Band Notes – January 28th

Posted on December 2, 2014 by Dr. Vermillion

Here are some important upcoming events for the SHHS Band:

Our Band Booster meeting will be this Thursday at 7 pm in the new cafeteria.  It is important that all members of the band than plan on participating in the band next year should plan on attending.  We will be discussing the financial health of the program.

Hawaii – November 2016!  The band will be traveling to Hawaii in November of 2016 to participate in the commemorative ceremonies of the 75th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor.  We will be having an informational meeting in February for all parents that are interested in participating.  The initial $100 deposit will be due in February to save your spot.  Look for more info coming in the next few weeks.

ETSU will be hosting an honor band this Friday and Saturday.  Students that were interested in the clinic were recommended and are expected to participate in the clinic if they made the commitment.  Information was sent home with those students.  They will need to have lunch money on Friday to eat in the school food service area of the student union.  The concert is Saturday at 3pm in the Culp Center.

The Bonfire is on for this Saturday, January 31 starting at 4:30 PM.  The site is Mike Elber’s farm at 925 Old Boones Creek Road, Jonesborough, 37659, not far from the McDonalds.  If coming from the direction of McDonalds on Old Boones Creek Road, you will find a mailbox marked 925 on the right side of the road and the entrance to the farm is directly across.

We are hoping for cold and dry weather leading up to Saturday so the ground will be frozen and solid.  Parking will be in the pasture and having a wet surface could make it difficult to park cars.  Please carpool if possible to help with parking.  In the event of rain or just sloppy or slick conditions, we will postpone the event until February 21.  A go/no-go email blast will be sent out around 1:00 PM on Saturday.

We need each student’s family to bring $2 per person or $10 per family to help cover rentals and supplies.  The food will be hot bowl foods, sides and desserts according to student’s last name:

  • A through Degroat  — Dessert
  • Depew Through Hagenah — Bread, crackers, any good sides for soup
  • Harmon through Z  — Hot pot of something such as soup or chili

Your dish should serve eight people or more and you should bring serving utensils and toppings if your dish requires it.  We will have some electrical outlets to keep crock-pots hot and can alternate them if necessary.  Bring your own hot or cold drink and we will have some ice chests on hand.  If you choose to bring bottled water, we’ll accept your extras to take to the band room.  Plates, bowls, napkins and eating utensils will be on-hand.

Having a head count just helps us with planning though certainly you can decide last minute to show up.  Respond to SHBandFun@musician.org and include the student’s name and number attending in the subject line or body.

All East Band clinic will be held February 5-7 at the Park Vista Hotel in Gatlinburg.  Students that were accepted into the honor band will need to pay the $75 hotel and registration fee before we depart on the 5th.  Students have been given a detailed itinerary for the weekend – please make sure they share it with you!

Jazz Band will begin Monday, February 9th.  Rehearsals will be from 3-4 pm each Monday.  The group is open to all traditional jazz band sections (saxes, trumpets, trombones, rhythm section).

We are offering a mentoring program between the high school band kids and the 7th and 8th grade band kids from Liberty Bell.  Our interested students will be paired with a middle school student that plays a mutual instrument.  The lessons are free, however, the HS students will receive community service for their time.  We will begin the program the week of February 9th.

 

Other important dates:

February 13-14 – Jr. Band Clinic, Robinson Middle School – Kingsport

February 27 – Concert Festival Concert, 7 pm

March 25-26 – Concert Festival, Greeneville

 

 

 

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Change in Fund Raising Policy‏

Posted on September 1, 2014 by administrator

Band Families;

Those of you who have been part of the SHHS Band Boosters for the past couple of seasons have been part of many discussions about student accounts. We’ve dealt with issues centered around fund-raising, specifically those that put money directly into student accounts to cover individual band costs. We have struggled to find a clear understanding of what the issues are, sought sound advice on becoming compliant with the IRS and have made policy changes. We now understand the issues fully and need to make further changes to our fund-raising policy.

The attached letter outlines the issues and policy changes we will implement as a result. I invite you to read that attachment now.

As this band season began, the Board was preparing to roll out a change which would have placed our fund-raising into two categories: Booster sponsored drives with proceeds returning to Booster general funds and rebate programs which allow parents to direct their rebates into fund accounts for their student’s band expenses. Kroger was the only program which qualified as a rebate program. However in the past 10 days we have learned that Kroger is replacing their rebate program with one which doesn’t designate any contribution by student. (Please see the post below Kroger Cares is now Kroger Community Rewards). So now the Kroger program is effectively the former, conventional group fund-raising.

So where does that leave us?  As we move forward all funds we earn will be returned to the Boosters’ accounts — concessions, dinners, fruit sales and even Kroger rewards will be treated the same. It’s certainly not as helpful to us as parents of band students with individual obligations to cover costs but in order to be compliant with tax laws, we have no option. The natural tendency as parents might be to throw up our hands in frustration and back off of our efforts to raise money for the band. However in the end it will cost parents more if Booster fund-raising falters. We’ll either be left with more costs to be borne by students or the band simply does with less.

The best response for us is to:

  • Make the most of our most successful group fund raiser. That is of course football concessions. We are fortunate that we have the encouragement and cooperation of the athletic department which wants us to be successful and helps us in every practical way. We need to take full advantage by being able to offer the widest range of products at as many events and concession stands as we can. After all, last year concessions accounted for about 60% of our revenue.
  • Dial our other fund-raising up a notch. I’m happy to report that we have a team working on the fruit sales for this year, already exploring some new ways to sell to a broader customer base. We’ll need more of that kind of thinking for our upcoming pancake breakfast as well.
  • Develop new fund raising sources. The bulk of our fund raising is normally completed by Christmas time. Let’s work on some ideas that raise money during the second half of the year. There are a lot of creative people among our band booster members. If you have ideas, come talk to me about them.

The good news is that our peer band programs have dealt with the same fund-raising issues and are still thriving. We are fortunate to live in a city, which in my opinion, is eager to support quality community programs such as Science Hill Topper Band. That’s not so in many towns. I’m confident that we can adjust to our new fund-raising paradigm and keep the Science Hill Band Boosters going and growing.

If you have questions or suggestions, please bring them to the Band Boosters meeting this coming Thursday, September 4 at 7:00 PM in the new cafeteria.

Thanks,

Chris Shea
President, SHHS Band Boosters

Change in Student Account (Charms) Policy – 2014-09-01

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