Alabama Public Radio reported last year on the Magnolia Breeze Youth Ensemble. The all-inclusive therapeutic band plays in Mardi Gras parades in the Mobile area. Here’s a follow-up...
Musician Chris Spies and his wife Heather heard APR’s story (from early 2023) and wanted to help. The couple started Wynterfest music festival in memory of Chris’ brother Wynter Banes, a local drummer who passed away in 2021. Spies says they donated proceeds from the festival to buy new drums for Magnolia Breeze in Wynter’s name.
“When they saw these drums and started playing them, everybody knew this was something he really would've enjoyed being a part of,” said Spies. “And he had a disabled daughter that he adopted when he got married.
A disabled kids marching band with drums is the most Wynter thing ever to help them out. When I found out they were having to borrow stuff, it just all seemed perfect.
Band director LaDarral Bell says the donation means a lot to the young artists.
“That love offering, I mean, it just means everything because the children couldn't afford to buy those instruments on their own,” said Bell. “It has been a struggle just to get some of the kids uniforms.
Bell created the Magnolia Breeze Youth Ensemble when she realized students with disabilities were being turned away from traditional bands, and therapeutic activities were hard to find in Mobile. She chose drumline since drums were the only instrument she played. Sarah Fair is the drum major for Magnolia Breeze. The ensemble was once one of her favorite parts of Mardi Gras parades, but she had never touched an instrument and didn’t think she could join. Then a friend invited her to a practice. Sarah signed up and learned how to play the drums. Now she leads the band
“I literally love Mardi Gras, but being in it is a whole different thing,” Fair told APR in 2023. “I take it on with a lot of pride. I take on Mardi Gras when I hit the streets and put on that red. This is my show now. It's me and my band, and we are the stars. And it feels like a blessing for real. Not a lot of people are as fortunate as we are to be in a band like this.”
Now, the Magnolia Breeze drumline and dancers march at parades and events throughout the year, but Mardi Gras is their favorite. Their uniform colors are red, black, and white, representing love and music. Donor Chris Spies says their next goal is raising money for the Magnolia Breeze to march at Universal Studios.
