Whittier restaurant holds tuba fundraiser for high school today

The Whittier High School marching band will get some help Monday in replacing four tubas stolen last month from the band room.

Famous Joe’s Legendary Mexican Food, a Whittier restaurant owned by high school alumnus Joe Garcia, is donating half the proceeds of Monday's sales to the band to help pay for new tubas.

The restaurant at 15334 Whittier Blvd. is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Thieves stole four King tubas, costing more than $5,000 each to replace, from the school in late June. In the last year, thieves have taken tubas from numerous Southern California high schools, including Bell, South Gate, Huntington Park, Manhattan Beach, Jordan, Fremont and Centennial in Compton.

Instructors and musicians say the tuba thefts are likely due to the enormous popularity in recent years of banda, popular Mexican dance music using marching band instruments, in which the tuba plays a central role.

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— Sam Quinones twitter.com/samquinones7

Photo: Tuba player at a backyard party in Compton; Credit: Sam Quinones / Los Angeles Times