ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The pandemic may have changed everything, but it hasn't changed the Northside Christian School's marching band's love for music and sharing it with the community.
After the Florida Marching Band Championships canceled all competitions this year due to the coronavirus, students at the St Petersburg school decided they weren't falling flat.
Nathan Farrell, its director of fine arts, said they decided to take the show on the road. With safety measures in place, the Royal Ambassador Marching Band is marching on to the parking lots of hospitals and nursing homes to help cheer up patients and residents.
They'll still play some home football games, but they wanted to use their talents to help seniors and patients find joy and connection in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Parents have been helping out, as well, sewing horn covers for instruments as an added safety measure from the virus.
"Kids are not sharing equipment, every drummer has to have their own sticks every brass player has to have their own valve oil and unlike normal, we can't even share bug spray these days," Farrell explained.
The band's first outreach concert is in three weeks at Elmcroft at Pinecrest in Largo. Freedom Square nursing home, Bay Pines VA nursing home and Palms of Largo will also get a special presentation.
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