The Bishop Noll Band is well known in the community for their half time shows during the football games, and marching in several different parades throughout the area. This year, 55 members of the band will travel to Memphis, Tennessee as they have been invited to perform at the Liberty Bowl later this year.

“The band applied to be in the Liberty Bowl last year, and then we were selected as one of 13 bands from across the United States to be in the halftime show,” said senior band member, Mary Lowry.

Although the honor of being selected to play such a performance is exciting, there are some obstacles the band has to overcome before getting to the Liberty Bowl. “Honestly, probably the largest obstacle the band will face will be fundraising. The trip costs a lot more than we have in our budget. We’ll overcome it with lots and lots of fundraising!” Lowry said. “We lost a lot of seniors last year, but there are over 20 incoming band members this year. They’re all very dedicated and have put a lot of time and effort into the music, and they’re constantly working hard to make sure their marching is up to par with the rest of the band!”

The band currently has a GoFundMe page setup to help with costs, but they are still planning other fundraising opportunities as well. Lowry is confident that the band will meet their goal. “We’re hoping to get $10,000 or more raised on the GoFundMe. We’ve only raised about $500 on the GoFundMe so far, but we’ve had lots of donations outside of the GoFundMe that’ve been major,” she said. “If the fundraising goal is met, each band member will have to pay about half of the trip, about $450. If it is not met, band members will be responsible for paying back whatever is left. We are working very very hard to get the cost down, though!”

The televised performance will feature songs that the band has chosen, along with songs that they learned with other high school bands. “We will be performing 4 different songs from the Star Wars movies, as well as a special interjection of “Jailhouse Rock” by Elvis Presley,” Lowry said. “ Later this year, we will be getting music from the Liberty Bowl committee to learn, then when we go down to Memphis, we put together a show over the course of a few days with the 12 other bands from across the nation to perform for halftime.”

The Liberty Bowl will be on Friday, Dec. 30 in Memphis, Tennessee and televised on ESPN.