Bernie Perez moved to Frenship when he was finishing up elementary school. Early on he heard the Frenship Tiger Band play and wondered how they came together to make such a pleasant sound. As soon as he entered middle school, he knew he wanted to be involved in Band.  

“I moved here in 1960 when I was in the fifth grade. When I heard the band, I wondered ‘How do they make that music?’ I wanted to know how they made that sound. Then when I was in the seventh grade, I started in beginners' band,” said Perez. 

Perez was also an athlete, who had a deep love for football. When the time arose when he was forced to choose between playing football in high school or continuing playing in the band, he took time to reflect and went the band route. Although he missed the sport, he enjoyed cheering on the team from the sidelines. As a sophomore, he was selected to be a Band Major, which is a major accomplishment for an underclassman. His time serving as a Band Major confirmed his decision of choosing to keep pursuing band. 

“I loved football, but I had to make a decision, and it gave me a chance to think about why I love Band so much,” said Perez.

Perez graduated from Frenship in 1967. He boasts about how Frenship is where he found his love for music through playing the Baritone Saxophone.  

“I’ve always loved band. When I was in the high school band, I never wanted to go to the next class. I always wanted to stay and keep practicing. I never had enough band. Between the traveling and the football games, I loved it all,” said Perez. 

Looking back on his time in the Frenship Tiger Band, some of his favorite memories included traveling and performing.  

“One of my favorite memories was when we used to go to El Paso for the Sun Bowl Carnival. We would march at the carnival for 7 miles,” said Perez. “We never thought it was tiring, and we didn’t care that it was hot. We just liked performing, and we thought it was fun.” 

He then went on to continue chasing after his love for Band by getting involved in Texas Tech’s Goin’ Band from Raiderland. He simply just couldn’t get enough of Band and didn’t want to stop playing music. 

“I was in the Tech Band for 2 ½ years where I kept playing the Baritone Saxophone. It was fun to keep playing in a Band,” said Perez.  

Perez has two daughters who attended Frenship and followed in his footsteps participating in the Frenship Tiger Band. He feels happy knowing that his love for music was passed down to his children. 

“This is just a tremendous way of life. If someone would give me a million dollars to give up band, I would still go to band and tell them to keep the money. It’s a treasure that I get to do this,” said Perez. “Frenship has been my school forever, and I loved that my daughters were in the band here, too.”  

When his daughters were in school, he became involved in the Frenship Tiger Band Booster Club. He believes that it’s important to give back to the school that first instilled his love for music.  

“I would encourage anybody just to be in band at least once. It is something that they will remember for the rest of their lives. If parents have students, I encourage them to work with the band and be a dedicated alumni to support the band, even if they can’t always go to the games,” said Perez. 

Once his daughters graduated from Frenship, he didn’t see any reason to stop serving in the Band Booster and continued to volunteer his time and energy. His love for the Frenship Band is one like no other.  

“All of the band has been a nice memory for me.  If it wasn’t I wouldn’t be doing it till this day. It’s all nice memories,” said Perez. “I’m so glad I'm with Frenship. I’m the happiest person there is, especially this time of year.” 

Over the years, Perez has seen the school district transform and grow as well as the Band program. When he was in the Band Program, they had about 50 students, now the Band Program has over 300 students.  

“We used to be the poorest and smallest school in the panhandle, but look at us now. I am so proud of it and how far we’ve come,” said Perez. “You should see me at the contests with the marching band. I get goosebumps all over watching our big band.” 

Perez is someone who has a heart for service and a heart for the Tiger Band. He plans on continuing to serve and give back as long as he can.  

Frenship is thankful for you, Bernie Perez!