Fallbrook High band invited to Memorial Day parade, fundraising underway

The Fallbrook Union High School Marching Band has been invited to participate in the 75th Memorial Day Parade in Hawaii in May 2020 to honor Pearl Harbor.

To get the entire band to Hawaii to perform on the deck of the USS Missouri and participate in a parade that will include 250,000 people, the band is currently working hard to raise the more than $200,000 it will cost.

The band, at the direction of Derek Lee for the past couple of years, has begun to see the fruits of their labor, bringing home six first-place trophies and qualifying for marching band championships last year.

"This Hawaii trip is a huge honor for us and as a third-year teacher at my first school, I am very proud of the work the students are doing to represent our school and our state," Lee said. "This trip is going to be something that changes lives and as a teacher that is what I live for."

FUHS Band Booster Club president Chris Potter said the selection of the band shows the hard work Lee and the students have put in is paying off.

"The historic nature of this event is momentous," Potter said. "The 75th anniversary of the end of World War II is a milestone anniversary and the ceremonies therein are specifically honoring Gold Star families, active and retired military, as well as the fallen soldiers on both sides of the war.

"Getting chosen to be California's representative for the Hawaii parade is in itself a great honor but to be able to honor the ones who served in World War II in such a way is even better," Jade Ingham, a senior drum major in the band, said.

The band was nominated by an anonymous, retired military musician to the selection chairman of historic programs and was one of 150 nominees. Earl Hurrey, selection chairman, researched each band and selected Fallbrook as the representing band from California along with four other bands on the mainland, Potter said.

Potter said Fallbrook was selected over the other nominees because of the talent and maturity of the band that has demonstrated they are ready to participate in such a historic occasion.

Potter said all the bands will participate in the same opening ceremonies and will be playing the "Military Melody" for the Gold Star family ceremony and parade. For the concert on the USS Missouri, he said, Fallbrook will be playing music selected by Lee to honor both the United States and Japan that will promote the "From Foes to Friends" theme of the weekend.

"Being selected for Hawaii was really unexpected, but it's really cool to see that out of where we are we got selected to go and it's a big honor," sophomore Trae Hammerstrom said.

The band is raising funds with crowdfunding through SNAP at http://www.snap-raise.com/v2/fundraisers/fallbrook-hs-band-and-color-guard-2019?fundraiser_id=121045&share_type=facebook_share&version=v2.2#/. They will be hosting pancake breakfasts, a spaghetti dinner with a concert hosted by the Fallbrook Masonic Lodge and a "Christmas in Hawaii" luau in December.

"The Fallbrook Veterans of Foreign Wars has taken us under their wing to get the California chapters to help us fundraise," Potter said. "(We) already received $4,700 from Fallbrook, San Diego, Lakeside and private VFW members."

Band members are writing letters and reaching out to corporations for donations that are tax-deductible because the group is a nonprofit organization.

But they have a long way to go.

"I am really excited about Hawaii because I get to experience a new place and the world and because I get to be with people I love," junior Arizbeth Miguel said.

Interested donors should visit the band's donation website at http://www.fhswarriormusic.org/donate.

Jeff Pack can be reached by email at [email protected].