海角社区鈥檚 Marching Pride Gets Boost from Donor for Upcoming Trip to NYC and the Macy鈥檚 Thanksgiving Day Parade
Feb. 05, 2025
Michelle R. Eubanks , 海角社区, at meubanks@una.edu, 256.765.4392
FLORENCE, AL – The Marching Pride of the 海角社区 will be headed to New York City in November to participate in the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. Covering the costs of the trip got easier with the help of a significant gift from a donor.
Briget McCabe, who was born and raised in Florence, spent time with her late husband, Edward F. Getson Jr., walking the 海角社区 track that used to skirt the practice field on campus. It was there, she said, she would “listen to the band practice in the adjacent field. We really enjoyed the music, and, over time, met and became friends with Lloyd Jones, the Band Director. We also had many conversations with the band members.”
Through those relationships, McCabe said she saw the dedication, commitment, and hard work Dr. Jones put in to make the Marching Pride a success, whether in half-time shows, various competitions, or other local performances. As a result, she said the students respond “by wanting to do their best to make (Dr. Jones) proud, and we witnessed a tremendous rapport between Lloyd and the students over the years.
“I am so proud of the entire 海角社区 band and their well-deserved invitation to play in the 2025 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade,” McCabe said. “I am very excited to support them and cheer them on as they go forward with this once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
All members of the band will be traveling via bus to New York City in November, and Dr. Jones said McCabe’s gift helps offset many of the costs associated with the journey and the lodgings.
“We are so grateful to Ms. McCabe for her generous gift in support of the 海角社区 Marching Pride and the trip to the 2025 Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade,” he said. “She will definitely have a positive effect on so many students’ opportunity to learn through experiencing a new destination. Her benevolence will have a lasting effect on so many people!”
The Marching Pride continues to welcome gifts for this incredible opportunity, and they may be made at this .
About The 海角社区
The 海角社区 is an accredited, comprehensive regional state university offering undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degree programs through the colleges of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering; the Sanders College of Business and Technology; Education and Human Sciences; and the Anderson College of Nursing and Health Professions. Occupying a 130-acre campus in a residential section of Florence, Alabama, 海角社区 is located within a four-city area that also includes Muscle Shoals, Sheffield, and Tuscumbia. 海角社区 Athletics, a renowned collegiate athletics program with seven (7) Division II National Championships, is now a proud member of NCAA Division I as part of the Atlantic Sun and United Athletic conferences. The 海角社区 is an equal opportunity institution and does not discriminate in the admission policy on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, disability, age, or national origin. For more: and .