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Photo by Jon Anderson
Hoover High School band director Ryan Fitchpatrick gives a thumbs up after receiving a $100,000 donation for the band during the band's winter concert on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Ann Marie Harvey, executive director of the Hoover City Schools Foundation, announces a $100,000 donation received for the Hoover High School band during the band's winter concert on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Ann Marie Harvey, executive director of the Hoover City Schools Foundation, announces a $100,000 donation received for the Hoover High School band during the band's winter concert on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Roger Seuferling, president of the Hoover HIgh School Band Boosters Association, talks about a big donation the band received during the band's winter concert on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Roger Seuferling, president of the Hoover HIgh School Band Boosters Association, talks about a big donation the band received during the band's winter concert on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Hoover High School band director Ryan Fitchpatrick points out Principal Jennifer Hogan during the band's winter concert on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Hoover High School band director Ryan Fitchpatrick, center, accepts a $100,000 donation for the band during the band's winter concert on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024. With him are Roger Seuferling, president of the Hoover High School Band Boosters Association, and Ann Marie Harvey, executive director of the Hoover City Schools Foundation.
The Hoover High School band on Tuesday night learned that they have received a $100,000 donation to help the band purchase new marching band uniforms for the 2025-26 school year.
The announcement came during the band’s annual winter concert in Hoover High School’s new performing arts center and was met with jubilant cheers from students, family and friends in the audience.
The $100,000 donation came from The Aderhold Family Foundation, which band director Ryan Fitchpatrick said is connected to a current member of the band through extended family. That donation, which is the largest outside donation ever received by the band, will be combined with another $100,000 raised by the band boosters over time and saved for a major purchase, Fitchpatrick said. The total cost of new uniforms is expected to be about $200,000, he said.
The existing uniforms are 10 years old and need to be replaced, said Roger Seuferling president of the Hoover High School Band Booster Association.
Hoover’s marching band currently has 364 students in it, including auxiliary groups such as the color guard and dance team, Fitchpatrick said. The new uniforms will only be for the roughly 285 instrumentalists, he said. The auxiliary groups will get new uniforms on a different schedule, he said.
Photo by Barry Stephenson
Members of the Hoover band perform during a game between Hoover High School and Fairhope High School on Thursday, November 7, 2024, at the Hoover Met in Hoover, Alabama.
The band plans to order about 350 uniforms to allow for future growth and to make sure there are a variety of sizes since the band uniforms get passed along from year to year and students are still growing, Fitchpatrick said. “The Hoover High School band is a source of pride for our school community,” Fitchpatrick said. "This generous donation from The Aderhold Family Foundation will enhance the band’s ability to represent Hoover High School with pride at performances and competitions. We are deeply grateful for their support in fostering the creativity and talent of our students.”
Seuferling said the band, with an annual operating budget of about $340,000, tries to keep its fees reasonable and has the lowest student fees among its peer bands.
“We rely very heavily on fundraising,” he said.
When he first received an email from someone representing The Aderhold Family Foundation about the foundation making a donation to the band in July, he thought it might be too good to be true, Seuferling said. The Aderhold Family Foundation is based in Georgia, according to IRS records.
But then a couple of days later at a band booster board meeting, a member of that family asked Seuferling if he received the email, and he realized it was a real offer, he said.
The donation ended up coming through the Hoover City Schools Foundation. Fitchpatrick said the band now will begin the process of designing and ordering the new uniforms so they will arrive in time for the 2025 marching band season.
