ZEBULON - Broughton High School may be in Raleigh, but when the Caps marching band heads to California later this year, the 160-player ensemble will include a decidedly eastern Wake County flavor.

Seven of the band members call Knightdale or Zebulon home in this region where geographic boundaries don't necessarily portend school assignments.

For most of them, this year's trip to Pasadena to march in the Tournament of Roses Parade marks the second time, they've been to the event. But, in 2008, the last year the band traveled to Pasadena, most of the eastern Wake contingent was on the sideline watching for one reason or another.

This year promises to be different. All seven band members have aged into the marching band - in fact, two of them are college freshmen returning to the Broughton band for one more shot at the New Year's spectacle. For those too young to march two years ago, their time has finally come.

Between now and then, though, comes a lot of practice and even more fundraising.

The school's band director, Jeffrey Richardson, has told his students he wants them to raise the money for the trip rather than turning to their parents for a handout.

That's especially important for families like the Spicer family of Knightdale. Three Spicer siblings, Ashleigh, Brittany and Nick, will be making the 8-day trip this winter. Ashleigh Spicer is a student at Appalachian State University this year, but she plans to march in the parade after a broken leg kept her out of the action in 2008.

As a freshman, Nick Spicer is just beginning his tour as a fundraiser. He admits selling isn't his strong suit.

"I like running around on delivery day, but it does make it cheaper for everyone if we can raise the money ourselves," he said.

At $1,800 per person, the trip is expensive even for one child. Add in the color guard and the total cost for the 180-member Broughton contingent - not including directors and chaperones - will top $320,000.

The kids are up for the challenge, though. The band's major fundraiser is a fruit sale that has been taking place long enough that many customers are regulars. As band members graduate, they pass their customer lists along to returning band members.

That works well for students who live in the traditional Broughton attendance zone.

For eastern Wake County students who attend Broughton through the magnet program, it gets a little dicier.

To broaden the base of donor support, the eastern Wake contingent of the band is sponsoring a fundraiser through Buffalo Wild Wings in Knightdale.

That event, slated Thursday from 4-10 p.m., will provide 30 percent of the restaurants revenues, after costs, to the band.

And, says Erin Clark, another Broughton graduate from Knightdale who's returning to march with the band, the organization is also seeking support for its bid to win a Pepsi Refresh grant in September.

"What we really need are those yellow bottle caps. They can get us anywhere from five to 100 points," Clark said.

The trip to Pasadena will be a highlight of their band careers for most of the eastern Wake students who make the trip this year. But band is about a lot more than just taking trips to far away places.

"It keeps us from having too much time on our hands and doing things that we ought not to be doing said junior Brittany Spicer.

For Zebulon's Paul Alexander, a rising senior, band creates an instant family. And it looks good.

"I've heard it helps on college applications," Alexander said.

Two other students from eastern Wake County, Rebecca Peruso and Mitchell VanGelder, will also be making the trip.