It was a night of nostalgia as Habersham Central High Band of Blue and Chorus alumni joined students on the field to perform during halftime of the Raider game on Sept. 20. The halftime show celebrated 50 years of Raider music. (Daniel Purcell/Now Habersham)
As big a night as Friday was for Raider football – the Raiders defeated Stephens County for the first time in 23 years – it was equally as big a night for Raider music.
More than 100 Habersham Central High School Band of Blue and Chorus alumni joined current students on the field at halftime to perform. The 8th-grade bands from Habersham County’s three middle schools and the county’s elementary and middle school choruses also participated.
The show marked the 50th anniversary of Central’s music programs. There were 720 people on the field during halftime, normally it’s around 130.
“It was an incredible night. What a great night to be a Raider!” says Band of Blue Director Ryan Dukes.
The halftime show featured selections from two popular musicals – “You Can’t Stop the Beat” from Hairspray and “This Is Me” from The Greatest Showman.
After the show, alumni reunited and reminisced during a reception thrown for them at the Ninth Grade Academy. “They had all their programs from all the years out and their annuals and yearbooks,” Dukes says. “It was a really, really cool evening.”
For many of the alumni who participated, it was the first time they got to celebrate a Habersham County win over neighboring rival Stephens County. Before Friday night’s 27-21 win, the last time the Raiders won the ‘Battle of Currahee Mountain’ was in 1996.
Dukes says the victory made the band’s celebration even sweeter.
“To beat the Indians, you can’t get no better than that,” Dukes said enthusiastically. “I’ve been here 12 years; been waiting for it for a while, so, it’s great!”
Going into the evening HCHS Chorus Director Lindsay Patten said she was looking forward to it.
“I love these events – bringing students together from elementary schools up through the high schools (and in this case, beyond!). These performances give our youngest musicians a chance to be a part of the bigger groups and sort of share the spotlight with their future selves in a way,” Patten told Now Habersham. “Performing for the crowd at a football game also gives our programs a chance to reach out to the community on a larger scale than our performances at our own schools.”
Central’s longest-serving band director, Nelson Payne, was among those in attendance Friday night. He directed the Band of Blue for nearly half of its existence, from 1978 until his retirement in 2000.
Payne was at the helm when Julia McEntire played bass drum in the Band of Blue. She was with the band from 9th grade until her senior year in 1987. McEntire was among a handful of band alumni from that era who attended Friday night’s reunion.
“While it was only a few from my time it was great seeing Mr. and Mrs. Payne and reliving memories through the scrapbooks Mrs. Payne had put together,” she says. McEntire recalls the trips the band took to Washington and Florida and how hot it got marching in fall uniforms. At the Disney World parade she says, “We would stop to perform and sweat would run down the legs.”
Of the reunion she says, “[It] was sad more could not make it but glad I came!” Another alumnus Richard Fugel says it was “tiring for us ‘advanced aged’ folks, but fun!”
