By PAT NEWMAN
Staff Writer

Fayette County High School's marching band may still play in the 2000 Olympics opening ceremony in Australia next fall, if members decide to accept the Olympic Committee's latest offer.

According to Fayette County band director Kenny Beard, all the American, Japanese and Australian musicians originally invited to play at the opening ceremonies and later dumped, have been reinvited. The offer came this week after the Olympic committee settled a law suit with World Projects Corp., the California-based group that organized the trip for bands at Fayette County High, Cobb County's Walton High School, and several California and Japanese schools.

“The new plan is the best of all the plans,” Beard said. It includes a seven-minute performance during the opening ceremonies, a visit to Canberra with a possible meeting with the Australian prime minister, and an engagement to play at the Sydney Opera House.

A decision to accept or reject the offer will come in a couple of weeks, Beard said. “We plan to set a date and poll all the parents; a postcard with a yes and a no.” Beard has remained optimistic about the band's plans to participate in the Olympics and is still hoping the trip will pan out. He personally met with the Australian Olympic Committee and organizers from World Projects Corp. in July to hammer out an equitable arrangement for his 210-member marching unit.

Monday night, the Fayette County Board of Education approved an updated field trip request from Beard, citing the alternative trip, should the band and their parents decide to go.

“I think we have enough who will want to go, but we will have to have more than 50 percent,” Beard estimated.

The flap over the Olympic trip began in late June when organizers withdrew an invitation to the American and Japanese musicians, claiming the opening ceremony collaborative band contained too many “foreign nationals” and too few Australians. Lesser options were offered, such as playing at out-of-the-way venues and the Walton High School band and California students decided to pull out.

Beard said he wanted to “wait and see” what the final offer would be before making a decision. In less than two weeks, the issue may finally come to close.