07/30/2026
Thank you, All On Georgia - Chattooga, for helping our community rally around these students!
For more than 50 years, the Chattooga High School Marching Indian Band has filled Friday nights with music, pride, and community spirit. Now, one of its own is asking that same community to give back.
Celia Holt, a Chattooga Band alumna and current band grandparent, has launched a GoFundMe to help purchase a new equipment trailer after the band's current trailer was declared unsafe for the road.
"For more than 50 years, the Chattooga High School Marching Indian Band has been creating memories, building friendships, and filling Friday nights with pride," Holt wrote in her fundraiser post. "I know because I was once one of those students. Today, my granddaughter is part of that same tradition, and it means more than I can put into words."
The band relies on its trailer to transport instruments and equipment to football games, competitions, and performances throughout the season. With the current trailer no longer safe to travel, Holt says the students need a dependable replacement to keep performing the way they always have.
"These are the students who pour their hearts into representing our community at football games, competitions, parades, and other events," Holt said. "They bring school spirit, pride, and tradition everywhere they go."
A Tradition Spanning Generations
For Holt, the cause is personal. She marched in the Chattooga Band from 1977 to 1980, serving as a member of the color guard and eventually Flag Captain, under three different band directors in three years ā Barry Gilreath, Jerry Pollard, and Ron Becton.
"What did I enjoy about the band? Honestlyā¦ everything," Holt said. "I loved the music, but I also loved bringing color and excitement to every performance through the color guard. We were fortunate to have band directors who poured into us, challenged us, and expected excellence."
Holt recalled studying performances from renowned visual ensembles like the Southerners and Spirit of Atlanta alongside fellow guard member Ruth Fulton, the rifle captain at the time, then bringing those ideas home to create original routines for Chattooga's own performances.
But more than the music or the routines, Holt says it was the people who made the experience last a lifetime. "Band became a family," she said. "Some of my best memories in life were made on those bus trips, at football games, competitions, and rehearsals." She still remembers the leaders who invested in her, the chaperones who looked out for the students, and even the bus drivers ā the Bishop twins ā who became part of the journey.
One connection has stayed with her for more than four decades: Holt marched alongside Gene Greer, who now serves as Chattooga's Band Director. Watching her own granddaughter now experience many of those same traditions, she says, has brought her band journey full circle.
"Band taught me much more than music," Holt said. "It taught me discipline, teamwork, creativity, leadership, and what it means to be part of something bigger than yourself. Those lessons have stayed with me my entire life."
How to Help
Community members who would like to support the Chattooga High School Marching Indian Band can donate through Holt's GoFundMe page. (link in comments) Holt says additional fundraising efforts are also expected to launch soon.
"If the band has ever made you smile, brought back memories, or touched your life in any way, would you consider supporting our GoFundMe?" Holt said. "Together, we can help ensure this tradition continues for generations to come."
