ASHLAND, Ohio — When thieves threatened to derail a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Ashland High School students, a bit of magic helped salvage their Disney experience.
Marching in the parade around Cinderella’s castle and playing to crowds in Disney Springs have become traditions that Ashland High School music students look forward to for years.
“We do this trip once every four years, which actually makes it an even bigger deal. The kids get one shot to play down in Disney during their time in high school,” said Marty Kral, the music department chair and band director at Ashland High School.
He explained the school’s booster club spends years fundraising so students from the choir, orchestra and band programs can all attend the trip.
Julie McNaull’s four daughters were all looking forward to attending this year’s trip.
“My senior, especially, because she’s been bonding with this group since she started in the fifth grade band,” McNaull said.
The group took the 22-hour road trip with four large buses full of students and chaperones, along with a trailer full of equipment and musical instruments. On Sunday morning, as they were preparing to leave for the first choir and orchestra performance, one staff member realized that the locks on the trailer were missing.
“That’s when we noticed our trailer had been ransacked overnight,” Kral said.
He said the music department leaders sent parent chaperones ahead to the performance and waited to inform students about what had happened.
“There’s nothing they could do about what happened, so we wanted them to enjoy their time,” said Kral.
An inventory of the trailer’s contents found that about 20% of the musical instruments were missing. The staff wasted no time.
“We just go into triage mode and we just immediately figured out which instruments were gone,” Kral said. “Four years of hype for some of these kids, especially the seniors, and we were going to make sure, Monday morning, that they were able to perform their dream parade in Disney.”
The director and his assistant contacted local music stores to find rentals to replace the stolen instruments. McNaull also used social media to connect with other high schools performing at Disney.
When they realized they had forgotten one student’s instrument, a group from Sidney, Ohio, came to the rescue late at night.
“We were really, really fortunate to connect with the Anna High School boosters group. They were, in fact, leaving the next day, but were able to loan us the vital instrument we needed,” McNaull said.
Kral added, “I think the last instrument got into our hands quite literally around 12:30 Sunday night into Monday morning.”
By Monday’s performance, everyone was able to participate.
“Our entire marching band was at Disney, marching in the parade, and 20 percent of them had never played that instrument in their life. In some of that footage that’s out there, you’ll see, nobody would’ve known,” Kral said.
McNaull said the support within the music community transformed a negative experience.
“It was just tremendous how the band families, whether it’s an Ashland High School student or students across the country, they want to be supportive of fellow musicians,” she said. “The students are resilient and they had so much support around them that it really drew them closer in a way.”
The theft is under investigation. Kral said the school district’s insurance will ultimately help replace the stolen instruments.
“Those instruments I rented are coming with us because I rented them for a month,” he said. “And we’re positive that within that month, our district is going to have a finalized plan to replace those for the students.”
In the meantime, thousands have been donated through an online fundraiser to ensure the students can continue making music without interruption.
“We just know that out of adversity, we’re going to end up better in the end. And we’re just excited about the next steps because we know we’re going to have all of our kids taken care of,” said Kral.
