On August 15, 2015, Lincoln Way Central’s color guard director, Felton Harlan, passed away at the age of forty-one due to a heart attack. His funeral was on August 22^nd and was fully funded by the GoFundMe website, which was set in place to cover the costs of the funeral and start a scholarship in his honor. The Music Boosters donated also donated to cover funeral costs, and the current amount of money raised is $11,135, surpassing the original goal of $10,000.

Harlan had been at Central since 2009 and will be sorely missed by his color guard girls, whom he considered family. Some of his color guard girls reflected upon their favorite memories of Felton, most of whom shared moments of his good-natured and fun-loving attitude:

“One of my favorite memories came from freshmen year band camp when we made the ‘Felton balloon.’” – Katie Huish, Junior

“The last day of band camp this year he was watching me in particular during our meeting, and he said he was so proud of me. He told the other girls that if they needed help or a role model to go to me for it, and when I heard that, I was happy that that was how he saw me.” – Kristan Lazarski, Senior

“I also remember my freshman year he was dancing to ‘Single Ladies.’” – MacKenna Marozas, Senior