March on Washington

PALMER — The Mat-Su Borough School Board was humming a different tune the last time a Valley marching band asked for money before jetting off to an inaugural parade.

The year was 1976, and the Susitna Valley High School marching band was invited to play at the inauguration of President Jimmy Carter in 1977.

There was only one problem: The band needed help with funding to get new uniforms before the parade, so the band went to the school board, which decided to float a $7,000 loan to the musicians.

According to an article in the Dec. 9, 1976, edition of the Frontiersman, the band intended to repay the school board when it returned through fundraisers.

More than 30 years later, Colony High School’s marching band approached the board looking for $15,000 to help get it to Washington, D.C., to march in the Inagural Parade for President-elect Barack Obama. The request was denied in a 3-3 vote.

The issue also caused a minor rift in the community, with supporters and critics of the proposition venting their opinions at a special school board meeting and on blogs.

One board member, Sarah Welton, who voted against giving the money, said the board could not become a “cash cow.”

Monty Hotchkiss was school board president in 1976, and said in an interview Wednesday that he didn’t remember anything about financing the Su Valley band’s trip, but remembers how exciting the opportunity was 32 years ago.

“I think it’s a great opportunity and experience for them,” Hotchkiss said.

He also described how trips such as going to Washington were handled slightly different when he was on the board. In those days, the school board had a line item in its budget that stood ready for situations like helping a school group.

“The thing that was quite a bit different in those days than it is now, nowadays all these activities raise their money to do just about anything,” Hotchkiss said.

One person who remembers the work that went into preparing for the 1977 trip is Brenda Hogan.

Hogan, who in 1976 had the last name of Olson and was an eighth-grade trumpet player in the marching band, said the amount of work the band did to prepare was daunting.

Not only did band members work to raise money, they also practiced outside over winter break.

“It was a lot of work,” Hogan, now a math teacher at Su Valley, said Thursday. “As an eighth-grader, I’m sure I wasn’t thrilled about going to practice over winter break.”

Like parents of Colony band members, Hogan said Su Valley parents worked tirelessly to raise funds and prepare the students.

“I think it was a huge community effort,” she said.

Hogan couldn’t recall if the band ever paid back the $7,000 to the board.

But with new uniforms in tow, the musicians were off to the inauguration, where Hogan said having chaperones willing to step in when the day didn’t go as planned was key.

Asked if the trip went smoothly, Hogan gave an emphatic “no.” She described adults traveling with the band intervening to get rooms and bus reservations.

But making up for the hiccups in the trip was the amount of touring Hogan said many Alaskans rarely get.

“We did a tremendous amount of sightseeing,” Hogan said. “I haven’t been back to the East Coast since then.”

That’s why going on these trips is so important, Hogan said, adding that children in the 49th state usually only read about the nation’s capital in books.

As Hogan follows the news of the Colony band’s trip to Washington, she said she knows today’s inaugural musicians are in for a blast.

“It was a great experience for all of us.”

Contact Michael Rovito at michael.rovito@frontiersman.com or 352-2252.