East Ridge High band officials say show will go on despite fire

Sep. 11--Band students at East Ridge High School in Clermont will soon be back on the field performing despite a fire that swept through a school storage room last week and damaged many of their musical instruments, their leader said.

"We're hoping to have instruments in hand by Thursday of this week and rehearsing next week," said Jack Hart, East Ridge's director of bands.

Though the marching band won't be on hand for Friday's football game at Oak Ridge High School in Orlando, Hart expects students to perform at the school's Salute to Service program on Sept. 27, when the school hosts the Boone High football team.

Students plan to use instruments loaned by area schools and residents to rehearse in the coming days and at this month's event, Hart said.

Meanwhile, Lake County school district officials said insurance assessors visited the East Ridge campus and evaluated the damage.

"They are in the process of determining what is salvageable and what instruments can be cleaned," district spokeswoman Sherri Owens said. "So we don't really know yet the extent of the damages. It's a little early."

The blaze broke out just before 8:30 p.m. Thursday in a building that stores the band equipment, according to reports. Custodians reported seeing smoke rising from the building.

City officials said the cause of the fire was accidental. No one was injured. Photos after the fire showed a row of damaged lockers and other melted items.

Officials said about 90% of the band equipment for the 110 band students -- including those in the marching, concert and jazz bands -- was damaged.

Hart said he and others have spent this week pulling many of the instruments out of the burned storage areas.

"We're critiquing and evaluating and seeing if they can be repaired," Hart said. "I'm sure we're going to have a mixture. Some may need to be replaced. Others may need to be repaired. But by Thursday we will know exactly what we have."

Hart said students couldn't believe it when they heard about the fire.

"The students were pretty stunned and asking 'why did it happen?'" he said. "They were kind of down...Being a member of a band is kind of like a second home for many of these students. They really bonded together."

Band instruments range from $700 for the smaller ones -- such as oboes and piccolos -- to $7,000 for larger instruments such as tubas and sousaphones, Hart said.

Joyce Matos, vice president of the East Ridge High Band Association, said the booster organization had collected about $15,000 in donations from residents who heard about the fire and wanted to help. Her son, Jonathan, is a senior student and plays the trumpet in the band.

About a dozen of the East Ridge band students still plan to take part in Saturday's All State auditions event at Belleview High School in Marion County, Matos said.

"We are still trying to acquire instruments for them," she said. "And I believe that we are coming together as a community to make this happen....I am hopeful. I believe in the greater good. And the kids are strong."

mcomas@orlandosentinel.com

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