ROBERTSDALE, Ala. — The Robertsdale High School Golden Bear Marching Band is on a mission, a mission to raise money and Band Director Robin Isherwood said she hopes the band’s Annual Play-A-Thon this Saturday will go a long way toward reaching their goal.

The band has been invited to the Gator Bowl to participate in competition with some of the best bands in the country, but must raise the entire $17,000 to cover travel expenses. The winner of the competition will participate in the Gator Bowl parade and halftime festivities in Tampa on Jan. 3. Winning the competition also comes with a $10,000 grand prize, Isherwood said.

“We’re hoping to raise about $5,000 of that on Saturday,” Isherwood said.

First, the band and Band Boosters have been pre-selling barbecue plate dinners which will include pulled pork from L.A. Bar-B-Q, baked beans, Cole slaw, bread and dessert at a cost of $7. Dinners may also be purchased on Saturday and can be picked up from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at J.D. Sellars Stadium.

The band is also selling Bear Grams which will be delivered over the stadium loud speaker beginning during band warm-ups around 4:15 p.m. There will also be a Hula contest in which participants can pay to vote for their favorite director, drum major or one of 12 section leaders. The “winner” will be required to wear a Hula skirt, dance and perform 10 pushups.

Then at 4:30 p.m., the band will perform its halftime show, “The Blues Brothers.”

“We’re finishing up the ‘Blues Mobile’ which is basically just a golf cart covered look like the Blues Mobile from the movie,” Isherwood said. “The other prop is the doors to the tax assessor’s office, which will be placed on top of the drum major podium.”