ASHLAND — A shocking incident is being met with responses of humanity and compassion.
Sometime during the evening of March 28, the Ashland High School Band trailer was broken into while parked in a hotel parking lot near Orlando, Florida. The band had arrived earlier that day following a 22-hour bus trip from the high school.
About 20 percent of the instruments that should’ve been on the trailer were stolen, said Marty Kral, director of bands and music department chair for Ashland High School.
“Lots of emotions,” the director said of the reaction of students when told the news. “Some kids took things very hard, whether that be sorrow, anger or disbelief.”
Nearly all of the instruments stolen were personally owned by students, as opposed to school-owned, Kral said.
The Ashland High School Band Boosters launched a GoFundMe on Wednesday morning to raise funds to replace the stolen instruments and recover the unexpected costs of emergency instrument rentals.
“Our district administration continues to work with the insurance company to recover the cost of the instruments and emergency rentals,” the band boosters wrote in the GoFundMe description.
“We are now raising funds to offer continued support to our band. Every donation — big or small — helps restore what was lost and ensures our students can continue making music without interruption.
“Your support means more than just instruments. It means hope, opportunity and the chance for these students to keep doing what they love,” the description says.
As of 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, the GoFundMe had already raised $3,145.
“We’re grateful that replacement of the instruments will ultimately be covered by the district’s insurance policies, so we know all the affected kids will be taken care of,” the Ashland Arrows Band posted Wednesday morning on Facebook.
“Any funds donated will go to offset costs incurred so the students could perform at Disney and to help grow and maintain the incredible program.”
And the band played on
After Kral and other music department staff discovered the theft, the band director was able to locate two local music stores in Orlando to reach out to on a whim.
His goal? To make sure every student had the chance to participate in the once-in-a-lifetime moment.
Kral and his assistant spent several hours on March 29 making individual, month-long rentals one at a time for each instrument that was stolen.
The rentals will return with students to Ashland, he said. Kral plans to return them through Mike’s Music Corner in Ashland, which is affiliated with the same larger company as the local stores in Orlando.
Late on the night before students were again set to march down Main Street, it was discovered things were still off by one instrument — a saxophone. Kral and other staff worked through the night trying relentlessly to find a replacement for the lone student still in need of an instrument.
After several sent messages to other bands from around the country scheduled to play at Disney, a response was received from the Anna High School Marching Band. Anna is a small, rural village in Shelby County, Ohio.
Kral said Anna High School was scheduled to leave, but one of the marching band members was extending their stay at the resort with their family.
That student happened to play saxophone.
Kral met with the mother of the Anna High School band member late that night, securing the last instrument needed to give every kid their moment.
Anna High School’s band boosters Facebook page shared the GoFundMe on Wednesday.
“Shared on our page for our Anna Rocket community to help!” the page commented on the Ashland Arrows Band Facebook post.
“I thought that was just amazing because that made it so every kid could play today (Monday),” Kral said Monday evening.
“Twenty percent of the instruments in those kids’ hands, that was the first time they ever played them and they just did it. They just went for it,” he said. “They got their moment.”
