News

Family Focus: Indian Trail high school band to perform in Hawaii

By Stephanie Maxwell
By Stephanie Maxwell

UNION COUNTY, N.C. — It's fine-tuning time for the Porter Ridge High School Marching Band of Pirates. The band members are counting down to Dec. 5, when they leave for Hawaii, where they'll get national exposure performing in the Pearl Harbor Memorial Parade.

They've played big events before, but none this big or so far from home.

“My freshman year, we actually went to Disney World, and we marched in the main Magic Kingdom parade,” said Porter Ridge senior Jared Watson.

The trip almost didn't happen.

Band co-director Ian Faires got an email that he "thought" was spam. It was from a master sergeant in the Marines.

“At first I thought, it's a form letter, junk mail. Two weeks later, he sends me another one (saying,) 'I have tried to contact you.'  So it was a real letter,” Faires said.

A letter sent in April 2014, inviting the Pirates to help commemorate the anniversary of the invasion of Pearl Harbor.

Since then, Faires and co-director Stephanie Tomberlin have pushed students to raise money for the trip.

The band is considered one of the best in the state, which is why the parade committee wanted it to perform.

“It was kind of a banner year for us. We went to four competitions and at three of four of them, we won a grand champion -- which is the overall best band of the day,” Faires said.

They'll march 2 miles through the streets of Waikiki plus collaborate with the U.S. Marine Band and perform on the USS Missouri, a dream come true for these students.

“We're very excited. I'm very excited to play with the Marine Band and march in Hawaii. That's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Porter Ridge junior Dominique Harris said.

Read more top trending stories on wsoctv.com:

WSOC

Most Read