SUGAR BOWL BANDS BRING MORE THAN MUSIC TO GREATER NEW ORLEANS

Belle Chasse Band Director, Dr. Cheryl Fryer, affirms that in conjunction with 2008 Sugar Bowl Activities, close to 60 band instruments, hundreds of teddy bears and over 40 boxes of toiletries were recently donated to Plaquemines Parish and New Orleans area schools, churches and charities. Dr. Fryer, working together since September 2007 with the Sugar Bowl affiliated company, Bowl Games of America, arranged and coordinated the distribution efforts of out-of-state high school bands that had spent the past year collecting items to assist with hurricane relief and rebuilding efforts in the Greater

The Clearview Regional High School Marching Band, Mullica Hill New Jersey, donated nearly 60 musical instruments to this effort during their trip to the Sugar Bowl this season. The idea came from two of Clearview’s band’s members, Andrea Tesauro and Melanie Kakas.  When they found out that the band had been selected to play at the Sugar Bowl on January 1^st, they proposed the idea of collecting instruments from their local area to, “help in the rebuilding process following Hurricane Katrina by giving them musical instruments.”

For almost a year the band advertised their mission in the local papers and received incredible results. The majority of the instruments were distributed to Plaquemines Parish schools – Belle Chasse high School, Phoenix High School and South Plaquemines High School and one New Orleans school – St. Mary’s Dominican High School where they are greatly needed. Through the coordination efforts of Dr. Fryer, the instruments were divided up based on the specific needs of each of the four programs. “We truly appreciate the thoughtfulness and generosity of the two band members who had the idea and the New Jersey people who donated the instruments,” said Belle Chasse High School Band Director Dr. Cheryl Fryer, “all the instruments will be put to use very quickly!.”

Arrangements were also made for Clearview Regional High School Marching Band to donate hundreds of teddy bears to the Children’s Hospital in New Orleans and Evergreen High School Marching Band from Evergreen, Illinois to donate over 40 boxes of toiletries to South Plaquemine churches and charities to be used for relief efforts.