the different people being placed on our honor banner has touched me and brought me to tears,” said Deirdre Ardillo, Booster Club co-president. “I've shared it with the students and it's made everything so real for them. In our small little world in this day and age, they don't understand the magnitude of what people have done for our country and seeing Pearl Harbor first-hand will be a life-changing experience for them."
They want to raise $1,000 for each student to help with airfare. They also have many other fundraisers going on throughout the year. For more information, check out the Lancaster Marching Band online.