Tyler Patton holds a new marching baritone trumpet in the Howard School band room. The Howard Band is adding new instruments thanks to fund-raising efforts that have brought in $85,000 in cash and $15,000 worth of donated instruments.Some of the donations were as small as $5, others as large as $3,000.
They came from grandmothers, local families and Howard alumni, from throughout Tennessee and Georgia and from as far away as Seattle.
In all, 135 checks arrived in the mail, all toward one purpose — help the Howard High School Band buy new instruments to replace those held together by duct tape and string.
The goal was to raise $50,000. But the final tally was twice that: $85,000 in cash contributions and more than $15,000 worth of instruments — a total of more than $100,000 for a band that is as far from its glory days as north is from south.
But thanks to the donations, the band’s on the way back now.