I can’t imagine what I would have done without Russellville’s band program when I was in high school, so when I talked to Phil Campbell’s band director this week about the struggle they were going through after losing almost everything in the tornado, it tugged at my heartstrings.

I joined band in the sixth grade and played the clarinet my mother played when she was that age. I continued to play clarinet in seventh grade and became a member of the Marching Hundred in the eighth grade.

I enjoyed the clarinet but I was dying to try out for colorguard the first chance I could, which was the ninth grade. Jamie, one of my best friends, and I were the only ninth graders to make it and so began a four-year journey of some of the best high school memories I could have ever asked for.

We spent so much time with the band and at the band room that it literally felt like a second home and everyone there felt like family. The band cut across cliques and allowed everyone to be friends and be part of the same group.

The band often gets a bad rap and gets stereotyped into a certain category, but when it all boils down, everyone has something they enjoy. Some guys lived for scoring touchdowns and smashing heads on the football field; some girls loved to lead the crowd in cheers; some boys wouldn’t rather be anywhere else than on the baseball field; and some girls put their all into school clubs and organizations.

Our passion happened to be music, spinning a flag or rifle, or twirling a baton. We poured our hearts into our routines and loved what we did, and I know the kids in Phil Campbell’s band probably feel the same way.

A band program takes a lot of money to run. Trust me, I’ve sold enough cookie dough, doughnuts and raffle tickets to know. So I understand the hurdle these students and supporters are facing.

They’ve received some tremendous support already, but I hope people will continue to support this cause for these kids because they certainly deserve to have their second home this coming school year.