Photo by Todd Lester
Homewood band performs during a Class 6A second round playoff game between Homewood and Gardendale on Friday, Nov. 16, 2018, at Driver Stadium in Gardendale.
With Homewood High School's Patriot Band marching the streets of New York City on Thanksgiving morning, the HHS football team will be left without its normal musical counterpart for Friday's quarterfinal matchup against Pinson Valley High School.
The entire Patriot band, and all four band directors, started their trip to New York on Monday to participate in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade for the ninth time. Assistant Band Director Chris Cooper said a contingent of hundreds of Homewood residents are following the band to witness their performance live.
“You don’t realize the love of band and sports and this whole community,” Cooper said by phone Monday, from the band's bus bound for the Big Apple.
But band and community members didn't want to leave the Homewood football team without their band at such a late stage in the season, Cooper said. So, they put out the call — and band members of all ages responded.
Cooper said Homewood Middle School 7th and 8th grade band members are being asked to play Friday night, since many of them have performed at football games before and know the standard songs.
“We really need a lot of them because they know the current music,” Cooper said.
The middle schoolers will be joined by a special accompaniment: volunteer alumni members who will be dusting off their instruments and relearning a few songs. Cooper said since he made the request on social media, his phone has been ringing almost nonstop with responses.
“It builds every hour, it seems,” Cooper said. He added that they've nicknamed the band "The Future Meets the Past."
As of Monday afternoon, Cooper said 45 to 50 HHS alumni, some who graduated in the 1970s, have volunteered to make up part of the band. Joey Crittenden is arranging the music for Friday night and helping to coordinate the band volunteers, and other former Homewood band participants will help direct and even bring extra instruments.
The band volunteers will meet behind the stadium at 6 p.m., Cooper said, to rehearse and relearn the songs. He said there will be about six or seven songs performed for the game, including "Hoorah for Homewood" and "Go Patriots."
“It’s just been fun to watch this whole thing come together,” Cooper said.
Any Homewood band alumni interested in performing Friday night can contact Crittenden at 585-7893 or visit facebook.com/HomewoodPatriotBand for more info.
The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will be broadcast live on NBC, starting at 9 a.m. Eastern Time, 8 a.m. Central Time on Thursday. Find out more about how to watch the parade at macys.com/social/parade.
Homewood hosts Pinson Valley at home Friday night for the second round of the Class 6A playoffs.
