Notre Dame band plays into AHS student’s wish

LAKEWOOD – Its become a cliché, of course, to say Thanksgiving is a day on which we should give thanks. Thanks for life, family, friends, food to eat and football on the tube. Some of us might be thankful for jobs we still have or homes in which we’re still living.

And dutiful moms, no doubt, will remind us to be thankful for our health.

But Lakewood resident Michelle Meyer has those and many other reasons to be thankful this year. And she has a whole slew of new friends to add to her Christmas card list.

At the top of the card list for the single mom will be fellow Lakewood resident Mike Williams, an alum of Notre Dame. Running a close second, if not an outright tie for the top spot on that list will be the folks at the Make A Wish Foundation, of which Mike is a volunteer.

Primarily, Michelle is thankful she got to spend another year with her teen son, Jacob Krause, who was diagnosed at birth with Cystic Fibrosis, a debilitating lung disease. Jacob and his mom moved to Lakewood 30 months ago, as doctors thought the climate might be more beneficial to Jacob.

In 1955, when the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation was formed, the life expectancy of someone diagnosed with the disease was just six months. Today, thanks to great strides in medicine and a better understanding of how exercise can help, the average life expectancy has risen to 36 years and change.

Jacob knows he carries a disease that could kill him. For the most part, though, he carries on like any other teenage.

“He knew he could get a wish through the Make A Wish foundation,” Michelle said. “He just never really found anything he wanted to do.”

The Make A Wish Foundation has granted nearly 200,000 “wishes” to children with terminal diseases since its founding in 1980. In September, Jacob finally realized what he’d like for his wish.

A trip to Disneyland? A ride on a freight train? Meet the president? Nope. Jacob wanted to march with a band.

When Jacob and his mom first moved to Colorado they bounced around the state from Loveland to Estes Park before finally settling in Lakewood. Jacob attends Alameda High. At the beginning of the school year officials informed Jacob they wouldn’t be able to field a marching band for football due to lack of interest.

“When they canceled the marching part he was kind of disappointed,” Michelle said. “In the meantime, he has a solo in concert band. [Officials] suggested he get some kind of private lessons on clarinet, cause he’s really good.”

Good? Jacob could be his own one-man marching band. The teen plays clarinet, alto sax, guitar, piano and percussion. And, he has a keen interest in aerospace and engineering.

“NASA stuff, like rockets, space, all that stuff,” he said. “I want to work for NASA someday.”

But first, Jacob decided, he wanted to march with the Notre Dame band.

Why Notre Dame? One reason, Jacob said, was because it is the oldest college band in the land. The Fightin’ Irish can trace the band’s roots to 1846. The band also plays a part in the school’s rich football history and the pre- and post-game traditions.

Jacob was there for it all, thanks to the help of Make a Wish and Mike Williams.

“We are very grateful to the Make a Wish foundation and to Mike Williams to have done this. It gave (Jacob) college exposure and a goal to keep working, to have a great future. To have blended in with those college kids, was really phenomenal.

“They (college band members) took him in like he was one of them,” Michelle said. “I couldn’t have asked for more.”

Jacob and his mom had a whirlwind tour of South Bend, where Notre Dame’s main campus resides. A week before Turkey Day they flew from Denver to Chicago to South Bend. They were whisked to the hotel to drop off bags and then over to campus – Jacob had a band practice to attend.

“It was nerve-racking,” Jacob said, “but in a good way. It was like awesome and exciting to be with them, with all the people following you and around you. I just felt awesome.”

When Jacob and Michelle got to the band hall the band was in the middle of practice for the halftime show against Connecticut. The pair found a spot to watch and were somewhat shocked when Jacob’s name was called.

“At the end they called me over and let me direct the band for one of the songs,” he said. “So that was really fun.”

On Friday Jacob had private lesson and uniform fitting.

“That’s when I got the freshman pin, the green shamrock that goes with the uniform,” he said. “Then, that night we went to the pep rally and a concert band later that night, symphonic and woodwinds. Sounds of Fall was the name of the concert.”

But Saturday was the big day.

First, “we had the concert in the Bond Hall then lunch with the band.

“We did crazy dance stuff on chairs and then we did the “Concert on the Steps.”

For those that don’t know, the “Concert on the Steps” is one of the first indications that Saturday game time has arrived. The band performs to crowds upward of 20,000. Once the concert is finished, the band makes its way to the stadium.

“When we marched over to the stadium we went through the tunnel,” Jacob said.

The Web site for the Notre Dame band describes the experience thusly:

“It’s a fall afternoon at Notre Dame. You’ve just performed for countless fans at Notre Dame’s “Concert On The Steps.” You march to the Stadium, parading in front of 20,000 Irish Fans. In the Stadium tunnel, you can hear the echoes of Rockne, Leahy, Parseghian, Holtz, and the Four Horsemen. The whistle blows, the drums begin, and you’re off to an explosive entrance in front of 80,000 screaming Irish fans.

You Are the Band of the Fighting Irish!”

Jacob picks up the experience from there:

“The band went on to the field to march their pre-game show. I went to the 50 and I got to watch them during the pre-game show. When they finished pre-game I went back with them and played during the game. At halftime, I did the same thing.

“After the game, we marched over to the band rehearsal building, sung the alma mater for the school, and that was it for the night,” he said. “It was a pretty big day. Friday and Saturday were the big days. It was a lot of fun.”

On Sunday, Jacob and Michelle were treated to a bowling party, where they got to visit with family that made the trip down from Chicago. On Monday, the pair went on two tours: a factory that makes woodwind instruments and the aerospace engineering building on Notre Dame’s campus.

Jacob said he did miss a couple of days of school, but his teachers were “all supportive of it, so it was no big deal. I’m very thankful that Make a Wish was able to put this altogether and let me go march with them.”

Jacob and Michelle are flying back to their Colorado home Tuesday afternoon. Aside from the carry-on luggage, they’ll be bringing memories that will last a lifetime and plenty to be thankful for.