FARMINGDALE, N.Y. (PIX11) — It has been two weeks since a charter bus carrying Farmingdale high school band students crashed and killed two adults on board and injured several students.
The marching band played for the first time since the crash took the lives of their beloved band director and chaperone. Over 5,000 people filled the stands at Farmingdale High School, and they did not come for the football.
“Miss P and Miss Ferrari are angels watching over them,” Linda Rubano, the mother of a former band member, told PIX11 News. “They did everything for this school. That is why they are playing for them.”
At the homecoming game, they performed four songs that Miss P, as she was affectionately called, had rehearsed with them.
“It feels great to be back at it,” Ava Monteleone, a drum major, told PIX11 News. “This is what they would’ve wanted, and the spirit is really alive,” she added.
At the end of the halftime show, some of the students who were in bus one, riding with Miss P and Bea, wore black. One is still on crutches. They held up letters spelling STRONG.
“I know Miss P is looking down and would want them to play music,” Greg Warnikowski, the district director of Fine Arts, told PIX11 News.
“Prior to all this, the band was a very connected group of kids,” Paul Defendini, Farmingdale School superintendent, told PIX11 News. “This bound them even tighter. They came through in true ‘Daler ‘fashion.
So far this season, the Daler’s are undefeated.
They beat Baldwin High School 42 to 0 in their homecoming game.
