The band made the trip during Presidents Day weekend and it was truly a whirlwind tour. After being accepted to play in a Disney World parade, the band spent long hours practicing for the assignment and holding fund\raisers for the $57,000 trip. The band tries to make one of these trips every four years, and this year was important for bonding as Moler took over as director just before the school year began.
“This helped,” Moler said. “It gave us a chance to get energized, something really important for our band this year. It helped us become a family. It’s great to see the band as a group.”
The band left at 5 p.m. on Feb. 17, arriving at Disney World at noon the next day.
After Animal Kingdom, the group went to as many attractions as they could until finally performing at 10 a.m. Sunday morning. Three other bands were involved, plus a group from the park and the usual Mickey Mouse and friends characters.
“We marched about three-quarters of a mile,” Moler said, “and played four songs, including our fight song.
“We had a blast.”
The band spent the rest of Sunday and most of Monday doing more touring. They then took their two motor coaches home, missing just one day of school.
All the band members were back in class on Wednesday.
“We couldn’t have asked for a better experience,” Moler said.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2157 or mkatz@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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