Weeks after 7 feet of floodwater all but destroyed their room, equipment and instruments, the Herbert Hoover High School Marching Huskies returned to band rehearsals this week, in the parking lot of an Elkview church.
"They're doing well, for day two," band director Meleah Fisher said Thursday.
They're doing especially well, she said, considering that she wasn't sure there would even be a band this year.
"I told them we're setting the tone for the future of our band," Fisher said. "We have to be the example, not the exception."
Fisher said, with 32 students, the band's numbers are up this year, compared with last year's 15.
Like the band room, many of the student's homes were damaged in the June 23 floods that swept across West Virginia, Fisher said.
Band practice will continue next week. Fisher is working on finding a bigger parking lot to practice on, she said.
"The east to west is OK, but the north to south is a little short," Fisher said of the parking lot at Antioch Advent Christian Church. "But it's better than nothing."
The state school board on Thursday OK'd a plan to have Herbert Hoover students attend class for half a day at Elkview Middle School. Middle school students will have class in the morning and Hoover students will attend class there in the afternoon, until temporary buildings are set up for high school kids on the football field at Elkview.
"We'll find a place to practice," Fisher said of the middle school. "We'll figure it out."
Fisher said that, in the weeks since the flood, she's heard from band directors and other people from around the country who want to help the band replace what it lost. Donations of instruments and equipment have poured in, she said.
Annandale High School, of Fairfax County, Virginia, is donating 100 band uniforms to Herbert Hoover.
Travis Riddle, band director at Eastern Greenbrier Middle School, in Ronceverte, put the Virginia high school in touch with Fisher after reading about the band's plight in the news, he said.
Riddle, a West Virginia native who was living in New Orleans in 2005, when Hurricane Katrina struck, said he's never before witnessed an outpouring like how West Virginians have responded to the June 23 floods.
"The support that people give each other [here] is unparalleled to anything thing else I've ever seen," he said.
The uniforms are red, white and black. Fisher said the band would wear the uniforms' white pants with polo shirts for a while and figure out a way to use the red jackets, which for now have A's on them. Fisher said they will try to incorporate some blue into the uniforms and to somehow turn the A into an H.
Fisher said, with more uniforms than the band actually needs, she hopes to find one to fit each of the students.
"They're excited to help us out, and we're excited to get them," she said.
The band is gearing up for band camp at Cedar Lakes, at the end of the month. Fisher said this year's camp is the most important one she's ever done.
"I'm putting the pressure on me - not on them, but on me," Fisher said. "I have to be my best. I'm not gonna rush them, but this is crucial to our success this year."
This year's show is called "One For The Road." Songs include "Taking It To The Streets," "Hit The Road, Jack," "Life Is A Highway," and "Ease On Down The Road."
Although the songs were determined months in advance, Fisher said the theme is fitting, because they might be traveling from place to place for rehearsals while repairs are being made to their own space.
"But we're gonna make it work," she said.
On day two of practice, some of the band's fourth-year seniors were optimistic about the way they sound.
Flag corps captain Caitlin Hawkins said the band sounded pretty good for its second day of practice.
"We'll survive this," she said. "This is still our house; this is still us. We're just in a different location."
Feature twirler Marie Good said that, so far, the band is the biggest and best she's ever seen it.
"I don't really think it will weaken at any point," she said. "If anything, [the hardship of the flood] will just make us better than we ever were.
"We've had plenty of help and plenty of support, so there's no doubt that we'll come back stronger, probably, than we were in years before."
Fisher has set up a website to coordinate donations for the band. Find out more at hhhs band.com.
Reach Lori Kersey at lori.kersey@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1240 or follow @LoriKerseyWV on Twitter.