The 51st Eight: A Northern Light- The Education of Bria Skonberg

This Story, which was first published in the April 2008 issue of our predecessor paper The American Rag, provides an in-depth ten year history of Bria Skonberg's youth band, The 51st Eight, and her first launch onto the world stage.   A Northern Light If you’ve ever traveled in the Northern Hemisphere in early Autumn or Spring, there is a good chance you’ve witnessed one of the Earth’s most magnificent phenomena: The Aurora Borealis. This cascade of natural artistry occurs when electrically charged particles from the sun caught in radiation belts are channeled through the Polar Regions by Earth’s magnetic field. The increasing difficulty in getting the 21st century generations exposed and interested in playing traditional jazz is no secret. Much like the auroras of the Northern Lights, finding a group of young students that are dedicated to the art and continuation of traditional jazz is a rarity. Even rarer is finding a group that can withstand the test of time and stay together into their adult years. Still, when the right combination of energetic students are pulled together at just the right time, in just the right place, the lights shine just as brightly. Beginnings In the fall of 1998 at Chilliwack Senior Secondary, Gary Raddysh and Rob Hopkins were thinking of ways to implement a student Dixieland jazz band into the 11th year of the Chilliwack Happy Times