NICEVILLE, FLORIDA - On Niceville High School (NHS) Band Director Daniel Wooten’s desk, a clock literally counts down the time before the Eagle Pride marches in one of the world’s most prestigious American celebrations, the 2008 Tournament of Roses Parade. A recent email Wooten sent in July to parents listing the band camp schedule began with the details, saying there were only "162 days, three hours, and six minutes until the parade steps off!"

The top priorities are getting three hundred students prepared financially and physically for the trip to Pasadena. There are several ways the community can lend support as the band readies for a lifetime opportunity. Ideally, every student who wants to go will have the means.

The community should support the band for a simple reason, stated Rick Phelps, co-owner of Sears on John Sims Parkway. "It’s a no-brainer. The band represents Niceville." Phelps and his daughter, Jenny Propps, who also owns and manages the store, recently hosted a hotdog cookout July 28, and helped the band raise several hundred dollars. All it cost Sears was relish and fixups, and a few bags of chips, said Propps. Kelley’s Supervalu Foods donated 50 hotdogs and buns, and Wave 102.1 FM broadcasted a live radio remote. There was also a 50/50 raffle drawing. Band volunteers helped organize the event.

The cookout was also a success for Sears. "We tied the fundraiser to a two-day sale. And the cookout brought in customers who had never been in our store," said Propps.

At the cash register sits a Pennies for Pasadena collection jar, festooned with an American flag. Propps remembers marching in Choctawhatchee High School’s band. Referring to the school’s colors, Phelps said he used to have "green blood" when Jenny played clarinet, but jokingly laughs that since then, he’s had a "transfusion." Both Phelps and Propps say the penny jars are an easy way to demonstrate the "nice" in Niceville.

As it is, there are jars in 15 businesses. "We need more jars in more places," said NHS Band Booster President Cindy Schroeder. "The number one thing we need from the community is financial support," she added. "And we can always use gift certificates, in-kind services, and merchandise for band auctions and the 50/50 drawings." The band is also eager for a local business to become a corporate sponsor, noted NHS Band Boosters Ways and Means Chair Tammy McCown.

The NHS band’s ability to captivate audiences is well-known throughout the region, and it regularly thrills audiences with goosebump performances at Friday night football games.

Meanwhile, students are working to help pay for the trip with a variety of activities, such as grocery bagging, book sales, and raffles. This month, students are offering tickets for a seven-night Caribbean cruise on Holland America for two people, inside cabin, with a suggested donation of $5 toward the drawing. A new, second volume of Sounds Delicious! cookbooks are on sale for $10. And the Alumni Donations is an ongoing event, said Schroeder.

So far, most students have been making timely payments towards their trip account, said Schroeder. The trip costs $1700 per student. Freshman and new transferring students who just connected with the band in August have some catching up, as they’ll have $400 monthly payments versus the $200 students have been paying since March. If a child is in need of financial aid, scholarships are available, said Schroeder. She urges families to apply for them.

The Eagle Pride will be one of 21 bands, four of them international, to perform Jan. 1. "Half a million people will have camped out all night on the streets. And you will be playing in front of one million people," said CL Keedy III, Tournament of Roses president, as he addressed band students last spring, on April 19 at NHS. Over 350 million people in 100 countries will view the Rose Parade on television, as nine networks broadcast it worldwide, he said.

To prepare for the famous five-mile stretch along Pasadena’s Colorado Boulevard, students have started their physical conditioning program, beginning with seven laps around the NHS track on hot, sticky days, weeks before school opens. Since four laps on the track’s outer circle is equivalent to one mile, the students will eventually work up to 30 laps, said NHS Assistant Director of Bands Barry Mullins.

Schroeder said parents can help students acclimate. "Cut out the junk food, make them get off the couch, and start walking." Carbonated beverages are taboo on the practice field due to the high sodium content in most brands. The best way to hydrate is with water, important because Florida is so humid, said Schroeder.

In many ways, the band’s sweat and hard work has already paid off. To participate in the Tournament of Roses Parade, the Eagle Pride competed against college bands and is one of only eight high schools to be accepted during a year when the competition became tougher. Three of the 11 U.S. bands selected for the Rose Parade are college bands. Niceville will also be in international company. Bands from Japan, Puerto Rico, Switzerland, Canada, and possibly El Salvador will also be part of the parade.

And the world will be watching.

Niceville students will be in front of more people in that moment than in all their years of high school performances combined. "Those four years don’t even scratch the surface of the immensity behind the national audience," said Wooten. Think in terms of the number of people they will perform for, while simultaneously representing the community, he said. "Then everybody will see what a great place this is."