Tara Fischer

Staff Writer

A trip to Hawaii and a performance commemorating the end of World War II is on the horizon for the Stephen Decatur High School marching band, if they can raise the $130,000 required to go.

SDHS’s marching band was invited to participate in the Pearl Harbor Memorial Parade in Honolulu on Dec. 7, 2025. The event commemorates the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 and celebrates the end of WWII, particularly this time around, as it marks 80 years since peace was established in 1945.

The Berlin-based performance group was the only high school band in Maryland to be invited to the ceremony this year. Jimmy McKenzie, Decatur’s marching band director, said that a band from each state with a battleship of the same name in Pearl Harbor at the time of the invasion is asked to perform. The honor is passed around from year to year.

“[Decatur’s] program has a long history of success,” McKenzie noted of the school’s invitation.

The parade will be chock-full of acts as it proceeds down Kalakaua Avenue in Waikiki. McKenzie said the Seahawks’ musical choices would include pieces from their halftime show lineup entitled “American Voices.” The director added that their performance would also showcase “Aloha ʻOe,” a song composed by the last queen of Hawaii, and patriotic tunes like “America the Beautiful” and “We Shall Overcome.” The origins of “We Shall Overcome” hold a local interest, as the melody is thought to have been inspired by “I’ll Overcome Some Day,” a hymn by the Berlin-born Charles Albert Tindley.

If they attend the parade, the Decatur group will also perform at the docks of the U.S.S. Missouri with the other participating bands. The battleship was where the Japanese Instrument of Surrender was signed on Sept. 2, 1945, effectively ending the war. This year’s performance on the boat’s docks will celebrate that day and honor all those who fought and gave their lives in the bloody years leading to eventual peace.

McKenzie said that SDHS received their invitation in October and has spent most of this year fundraising. Currently, the band is sitting at around $30,000, but $100,000 is still required to take the kids to Hawaii.

“In order to fully fund the marching band to go and not to have any of the weight be put onto our students’ families, we would need to raise $100,000 more,” McKenzie said. “The total cost of the trip would be between $130,000 and $135,000.

This amount would cover costs like flights, hotels, bus transportation in Hawaii, and other necessities identified once the group arrives on the island. The money is due by Oct. 1, but the band director maintained they need to confirm their attendance as soon as possible to snag early deals and reservation spots.

The Seahawk musical team has organized fundraising initiatives this year to accumulate the necessary money. On June 2, for instance, community members are invited to a restaurant fundraiser at Chipotle, where part of the proceeds will go towards the school’s efforts to send the band to Hawaii.

Still, while fundraisers help acquire some money, the band director maintained that direct donations will push the funding to where it needs to be.

Those who want to contribute may write a check to the SDHS Band Boosters and send it to Stephen Decatur High School. Individuals may also contact McKenzie at jrmckenzie@worcesterk12.org.

The parade is on Sunday, Dec. 7. The band will leave on the Thursday prior and return to Berlin the following Tuesday. McKenzie said that one day of the trip would include the procession, another the U.S.S. Missouri performance, and a separate day for a tour of Honolulu, with stops at places like the Polynesian Cultural Center and the Dole Plantation.

McKenzie is hopeful that his band will get to participate in the Pearl Harbor Memorial Parade and recognizes what a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity it would be for the young musicians.

“A lot of our students have not really gotten the opportunity to perform off the shore before,” he said. “… To represent not just our school but also the state, at a very large event, is a great opportunity for the students to actually get that performance opportunity and take pride in something far greater than any of us combined.”

The marching band and color guard is looking at enrollment numbers of between 42 and 45 next year.

“As part of being enrolled in the marching band, we want to make sure that all of our students have an equitable chance to get out [to Hawaii],” Mckenzie said.