Jeffery Jordan, working for Moran Environmental Recovery, sifts through debris when cleanup began at the Ringgold Middle/High School campus. The trailer at right was one of the marching band’s three equipment trailers destroyed by the EF4 tornado on April 27.Band camp starts today for Ringgold High School’s 165 marching students – but not on their home turf.
The Marching Tigers will be the guests of Heritage High School’s band, which is generously sharing its rehearsal hall and field with its cross-county rivals.
It’s the first of several adjustments the resilient Ringgold students will make this year as they and their school recover from the effects of the April 27 tornado that ripped through Ringgold, Ga.
In addition to major equipment losses, the band has had to forfeit a trip to New York City, where they were invited to march in the Veterans Day Parade marking the 10th anniversary of Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center. The band has more pressing needs for that money now.
But band director Robin Christian is quick to acknowledge that their spirits have been buoyed by an unprecedented outpouring of concern and assistance from the community.