The past few weeks have been jammed packed for the Reeltown Band, and many recent events have involved long-distance trips.
One of the first trips was to the Birmingham area for the Make-A-Wish-Foundation Alabama fundraiser gala. Reeltown band director Eric Thompson was initially contacted by Make-A-Wish to speak at the event alongside Melody Jackson’s mom, Voni. Thompson said he immediately said yes.
“Any opportunity that I get to share Melody’s story I’m going to do it for the rest of my life,” Thompson said. “I will always do it. It’s an incredible story about an incredible kid.”
Melody was a student at Reeltown and a member of the band. She was diagnosed with terminal cancer, adrenocortical carcinoma, during her sophomore year. Before her death, Melody wished for the Reeltown High School band to get new uniforms. This has been a need for years and with the help of the Make-A-Wish foundation this dream became reality.
“Our school’s uniforms were nine years old,” Thompson said in a previous article, “and replacing them was going to cost upwards of $30,000. Melody could have chosen virtually anything, but she wanted to give back to her friends and community. Her courage and kindness are a testament to how we all possess the ability to make a difference and to make decisions that positively affect those around us.”
Before the gala, Voni and Thompson had a meeting with Make-A-Wish. They asked if the school could bring a few students up to show off the uniforms at the gala. Thompson offered to bring the whole band, knowing all the members would be more than willing to take part in this event.
“It’s a way for us to give back to an organization that gave to Melody and it’s our way of basically doing what Melody did, which is to give to others and to encourage other people to give,” Thompson said.
After some more discussions, they agreed to do a performance of Amazing Grace at the gala. Thompson told the students this is likely the most important performance they have ever done — even for him.
Thompson went up early to prepare so RHS principal Audrey Stockdale and their booster president took the band up themselves. The student leaders step up to help in their director’s absence as well. Thompson said he is very thankful he has people like them in his corner to support the band in this way.
After he finished speaking at the gala, the band came in and began to play.
“I’m trying not to get emotional talking about it,” Thompson said. “It was one of those moments when I was conducting, I could feel the audience tensely reacting to the performance in a very moving positive way. It was incredible.”
The auctioneer offered those moved by Melody’s story and the band performance to begin the donation portion. Around $26,000 was donated right off the bat.
Thompson said this shows how impactful Melody’s story is and the positive impact one person can have, if they chose to. The CEO of Make-A-Wish also told them after the fact it was one of the most moving moments they have ever had.
In addition to the Make-A-Wish performance, the band had its Music Performance Assessment, where it received all superior ratings. Then, through the Stars performance program the band took to Universal Studios during spring break.
Thompson said this trip was both an opportunity for the band to perform and for the kids to have fun. They are a hard-working group and it’s important to have that time as a team.
Thompson said because it’s so close to Alabama, sometimes we can forget Universal Studios is an international travel destination. People from all over were able to hear them play through this event and it was a wonderful opportunity.
Before the school year ends, the band has the Blue Note Bistro coming up April 1. They will have their end of the year concert on May 1 and their band banquet on May 6. But the band keeps busy, Thompson said he is already working on next year’s marching season.
