Marching band stuck in snow finally back home

1:03 AM, Dec 31, 2012   |    comments
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St. Charles, MO (KSDK) - After a long five days of being gone, the Francis Howell High School Marching Band is back home. Their journey to the Alamo bowl included getting stranded on a bus in the middle of Arkansas.

The reunion Sunday afternoon was warm and welcoming. A group of parents waiting in the parking lot, ecstatic that their kids were home safe and sound with some even cheering and clapping as the buses pulled up.

"We were worried there was a big long delay and I'm glad they are home safe and sound," says Rita Sanders, mother of Sean, a band member.

That feeling is shared amongst the parents and kids themselves.

Sean Sanders says being stranded for 12 hours was not fun.
Two charter bus fulls of students and chaperones were heading for a performance at the Alamo bowl in Texas but got stuck in Arkansas in a snow storm.

So what did they do? Played card games, slept, ate snacks, but mostly wished they were somewhere else.

"I just kind of wanted to get off of the bus even if I went outside in the snow, just a little bit because we were just all in a tight space it was just torturous," says Sean Sanders.

Band director Chris Miller says they were never in danger, but some kids started to feel sick due to the lack of food. That was quickly resolved with snack foods.

"I was worried about hunger and stuff but we did have a lot of snacks, but at the time I was a little worried," says Nick Brase.

What about their home away from home?

"Plenty of fuel in them, to be honest we could have sat there a lot longer, but I'm glad we didn't," says Miller.

Most were worried that they weren't going to make it to their destination on time, San Antonio and a performance at the Alamo bowl.

"I am very proud those kids are great, our guard members the color guard our flags, they were kind of leading the pack and our trumpet players got to be down in the front," says Miller.

"It's not a trip they are going to forget," says Rita Sanders.

The plan for most of these travelers now?

"Couple of days of sleep would be very nice," admits Miller.

As for the snow storm coming Monday, none of the students or chaperones are really looking forward to seeing more of the white stuff.


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