SPHS band brings home awards from San Francisco

The Santa Paula High School Band played at the San Francisco Heritage Festival this past weekend, thanks to the support from the Santa Paula community and beyond.

Band Director Doug Kadansky said things went very, very well and added, “The band played very well.” Kadansky said, “The band won silver medals in Wind Ensemble and Percussion and also received the Spirit Award because of the hurdles they faced in getting there.” The band almost didn’t make the trip because the Band Booster bank account was virtually cleaned out.

The fundraising efforts to replace the some $22,000 in missing booster funds exceeded anyone’s expectations, with over $40,000 raised. Kadansky said donations came in from as far away as Yucaipa and Police Chief Steve McLean collected many donations at the police station. 

Kadansky said he was very grateful to the community. “I’m hoping to build a stronger program,” he added. He said he’d like to use the excess money raised to restore the band budget. He also said he’s going to ask the school board to consider a matching program to purchase new instruments to replace the many worn out instruments they currently use. A week before the trip the band held a special concert to thank the community as well as to raise more money.