By PAT NEWMAN
Staff Writer

A year from today, the Fayette County High School Band will have returned home from a two-and-a-half-week dream trip to Australia.

The group will have performed at opening ceremonies of the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney, played in concert with Australians at the famed Sydney Opera House and traveled to Canberra.

But first, band members planning to go on the trip must raise $3,200 apiece. About 150 students have committed to go, and band director Kenneth Beard said sign-ups will remain open until Dec. 1. In the meantime, Beard said the band organization will be soliciting corporate sponsorship and raising funds through pizza sales, drink sales at football games and possibly through a major fund-raiser being discussed.

“People will also have to pay for part of the trip,” Beard said. Students have been encouraged to mail out fund-raising letters to relatives asking for pledges to finance their trip. “All donations are tax deductible,” Beard said.

A showdown on the band's decision to participate in the games' opening ceremonies and make the journey to the land down-under came two weeks ago when parents voted 141-61 to accept the Sydney Olympic Committee's second invitation. The initial invitation, issued and accepted by the school last spring, was rescinded in July after members of the Olympic committee decided there were too many “foreign nationals” (translation: “Americans and Japanese”) participating in the musical opening, and not enough Australians.

The announcement touched off a flurry of protests in the East and West. Eventually, the other groups that had contracted to play at the games backed out with World Projects Corp., including Walton High School in Cobb County, leaving Fayette County High as the only United States high school delegation to perform.

Did the uncertainty of Fayette County High's decision negatively affect their fund-raising efforts? “I don't think so. World Projects Corp. said we couldn't have bought all that media attention,” Beard said.

Beard, who has headed up the band program at Fayette County High for nine years, admitted becoming emotional the night the final vote was taken on the whether the trip would proceed or be dropped. ”I definitely wanted us to do this. It's an unbelievable opportunity,” Beard said. Beard even traveled to Australia in July to assess the offers being laid on the table and returned optimistic that the outcome would be favorable.

Fayette County band members will be part of a 2,000-member international band opening up the Olympics. Music will be provided by the Olympic Committee and rehearsals for Sydney-bound band members will be scheduled in addition to their regular school band sessions.

Students will be required to keep up with school work while abroad, and Beard said there will be tutors available in Australia. “They will have time, especially when we're in Bathhurst, to study,” Beard noted. The group will be lodged at the university in Bathhurst. It is not yet known if any Fayette County teachers will accompany them, but Beard estimates 15 to 20 chaperones will be needed, and will pay their own way.

Defending his decision to take the band to Australia, Beard added, “Education doesn't go on just in the classroom. It's important that young people gain perspective. Within these kids' lifetime, we will become totally global.”

The Fayette County band was selected to perform based on its history of musical excellence. “For the last six to seven years, we have received straight Superiors in competition. Every year for the past four years, we have placed or come in first,” Beard said