Fruitdale High School Marching Band Thrives as Washington County Community Rallies Behind ‘Pirate Land’ Program

FRUITDALE, Ala. — The Fruitdale High School marching band will never be the largest group to take the field on a Friday night, but in this corner of rural Washington County, it may be one of the best supported. Known around school as “the mighty band from pirate land,” the program has become a point of pride for a small town that has repeatedly found ways to give its young musicians what they need.

“Small, but mighty” fits both the band and the people behind it. Throughout the year, parents, boosters, local businesses, churches and school organizations quietly work to cover the costs of instruments, uniforms, meals and travel, so that when fall arrives the students can focus on performing.

The results have shown up on the field. Last year, the band earned all superior ratings at the West Alabama Marching Festival, and this year, according to booster secretary Brandi Turner, it is the largest band in Washington County.

A Band Tradition Dating to the 1960s

Fruitdale High School’s band program has been part of school life since the 1960s. Today, 41 students in grades six through 12 take part. Pulling middle school students into the program alongside high schoolers is common at smaller schools, where enrollment is limited and a band needs every available player to fill out its sections.

Michael Kebodeaux has led the program since 2015. Like many educators at small schools, he wears more than one hat: in addition to serving as band director, he teaches computer science at Fruitdale High.

Over more than a decade in the job, Kebodeaux said, he has watched the community — businesses, organizations and individuals alike — step up again and again when the band has a need.

“We have a lot of community support,” Kebodeaux said. “Even though it’s a small community and there’s not a lot of business in Washington County, especially on the southern end where we’re located at, they’re very supportive of us. They bend over backwards to help.”

Boosters Secure About $18,000 in Grants

Among those going the extra mile is Turner, who serves as secretary of the school’s band boosters. Turner said she saw firsthand how much joining the marching band meant for her daughter, and that experience pushed her to get more involved.

Working with fellow booster Windy Taylor, Turner secured two grants for the band program in 2024 and 2025. Together, the grants totaled roughly $18,000.

That money was put to work in several ways:

• Purchasing instruments for the program
• Helping cover the cost of some uniforms
• Renovating the school’s band room

Turner said those needs probably would have gone unmet without the grants. Marching instruments and uniforms are among the most expensive items any school band must buy, and they wear out with years of outdoor use, travel and weather.

“We’re a rural, 1A school who doesn’t get a lot of funding,” Turner said. “It’s an underdeveloped community, and so without that support, we can’t buy instruments, we can’t buy uniforms, we can’t buy the supplies that go with the maintenance of the uniforms and so much more. They wouldn’t have an option. They wouldn’t have a way to do anything.”

In the Alabama High School Athletic Association’s classification system, 1A is the category for the state’s smallest schools by enrollment. Programs at those schools often depend heavily on fundraising and outside help to provide the same kinds of opportunities larger schools can fund more easily.

Businesses, Churches and School Groups Pitch In

Grants are only part of the picture. Turner said the band also relies on the boosters’ own work and on fundraisers run by students themselves.

Beyond that, she said, local businesses and organizations help however they can. Those she named include:

• Fatty Matty’s BBQ
• The Corner Store
• Cornerstone Church
• The Fruitdale High School Alumni
• The school’s bus drivers organization
• The school’s PTO

That support takes many forms, Turner said, from providing meals for students on game days to raising donations that help pay for gas, water and other supplies. For a band that travels to away games and competitions, fuel and basic necessities can add up quickly over the course of a season.

‘The School Is the Center of the Community’

Kebodeaux said the community’s generosity does more than keep the band running. In his view, it reinforces pride in the school and its accomplishments and helps preserve the Friday night traditions that hold rural towns together.

“I think the band is important for the community as well because it gives a rallying point to the community,” Kebodeaux said. “The school is the center of the community. I’m glad to see that we still have a lot of these smaller schools that still exist here because I noticed across the line, when they did the consolidation push in Mississippi several years ago, a lot of small towns lost their high schools, and subsequently, a lot of those towns have now dried up because people aren’t coming into town to see the band, watch the football teams and all that goes on on a Friday night.”

Fruitdale sits in the southern part of Washington County, close to the Mississippi state line, which gives Kebodeaux a view of how school changes on the other side of the border have played out in nearby small towns. His point is one shared by many in rural communities: a local high school is often a town’s main gathering place, and Friday night football games — with the band in the stands and on the field at halftime — bring families, alumni and neighbors together in a way few other events can.

More Than an After-School Activity

For the students themselves, Kebodeaux said, marching band offers far more than a way to fill afternoons. Members learn a musical skill and pick up life lessons along the way, but just as important, the band gives them somewhere they feel accepted and valued.

“It gives a place for a lot of kids to belong,” Kebodeaux said. “There are a lot of kids that might not be athletes, but it gives them a place to be. Of course, you know, just the learning of music has value in and of itself, but also there’s the camaraderie, the teamwork that’s involved in band and the leadership opportunities that they have through the band experience.”

Marching band asks students to memorize music and drill, practice in the late-summer heat, and move in coordination with dozens of classmates. Older students often take on leadership roles, helping younger members — including the middle schoolers in Fruitdale’s mixed-grade program — learn the ropes.

Building Confidence That Lasts Beyond Football Season

Turner agreed with the band director. She said that when the community makes sure band members have everything they need — instruments, meals, a safe ride home — it sends a message that shapes students’ confidence and sense of self-worth well after the last football game of the year.

“We’re the biggest band in Washington County this year, and we’re so proud of that,” Turner said. “We’re excited about that, because while we still may be small, the community has come out to support and really encourage that. It’s showing these kids that, ‘hey, we’re here to help you.’ And I think they see that, and it helps them realize there’s people there to support us. Anything else might not be going on right in their life, but there’s people in this community that want me to do good and succeed.”

What It Means for Washington County Residents

Fruitdale’s story reflects a pattern found across rural southwest Alabama, where small schools serve as anchors for their communities and depend on neighbors to fill funding gaps. Washington County, which lies north of Mobile County along the Mississippi line, is largely rural, and Kebodeaux noted that its southern end in particular has relatively few businesses to lean on. That makes each contribution, from a barbecue restaurant’s game-day meal to a church’s donation, especially meaningful.

The band’s recent achievements — top marks at the West Alabama Marching Festival and its standing this year as the county’s largest band — show what that support can produce, according to those closest to the program.

How to Support the Band

Residents who want to help the Fruitdale High School marching band have several avenues, based on the ways the program already receives support:

• Attend Fruitdale High School football games and other performances to cheer on the band.
• Take part in or buy from student fundraisers held throughout the year.
• Connect with the Fruitdale High School band boosters about donations or volunteer needs.
• Get involved through school groups that already assist the band, such as the PTO or the Fruitdale High School Alumni.
• Support local businesses that back the program.

Those interested in contributing can reach out to the school or its band boosters to learn about current needs. As Turner and Kebodeaux describe it, every bit of help — large or small — adds up for a band that proves size isn’t everything.