By Tom Tolen / news@whmi.com


Although the Brighton High School Marching Band’s planned trip to Hawaii this year has been cancelled, the band, its director - Gabrielle Hoffman - and boosters club are just as busy as ever.

The band was forced to cancel the Hawaii trip after the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic. Brighton’s was the only marching band from the state of Michigan invited to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II. According to Band Boosters President Mark Burnham, since they cancelled early, it only cost each band member their $200 deposit. However, had they waited until after May 15th to cancel, each member would have owed 50% of the trip cost, or $600 per person. Burnham said, in his words, “We made the decision not to risk the extra expense by waiting until it was clearer how the pandemic response was going.” He added that, “After the fact, the state of Hawaii imposed a 14-day quarantine which, if still in effect in December, would have made the trip logistically impossible.” He said they “couldn’t take the chance, given the financial burdens many… families were under, given the shutdown and the number of people who had either been laid off or were otherwise unable to work.”

Burnham said that although many families have been able to get their money back, it remains a work in progress. Had Brighton not cancelled its appearance, the total cost of the trip would have been around $2,000 for each student. That includes $800 for airfare and $1,200 for such expenses as hotels, meals, bus trips and so forth. He said parents have been given the option of getting a full refund or leaving all, or part, of the money in the student’s account to pay for future expenses such as band camp and travel. On that subject, it has been decided to have a “home camp” this year, instead of doing band camp at an away location, due to the coronavirus restrictions. As a result, band camp will be at Scranton Middle School from Aug. 16th-22nd except for the evening of Fri., Aug. 21st, and the morning of Sat., Aug. 22, when it will take place at Brighton High School.

The Brighton High School Marching Band has enjoyed a national reputation over the years. In 1976, it was the first non-military band to perform at Arlington National Cemetery, as part of Bicentennial ceremonies. The band of about 240 members has also amassed numerous awards at five Festival Disneys in Orlando, Florida, where it earned gold medals and “Best in Class”; has performed at the Outback Bowl in Tampa, Florida; and has played in the Detroit Thanksgiving Parade. The band also played at last year’s high school state finals at Ford Field in Detroit, in which the Brighton Bulldogs competed for the state football championship. The Brighton Area Schools’ band program has also generated four drum majors who were selected to perform in the “America’s Best Bands” aspect of Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City.