Byerly Foundation Awards Hartsville High Band $10,000

Hartsville High School Red Regime Marching Band with Marlin Ketter, Assistant Band Director; Janet Miller, Band Assistant; Cameron Watkins, Hartsville High School’s Director of Bands; Brianna Douglas, Byerly Foundation; and Dr. Charlie Burry, Principal of HHS. Photo by Jana E. Pye

Hartsville High School Red Regime Marching Band with Marlin Ketter, Assistant Band Director; Janet Miller, Band Assistant; Cameron Watkins, Hartsville High School’s Director of Bands; Brianna Douglas, Byerly Foundation; and Dr. Charlie Burry, Principal of HHS.
Photo by Jana E. Pye

Saturday night, in front of a crowd parents and friends and a field full of marching band members, the Byerly Foundation presented the Hartsville High Red Regime Marching Band a check for $10,000 to help defray the cost of new uniforms.

The Hartsville High Red Regime Marching Band purchased the new uniforms in late summer and unveiled the new look to parents and supporters at Saturday’s exhibition. The old uniforms were purchased more than a dozen years ago and have been worn in the National Memorial Day Parade in Washington, DC in 2011, two invitational parades in New Orleans in 2014, as well as numerous local parades, marching competitions and football games. After more than a decade of marching competitions and shows, cleaning, patching, altering and re-altering, the uniforms were showing significant wear and tear.

The new uniforms cost approximately $50,000 and the Darlington County Board of Education loaned the band $25,000 toward those costs in February. The students have already begun fundraising, with a successful Low Country Boil in August and several additional fundraisers planned throughout the year. The Byerly Foundation’s grant for $10,000 will significantly impact the program and their fundraising efforts.

Cameron Watkins, Hartsville High School’s Director of Bands said, “After years of parades, performances, competitions and community outreach, our old uniforms were showing their age. Our students lost the ‘professional look’ that they deserved. The Byerly Foundation’s generous donation will make a tremendous difference in our efforts to pay for the uniforms. The staff, students, and parents who work tirelessly for the Hartsville High School Band Program are very grateful. As a teacher, I am excited to see the amount of pride, dedication and determination that now exists in, around and about our band. I look forward to being a part of a thriving, vibrant band program that continues to foster musicianship, dedication, and the drive for excellence in all we do.”

“Hartsville High School is deeply appreciative of the support from The Byerly Foundation for their donation to our band program,” said Dr. Charlie Burry, Hartsville High principal. “The Red Regime represents our school in an exemplary manner and contributes to our community in a variety of ways. We are glad that the mission of our school and that of The Byerly Foundation has so often proven to be complimentary, and we look forward to continuing that partnership to make Hartsville a better place.”

The Red Regime will wear their new uniforms at their first competition on Saturday in McBee and every weekend after that through November at games and competitions throughout the state. The community is always invited and encouraged to attend to cheer on their students.

Author: Duane Childers

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