Palmerton Area High School’s marching band hit its latest high note Tuesday when it was honored with a Scholastic All-Star award courtesy of Dan’s Camera City in Allentown.

Mike Woodland, co-owner of Dan’s Camera City, said the award started as a way to recognize local schools with hidden gems.

“There are things going on within our districts that aren’t always noticed,” Woodland said. “When I heard about the rebirth of the Palmerton band from Superintendent Scot Engler, I thought, what a good benefit the music program here is to the students and community. Mastering the music and choreography takes a tremendous amount of talent, and the students clearly put in a lot of hard work.”

In 2009, Palmerton was left without a marching band. After a five-year absence, band director and high school music teacher Tom Heinick reached out to students in an effort to revive the band.

The marching band grew to 18 or 19 students and is now 50 members strong.

It is fresh off a trip to Walt Disney World, where it performed before a parade at the Magic Kingdom.

While lasting memories were made marching down Main Street USA, it was the continuance of a tradition it started a few years ago that stood out to Heinick.

A few years ago, Palmerton students played the song “Crazy Train” together with students from the Bangor High School band during a Bomber football game. It became something the band tried to do with opposing bands throughout the season.

Quite spontaneously, the Palmerton band was getting ready for the parade at Magic Kingdom when a band from a Frederick County school in Maryland started playing Michael Jackson’s hit “Thriller.”

“Our kids didn’t even have the music with them, but they had played it so many times they just knew it,” Heinick said. “They went over to the other band and asked to play it with them. I bet it’s something all of those kids will remember for a long time.”

The accolades won’t stop with the Scholastic All-Star award for Palmerton’s band. On Dec. 14, two of its drum majors, Matthew Binder and Mitchell Hourt, will be guests of honor at the Lehigh Valley Phantoms game. A video from the performance at Disney will be played on the Jumbotron during a 45-second spot during a break in the action. During an intermission, Heinick will also be interviewed on Service Electric, when he will discuss the successes and future of the program.

“Our band is phenomenal and we’re so proud of its continued development over the past several years,” Engler said. “We’re very appreciative of Dan’s Camera City for honoring them in this way.”