The Herbert Hoover High School Marching Huskies take to the streets on the magic kingdom during Disney’s Performing Arts Parade. (Photo: Hoover High)
By: Jessi Starkey | Posted: April 12, 2018 | Source: WVAH
ELKVIEW, W.Va. (WCHS/WVAH) — For the Herbert Hoover High School Marching Huskies, the road to Disney World has not been magical.
This June will mark two years since the band members lost everything in the 2016 flood. Senior Shelby Bowles said she will never forget the feeling of that summer afternoon.
“I just thought it was going to be a normal marching band year,” Bowles said. “All of a sudden we had no instruments, no uniforms and we had nowhere to practice. We didn’t even know if we were going to be able to stay together as a school. We didn’t think we would be able to have a band on the field that year.”
The days that followed were filled with hard work and perseverance. The students started practicing in church parking lots, open fields and the outside hallways of their portable classrooms. If there was a space large enough, they were determined to march.
“We had to find a way,” Band Director Maleah Fisher said. “They are good kids. They have a good work ethic. We just had to be resourceful.”
After submitting an audition tape, the marching huskies were hand selected to march in the Disney Performing Arts Parade. Fisher said at the time of the submission the band still didn’t have uniforms. Fisher submitted a photo of what the uniforms would look like, and reassured the parade staff they would be ready to march.
“When we found out we had been selected the celebration just spread,” Fisher said. “We announced it at the football game and everyone in the stand just got so excited. We knew at that time, it was game on. We formed a fundraising committee just for this trip.”
The students got to work fundraising by group and individually. Band members raised thousands of dollars to make the trip possible. Their story even reached people across the country, and Fisher said they received donations from people out of state who wanted to help.
“It was a great opportunity,” Morgan Henry said. “Looking back we were horrified after the flood. Once we started helping each other and cleaning up, the community came together. It’s hard to put into words what it was like performing at Disney. I know everyone’s adrenaline was up.”
The marching huskies’ story even started to spread around the magic kingdom. Fisher said many people reached out to them to ask more about their journey.
“I had a talk with them before we performed,” Fisher said. “I reminded them, you’re representing a small town that has been through a hard situation. You can show these people there is a light at the end of the tunnel.”
