Watch out California... here comes the Hempfield band!!!

From the The Royal, May 9, 1996.

A record breaking 112,078 subs - that's 64,199 Ibs. of meat, 8,950 Ibs. of white cheese, and 8,950 Ibs. of yellow cheese. To 220 marching band students, it spelled out C-A-L-I-F-O-R-N-I- A, Palm Beach style.

Marching, marching and more marching - it may sound tiring to say, but for the Hempfield Spartan Marching band, it was the key that unlocked the door to their annual band trip. This year it was Palm Beach, California.

For over 19 years, the marching band has participated in festivals all over the United States. They have marched in Texas, Colorado, Tennessee, Virginia and Florida to name a few. This year it was California.

The band left May 2, and was gone for five days. They need one year in advance to prepare for this annual trip with hotel accommodations, park fees and planes. Band director Dr. Booker is already preparing for next year's trip to Florida.

During their stay in California, they visited Wild Bill's Wild West Show, Universal Studios, Mann's Chinese Theater and the Crystal Cathedral. Doheny State Beach and Magic Mountain were also on the itinerary.

At Magic Mountain last Friday, the marching band stepped off at 11 a.m. and marched through the park to entertain thousands of spectators. They performed their field show which consisted of Vehicle, Motown Medley, Jailhouse Rock and Old Time Rock-n-Roll.

For this trip, the marching band stayed after school three times for practice compared to two weeks last year. Although the students left last Thursday. the instruments and uniforms were flown out earlier on April 30.

Two band parents met the flight May 1 and picked them up at the airport. Two weeks ago (Sunday, April 28), band members held their annual banquet at the Four Points Hotel. Seniors were given the usual recognition.

One of the evening's highlights was the Gold Bun Award which is given to the student who sells the most subs. Each student had to sell 55 subs per sale to raise the money for the trip.

This year's winner was sophomore Heather Teacher who sold 1,410 subs. She broke last year's record of 1,400 subs set by senior Heather Christopher.