The Scotland County High School Band is Hawaii Bound

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By Echo Menges

Thirty Scotland County High School Band members will be traveling the distance to Hawaii this Friday to perform at the 80th Anniversary Pearl Harbor Commemoration Concert Series being held next week, on Pearl Harbor Day, December 7, 2021, at Honolulu, Hawaii.

The Scotland County Association of Music Parents (SCAMP) and community supporters have spent the last year raising the necessary funds to send the students on the trip. Just over a whopping $90,000 was raised for the student portion of the trip.

Band members and SCAMP members got a strong start in the fall of 2020 selling over $8,000 in raffle tickets for their “Jackpot Raffle”.

“Our students were able to participate and work towards many events held over the last year. Those activities included working the election last year and gaining experience in civic responsibility in there, too,” said SCAMP President and Trip Coordinator Lisa Doster. “We held a music fundraiser where people could book a trio or quartet of students and they went around the community and played Christmas music last December. The community really enjoyed the music – especially since a lot of things were cancelled because of the pandemic. I hope that a few of these fundraisers will become annual events to work towards future band trips. In addition fundraising activites included an Easter egg hunt, Valentine’s Crush Grams at school, which was a soda and note for Valentine’s day, an Italian dinner fundraiser, the students sold trash bags, and Rada cutlery. Students and parents worked concession stands for basketball, football and track. We also conducted bake sales and Facebook auctions of homemade goods. We host an annual Talent Show at our county fair and the proceeds from this year went toward the trip. It’s been a lot. It’s been a big year.”

Doster and 52 others are accompanying the band on the trip which includes parents, grandparents and supporters of the band – who are joining the band at their own expense. In total, 83 people will be going to Hawaii.

“The students are excited and nervous. I talked to a mom earlier who’s daughter has never flown on a plane. There’s a lot of excitement,” said Doster.

“We’re playing music that has all been composed by Missouri composers around the area of the USS Missouri (at the Pearl Harbor Memorial),” said Scotland County High School Band Teacher Nathan Orr. “The first one we’re doing is the “Crescent City March” by Joe Lopez. When he wrote that piece, he was living in Memphis, Missouri, copyright 1917. We’re also doing “Hymnsong’’ by Phillip Bliss. It’s an arrangement of “It is Well With My Soul” – the hymn. Third, is the “American Folk Song Trilogy” by Claud T. Smith from Monroe City, Missouri. The last song is called “Roller Coaster” by Andrew Glover. I am excited – looking forward to it. The kids are getting pretty excited. Today, they were looking up what the hotel looks like that we will be staying at.”

“We have a SCAMP Facebook page where a lot of the pictures from the trip will be posted. We’re also working on posting a link that will be possibly showing a broadcast of the performance. We hope to have an audio recording or even a video of the performance,” said Doster.

KMEM Radio Station’s Corey Stott will also be going on the trip, and reporting on the band’s adventure on 100.5 KMEM FM.

The group is leaving Memphis on Friday, December 3, and heading to the Kansas City Airport. The entire group will embark together on their flight to the island of Oahu in Hawaii.

The group will stay on Oahu in Honolulu until December 8 arriving back in Kansas City, MO, on December 9.

The community is invited to show their support for the band and those accompanying them on the trip by SCAMP and community organizers. Citizens are asked to line up along Highway 15 this Friday, December 3, for a 3:15 p.m. sendoff.