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Riverside band director, wife welcome 4 Marines who evacuated South Carolina
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Cpl. Tiffany Woda watches as the Riverside Military Academy band marches Thursday at Riverside Military Academy in Gainesville. Woda is a Marine musician stationed in Parris Island, S.C., who volunteered to work with the Riverside band cadets during afternoon drill period following classes. - photo by Erin O. Smith
Four Marines stationed in Parris Island, S.C., are in Gainesville for at least a few days and passing along their musical expertise after having to evacuate South Carolina as Hurricane Matthew is on its way up the East Coast. Cpl. Tiffany Woda, who is from Haughton, La., was originally planning to go back to her hometown, but the Marines needed to stay within 400 miles of the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in Parris Island. Then she saw a Facebook post from Erin Giove, the wife of Riverside Military Academy band director Stephen Giove, offering evacuating Marines the chance to stay with the Giove family.