Two volunteer dads pulled out of a Hurst parking lot before sunrise, steering a pair of 18-foot box trucks toward Manhattan.
Inside: Uniforms, instruments, ponchos, hand warmers and everything else the L.D. Bell Blue Raider Band might need on a cold New York City morning.
Behind them, 265 students, staff and chaperones will board six separate flights — the first wave meeting at the high school at 3 a.m. — all to perform in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
For the Hurst-Euless-Bedford ISD program, the trip marks a milestone decades in the making.
“The band program at L.D. Bell is pretty special. It’s been around for a really long time. The band was founded in 1957, and so there’s just this really long tradition of excellence within the program,” band director Suzanne Dell said.
This year, that tradition includes a national spotlight: L.D. Bell is the only Texas band performing in the 2025 parade.
Drum major Caidyn Cumberledge said the opportunity feels unreal.
“It’s so exciting. I just feel so privileged to get to go with all my friends and family to New York for a week and perform,” Cumberledge said.
Texas is known throughout the country for being among the best band programs in the country, Dell said.
“To be considered one of those and get this opportunity is just really cool,” she said. “It’s something that I know I’ll never forget, and I don’t think any of our students are ever gonna forget.”
Coordinating a trip of this size means planning every hour and every mile. A travel company arranged the group’s airline tickets, hotel rooms, meals and excursions — “the heavy lifting,” Dell said — so staff can focus on rehearsals and student safety.
“That’s a huge piece of the logistics,” she said.
Six flights will carry students and staff from DFW to New York on Monday.
“They start meeting for the first wave of flights at 3 a.m.,” Dell said. “The second round leaves at 4 a.m.”
On the ground, six buses will shuttle the group around the city.
Meanwhile, instruments and equipment are traveling separately. The two dads began their 24-hour drive to Manhattan on Thursday night.
“Everything that we can think of that we might need is going on the truck,” Dell said.
The Blue Raider Band is traveling with one chaperone — all parents — for roughly every 10 students.
The trip’s cost is shared among families, the district and community sponsors, Dell said.
One of the biggest boosts came from the high school’s strong alumni base, she said. An alumni reunion concert event in May raised $14,000, and the band invited back one of its very first directors, who is now 91, to conduct.
Fundraising dollars help cover the extras: A swag bag with a jacket, scarf, beanie and sweatshirt for each student, plus fees for an arranger, drill writer and choreographer for the Herald Square performance.
Performing for national television also means adjusting how students rehearse.
“They’re very reliant on every marking on a football field,” Dell said. “Now all of that’s gone.”
The band taped out a replica of Herald Square’s center star onto a tarp in the parking lot.
“That’s the only thing you can reference,” Dell said. “Everything else, you have to dress to the form and be more aware of your spacing.”
They’ve been rehearsing the show since Nov. 1.
Once in New York, the band will have two remaining practices: A late-night rehearsal with the television crew on 34th Street and a final tune-up at a rented facility.
On parade morning, the call time will arrive before dawn, Dell said.
For some students, the week is not just a performance on national television, but their first trip outside DFW, she said.
Their itinerary includes Top of the Rock at Rockefeller Center, the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, the Christmas Spectacular starring the Radio City Rockettes, Central Park and a choice between three Broadway shows, either “The Outsiders,” “Chicago,” or “Moulin Rouge.”
Older student leaders help classmates navigate those first-time nerves.
“We really stress to them that you’re not alone. We’re doing this together,” Dell said.
Senior brass leader Benjamin Osbourne called it “our little moment in history.”
For Dell, the week represents a shift from the pressure of marching contests.
“A lot of times when we go to competitions, there’s gonna be an outcome,” she said. “You’ve already won the prize. (Now) you just get to go and perform and have an amazing time. My hope is that everybody leaves with a lifetime of memories.”
Viewers can watch the Blue Raider Band on NBC and Peacock Thanksgiving morning. A smaller ensemble will perform on the “Today” show earlier that week.
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Matthew Sgroi is an education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at matthew.sgroi@fortworthreport.org or @matthewsgroi1.
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