LaBelle High band to skip Swamp Cabbage Parade

LABELLE, Fla. — The LaBelle High School Cowboy Band will not march in this year’s Swamp Cabbage Parade, a decision that has sparked strong reactions from parents, alumni and community leaders.

Band Director Alex Burden announced the decision in a written statement, saying the parade committee declined to waive a participation fee for the school this year, something the committee agreed to do last year. Burden said he refused to pay the fee on principle, stressing that the issue is not the dollar amount, but the value placed on students’ time and effort.

Read full statement below:

“Friends,

Today, with a heavy heart, I have made the difficult decision not to have the Cowboy Band march in the Swamp Cabbage Parade this year. Last season, after decades of participating in the parade without a fee, the parade committee decided to implement a fee for parade participants. At that time I asked them to waive the fee for the school. They did waive the fee and I was grateful. This year the fee is not being waived for schools and I am refusing to pay the fee on principle.

Let me be completely transparent, the fee is $50 for a non-profit organization to participate. This is not about the money. To prepared for an event like the Swamp Cabbage Parade, the band already spends an extensive amount of time and money. We purchase music, uniforms and flags to fit the theme of the parade. We rehearse 3 days after school the week of the parade and give up an entire Saturday. Students must call out of work and lose pay for those commitments and staff is not paid for this extra time. My auxiliary staff must write a routine for the parade and I create choreography for the band. We are not paid for this. Furthermore this event adds extra strain on the band program because we must completely stop preparing for our upcoming assessments and transform the band room for Marching Band the week of Swamp Cabbage. This is a big deal. We use completely different wind and percussion instruments for Marching events and must put our concert equipment in storage. The Friday before the parade we load everything into a trailer and bring it down to the park. After the parade we must haul everything back to the band room and unpack. The Monday after the parade, we lose valuable instructional time putting the room back together.

We, the Band, enjoy community events like the Swamp Cabbage Parade and are happy to volunteer our time to be a part of it. So let me be clear: It is a privilege for the Swamp Cabbage Parade to have the Cowboy Band participate in it's event and we will not be charged an extra fee when we are already giving so much.

Sincerely,

Alex Burden - Director of Bands @ LHS”

Parents say the band’s absence marks the loss of a long-standing tradition in a community where the parade has been a centerpiece for decades.

“For families who grew up here, seeing those kids in the parade is a big deal,” said Cathy Perry, a LaBelle High School alumna and band mom. “It’s a representation of the people who live here now. It brings together parents, grandparents and friends who want to support those students.”

Perry said band participation requires a major commitment from students and families, long before parade day arrives.

“This is years of work and dedication,” she said. “By the time this event comes around, they’re polished. They’re really good. And for some of those seniors, this would have been their last parade.”

Another parent, Elizabeth Gregory, said the costs add up quickly for a school-based program, even before any participation fee is considered.

“The band has to put out all these funds for the music, extra practices, costumes, and even food and water for the kids,” Gregory said. “You’re already losing money, not making it and then you’re asked to pay just to participate.”

Gregory said all three of her daughters are part of the band, and that the parade has traditionally been a moment of pride for students who have spent months preparing.

“The students lose that recognition… that sense of accomplishment,” she said. “For seniors, it would have been their last parade. For freshmen, their first.”

In response to community concerns, Swamp Cabbage Festival organizers posted a statement on Facebook acknowledging the feedback and explaining the purpose of the entry fees.

Organizers said the parade is a “labor of love” run by community volunteers and that the fees help cover essential costs of putting the event together.

Read full statement below:

“Thank you for speaking up about our parade entry fees. Your voices matter and we do value and hear you.

We would also like to acknowledge it takes a lot of effort and it is a financial burden to bring this celebration to life.

The parade has always been a labor of love for our community, and we have done our best to keep it going because of your enthusiasm and participation. The fees we charge help us cover the essentials of such an endeavor.

We know costs can be a barrier for some groups, and we do not take that lightly.

We have kept our pricing lower than similar parades in the region, and we actively pursue sponsorships to reduce the burden on participants. As a result we have been able to offer discounted rates for everyone including schools, nonprofits, and youth groups.

We are not a big organization, we are your neighbors, working year-round to create something meaning for everyone.”

WINK News reached out to Swamp Cabbage Festival online and on the phone before this statement was posted to Facebook. We are still waiting for a response.

The issue has also drawn support from local leaders. Hendry County School Board member Stephanie Busin publicly backed Burden and the Cowboy Band in a Facebook post, calling the decision a matter of principle rather than money.

“This is not about $50,” Busin wrote. “It’s about respect and the true cost of participation that our students and educators already shoulder.”

Busin pointed to the hundreds of hours of unpaid labor required to prepare for a marching event of this scale, including after-school rehearsals, choreography, equipment transport and lost instructional time all while students give up paid work hours and staff receive no additional compensation.

“Volunteering time, talent, and resources does not mean those contributions should be undervalued or monetized,” Busin wrote. “Participation by our students is a gift, not an obligation, and certainly not a revenue source.”

Parents say they hope the conversation leads to changes in future years so the Cowboy Band can once again march in the Swamp Cabbage Parade.