Repaying ‘debt of gratitude’

Every Homewood band student from the past 25 years likely knows Herbert “Hack” Hackworth, the man who drives the band equipment truck and sometimes helps to repair their instruments. Hackworth has been volunteering with the band since 1991.

Hackworth, a lifelong Edgewood resident and retired federal police officer, started volunteering because his daughter, Mandy, was in the color guard at Homewood High.

“She let me help the band as long as I stayed away from her,” Hackworth said with a laugh.

Mandy died in a car accident during her junior year, in 1993. Hackworth said he decided to keep volunteering as a way to thank the band and the school, both for what they added to Mandy’s life and their support after her death.

“The school was a major part of her life. She just really loved Homewood High School, and I guess you call it a debt of gratitude,” Hackworth said.

After a few years, volunteering with the band was just as much about his own enjoyment as it was in Mandy’s honor.

“They are good, so good. Somebody asked me if I got paid to work. I said, ‘Yeah! Every time they play, I get paid,’” Hackworth said.

Hackworth’s mother, Bernice, taught in Homewood schools, so being part of school activities is “in the blood.” Recalling his own attempts to play the trumpet in high school band, Hackworth said he has been impressed with the talent and sheer number of students in the band, as well as the variety of instruments they play.

“This is my part of being in music,” Hackworth said.

To Hackworth, driving the equipment trucks is a lot of fun. He accompanies the band to performances during football season, competitions and even major parades. He has carried a truckload of instruments to the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, D.C., the Rose Bowl in California and multiple Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parades. One year he got to walk with the band in the Macy’s parade, which he said was a “hoot.” 

This year, he’ll be one of the three equipment drivers accompanying the Homewood band to the Philadelphia Thanksgiving Parade.

“I’m going to enjoy that,” Hackworth said.

Because he enjoys driving, Hackworth drove field trip and athlete buses for the school system for several years. He recalled placing his duffel bag, which said POLICE on the side, in the bus aisle for all the kids to see, in an attempt to prevent any unruliness.

“Whether it worked or not, I don’t know. They were good kids,” Hackworth said, adding he rarely had to discipline students. “I thoroughly enjoyed it.”

Hackworth stopped driving buses in 2013 but has stuck with the band. In addition to driving, he helps to make props for halftime shows and has learned to do some small instrument repair, especially for drums and tuba. He said he likes to save the band department money when possible, but just as valuable is knowing “what I can do and what I shouldn’t do.”

“With the band as big as it is now, they really need the help,” Hackworth said. “There’s always something needed to be done.”

The only bad part of his volunteering job, he said, is saying goodbye to the graduating seniors each year.

“That’s a plus and a minus. You get to where you learn and you know the kids,” Hackworth said, and then jokingly added, “I love them all. Even the bad ones.”