Musical tribute to Clovis East drum major battling brain tumor

Every single member of Clovis Unified's bands and color guards -- from high school down to middle school -- paid tribute Wednesday to the lead drum major for Clovis East, who's in the middle of a health scare.

All 1300 of the kids wore ribbons in honor of Kyle Yoder as he fights to recover from a brain tumor.

The walking tribute of gray and red ribbons was designed to increase brain cancer awareness and the students stood united in the fight as they performed the Star-Spangled Banner together.

Volunteers also collected donations during the event at Veterans Memorial Stadium at Buchanan.

The musical homage five days after his surgery came as a surprise to Kyle, but from his hospital bed he sent Action News a message for his fellow musicians and color guard members.

"Thanks for the tribute. It means a lot," he said. "Go get them at champs this weekend. Love you guys and I hope to see you soon."

Those championships -- the Western Band Association Grand Championships -- got canceled Saturday because of bad air quality, but on that same day, doctors at Valley Children's Hospital moved Kyle out of the intensive care unit into a regular bed because of his improving health. He's still waiting to learn the next step in his treatment.