Marching Southerners Donning Blue Ribbons
to Honor Megan at Christmas Parade Tomorrow

By Jennifer Bacchus
News Staff Writer
11-21-2007

Reprinted here in its entirety.

A New Type of Blues for JSU Band

Drum major Corey Newton gets a blue ribbon. Photo: Anita Kilgore

When the Jacksonville State University Marching Southerners stroll down Pelham Road playing Sleigh Ride during the Christmas parade next Tuesday night, you might notice something a little different about their uniforms.

They will be sporting a blue armband in honor of a friend of the band – Megan Brittain.

Megan was diagnosed with Rhabdomyosarcoma, a cancer that manifests on muscle cells, in July.

“We knew from reading her blog that blue is her favorite color. She says that when she’s having a good day she’s having a ‘blue’ day. So, we want it to be a good day for her. It’s our way of wishing them a happy holiday and a merry Christmas,” said Bodiford.

Megan’s father, Gary has been an inspirational, and important, part of life on the JSU campus. So, Ken Bodiford, director of bands at JSU, and the Southerners decided to thank him by doing a little something to lift Megan’s spirits.

“Gary has been such an incredible part of JSU. He’s just so willing to help out,” said Bodiford.

Bodiford is encouraging those who attend the parade this year to also wear blue in support of Megan.

“We’ve been wanting to help out, but didn’t know what would be appropriate, but we thought if she knew this many people were thinking about her that maybe, somehow, it would help her,” he said.

Visit Megan’s blog to see how she is doing at www.caringbridge.org/visit/meganbrittain. There, in the guestbook, you can see an e-mail Bodiford sent to Megan telling her about the Southerners’ plan for the parade.

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About Jennifer Bachus

Jennifer Bacchus is a staff writer at The Jacksonville News. She can be reached at 256-435-5021 or via e-mail at jbacchus@jaxnews.com

See story at The Jacksonville News's website: www.jaxnews.com .

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