Schools

Former Harlem Globetrotters to Boost Mercer Island High School Band

The Celebrity Basketball Fundraiser will help pay for a trip to the Tournament of Roses Parade.

Band Director Parker Bixby and his teammates might want to start tuning up their layups and 3-point shooting.

They’ll be taking on a team of former Harlem Globetrotter players May 20 in a friendly game to raise money to pay for the MIHS Marching Band’s trip to the 2012 Tournament of Roses Parade.

The Celebrity Basketball Fundraiser is the first of several activities that will help band members raise money for their trip to the Jan. 2 parade in Pasadena, Calif.

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The "alumni" Globetrotter team will include several former players from the Original Globetrotters team, including Paul “Showtime” Gaffney and Guinness World Record Holder Wayne “Above and Beyond” Clark.

Joining Bixby on the Mercer Island roster are:

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•Ryan Lane, MIHS assistant band director

•David Bentley, band director

•Kelly John-Lewis, MIHS security officer

•Jacob Bloom, MIHS Band and basketball alumnus

•John Harrison, MIHS principal

•Jan Sayers and Chris Twombley, MIHS English teachers

•Jamie Prescott, MIHS teacher and head girls basketball coach

•State Sen. Steve Litzow

•Mayor Jim Pearman

•KIRO Radio talk show hosts Dave Ross and Luke Burbank.

Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. May 20 at the Bellevue College gymnasium.

Ticket information and more details are available here.

(Ed. Note: This story was updated with additional clarification in the title and story body that players participating from the Globetrotters organization are former players not currently on the teams's roster)


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