WINDSOR
The Windsor High School Marching Dukes could be going places next year around this time.

“We were invited to play at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl,” said band director Broc Smith.

He first made the announcement during the holiday concert at Windsor High School on Tuesday, and gave further details to the paper on Thursday.

The 47th annual event will be on Dec. 31, 2016, at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia.

“I didn’t submit our name at all,” Smith said. “I got a letter inviting us.”

He added the letter noted the band’s “outstanding musicianship, strong performance skills and involvement in the community.”

But the letter is not a guarantee of admission.

“We formally have to go through application process,” Smith said. “We’re preparing. I have no reason not to believe we won’t be going.”

When confirmation is made, though, “then we fundraise like crazy to get ourselves prepared. We have to think about a new field show and songs while we march, and also be recruiting new members.”

He made a rough estimate that the minimal cost could be $35,000 or $460 a player.

All this is a brand-new experience for Smith in his 13 years with Isle of Wight County Schools, which includes Georgie D. Tyler Middle School; he’s in his second year at Windsor High School.

When it came to doing the field shows at the football games, “Everyone involved was pleased and had fun doing it,” he said. “My students were wonderful. I gave them a vision and they made it happen.”