The shamrock, the horseshoe, the rabbit’s foot, and now, a six-inch, purple-haired troll is the meaning of luck for the Raider Band. In 1996, a special needs band student relied on band to get through the day and in return gave the band a toy troll, dressed in an “I heart band” shirt.

“If it wasn’t for band, this kid wouldn’t have wanted to come to school,” Band Director Todd Toney said. “Band truly was the highlight of her day.”

Throughout the years, the members of the band began bringing the troll to football games, to field trips and now even UIL performance concerts. To date it has been brought to every recent competition, trips to New York, Disney World, San Antonio and summer band camp.

“The students would make sure it was brought along,” Mr. Toney said. “It quickly became important to the students to have him there.”

In 2004, the troll was kidnapped and was missing for three weeks. He was eventually found behind furniture in a storage room with a shaved head. The students quickly made a small hat with dreadlocks to cover the troll’s bald head. Then, during summer band camp that year, a drum major replaced the hair of the doll with the hair of which it has now.

“It had a funny effect on the students,” Mr. Toney said. “It was as if some one hurt one of them.”

The band has received multiple trolls over the years since then and now has enough to make a small army.

“Those are only trolls,” Mr. Toney said. “There is only one band troll.”