One hundred members of the Guntersville High School band are heading to Pennsylvania this weekend to perform in Philadelphia's Thanksgiving Day parade.

The Crimson Guard is one of about 20 bands from across the country to perform.

"It's a once in a lifetime opportunity for a lot of us," said Ethan Cole, Guntersville High senior.

The Crimson Guard started working more than a year ago to prepare for next week’s Thanksgiving Day parade

"It's been busy, we've put in a lot of hours of work into our parade music and this entire season," said Cole.

An opportunity like this, almost a thousand miles away in Philadelphia,is expensive.

"I'll be in a random part of Guntersville or even up in Albertville or Arab and you'll see a 'we helped the Crimson Guard go to Philadelphia," said Cole.

Band director Corey Hyman told me the band, booster club and community raised $150,000 to make this happen.

"The community has been great and we are super proud to have them behind us," said Hyman.

The students also plan on visiting New York City.

"To be able to experience something like this with our friends is definitely something we are looking forward to," said Cole.

This is the 100th Philadelphia Thanksgiving Day parade.