MIDDLETOWN — A community stepped up to get an area high school’s marching band to the presidential inauguration.
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As reported on News Center 7 at 5:30, the Middletown Marching Band is getting ready to play its biggest stage yet.
“I almost fell on my knees I was so excited. I immediately called my Mom and said I don’t know if you read the email yet but we get to go. She was kind of hesitant because of safety and things of that nature but I was like Mom, I got to go,” Nathan Bennet, a junior said.
At the request of Vice President-Elect and Middletown native JD Vance, Middletown’s marching band and cheerleaders will perform in Monday’s presidential parade.
“We’re not usually walking when we’re performing, so that’s the hard part is making some adjustments, the other two are brand new so we are just working together to try and collaborate and get those ready for next week,” Kayla Wandsnider, cheerleading adviser said.
But organizers knew getting all 160 band members, cheerleaders, staff and chaperons to D.C. would be costly.
Ohio Attorney Dave Yost wanted to make sure it happened.
“I’ve got a few followers on social media and a microphone and I thought, let me put the word out and we’ll see what happened,” Yost said.
What happened was a community fundraising effort that brought in more than $170,000 in private and state funding.
Almost $30,000 was raised through GoFundMe.
Yost plans to travel to Washington D.C. and meet up with the group from Middletown.
We will continue to follow this story.
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