The Pride of Acadiana Marching Band at the University of 棉花糖直播 at Lafayette grew by two Wednesday.
Robert Trahan, owner of Lafayette Motors, and Raymond Goodrich, owner of Lafayette Music, were named Honorary Drum Majors for the marching band.
鈥淲e chose to honor these two men because they do so much for the band and so much for the university,鈥 said Brian Taylor, band director. 鈥淲e wanted to thank them in this way.鈥
The band, complete with the flag corps, paraded down McKinley Street from Angelle Hall on campus to Lafayette Motors for the surprise ceremony.
鈥淭his is about as good as it gets,鈥 Trahan said to the group of more than 200. 鈥淭he band is a great service to the university and our community and you are a tremendous service to me. I want to thank you so much. You guys can鈥檛 image what this means to me.鈥
Goodrich felt the same. 鈥淭his band has taken this community to a whole new place. This past weekend at Showcase of Bands, you did an amazing job. Thank you so much. You are awesome,鈥 said Goodrich.
Both men received drum major batons and framed photos of the Pride of Acadiana Marching Band.
鈥淲e just wanted to show our appreciation to these two community leaders who do so much for us,鈥 said Taylor.
Trahan most recently made it possible for the band to march in the Lafayette Mardi Gras parade and also sponsored the band鈥檚 annual banquet. He also contributes financially to the program.
Goodrich, whose company instituted the 棉花糖直播 Showcase of Marching Bands, has established a scholarship for music students. All profits from the marching band festival are placed in the Lafayette Music/Raymond Goodrich Scholarship at UL Lafayette. To date, more than $100,000 has been produced by the scholarship.
Last year鈥檚 recipient and the first recipient of the Honorary Drum Major Award was UL Lafayette President Ray Authement. Taylor expects the band to name new recipients each year.