Reflections of Band Camp 2017:
I wish to thank the students for a great band camp! They worked extremely hard and I’m proud of the progress that we made! We are off to a great start and I look forward to what we will achieve this season! I believe that our show Uncommon is perfect for us! We are coming together as a team and I know that the weeks ahead will be memorable. Special thank you to all the rookies out there! They had the most information to learn and they did a great job of giving their best effort all without a complaint, bravo!
In addition to thanking the students, we had so much parent support this week that I am also very appreciative of!
Over the course of the week we served over 600 meals to the students and band staff. Thank you to the following parents that served lunches to the students during camp!
Karrie K, Tina S, Deb M, Erin S, Lucy G, Linda P, Jennie M, Lora C, Vivien T, Kami K, Timi, Rany S, Jill A, Debbie C and Katherine K
Special thank you to our Palisade principal, Dan Bollinger, for grilling the hamburgers and hot dogs for us on Friday. I think it is awesome that he took time out of his day to do this for the students. Thank you Mr. Bollinger!
I’m very thankful for the parents that donated food for camp! Because of their generosity we fed the students for around $.30 per student per meal! That’s incredible! The BPO spent less than $190 serving 600+ meals, awesome! Thank you to the following parents that donated food for camp!
Valerie M, Jennie M, Karrie K, Debbie C, Debbie A, Tammy B, Rany S, Deb M, Katherine K, Linda P, Gretchen K, Anneliza B, Erin S, Tina S, Lora C, Chris S, Marcy M, Karrie K, Krista S, Shawn F, Jill A, Kristin G, Erika P, Kami K, Lucy G, Debora B, Patti V, Vivien T and Brandie C
I would like to thank Vivien Teetsel for being at camp all week supporting students that weren’t feeling well, communicating with parents, filling water, basically helping in any way we needed. Thanks Vivien!
Thank you to Jennie Mason and Deb McKee for preparing all the food and doing the additional shopping needed to feed the students this week. I witnessed first-hand how much time and effort this takes. I appreciated having well rounded, quality meals and I think the students appreciated it too! Thank you Jennie and Deb!
Thank you to Krista Smith and Linda Pennock for helping with the check in, medical forms, payments etc. for camp. Having you there to take care of that paperwork was huge, thank you!
Thanks to our staff for a great camp! Amy Neil, Rob Labig, Peter Gomez and Preston Sitton. We have an incredible instructional team and I’m thankful for their help!
Fundraising:
We are very proud of our band program and the plethora of opportunities and experiences that we are able to provide the students. In order to run a high school band program like the one we do, it costs a lot of money. I have presented a budget in excess of $33,000 to the Band Parent Organization (BPO) for this coming school year. This represents only the money the BPO would be contributing and does not include any instrument purchases. This also does not include fees paid by families. It is imperative that we maximize our fundraising. Therefore we have fundraisers set up in order to raise this kind of money. Here are the fundraisers that are currently running:
Car Wash – Saturday, August 5 from 9am-2pm. 3 locations – PHS, Murdoch’s and Sutherlands
This is a great fundraiser for us! It is 100% profit and the students are working to provide a service to our patrons. And we have fun doing it! Last Wednesday during camp we sent home an envelope with every student that included 10 car wash tickets. Each ticket cost $10. We are asking students to presell as many tickets as they can in preparation for the car wash. If they sell all 10 and would like more they can absolutely have more tickets. We are providing prizes for the top selling students. Movie tickets and Starbucks gift cards to name a few. All students should return their ticket envelopes on Friday, August 4th (bring them to rehearsal). In their envelope should be all money collected from ticket sales as well as any unsold tickets. Please help us by filling out the form on the front of the envelope. Students signed indicating that they received their tickets so please help ensure that they don’t lose them. Students should collect the $10 (checks payable to Palisade Band) for the ticket and then give a ticket to the patron. On Saturday, August 5th between 9am-2pm the patron will then visit one of the three locations and present their ticket in order to receive their car wash. We will accept cars without a ticket on the day of the car wash and their cost will also be $10. Students will be signing up to work the car wash this week. Shifts are 3.5 hours long, 8:30am-12:00 and 11:00-2:30. The sign up for students will be in the band room. We also need parent volunteers at each location. If you can volunteer for a shift please sign up on our Shutterfly site:
https://palisadebands.shutterfly.com/parentinvolvement
Last year our car wash earned us just over $4,300 and I think we can top that! $6,000? We’ll see! I have talked with the students about selling and encouraged them to just ask. If they don’t ask the answer is always a no, but if they at least ask the answer could be yes. I have also found that many people in our community want to support the band in some way. This is an easy way to do so, even if they may not make it to the actual car wash, they feel good knowing they supported us. Please encourage your student to just ask, “Would you please support the Palisade Band by purchasing a car wash ticket?”
Sponsorship
Our sponsorship program is the single largest fundraiser for us. Popular with businesses and individuals as a way to support the band as well as receive recognition via advertising in our concert programs, the sponsorship banner that will be displayed at various Palisade events, on our website and even on the band trailer. Sponsorship contributions are once a year and there are a variety of levels for which one can choose ranging from $100-$1,000. Sponsorship funds go toward general program funding; Marching Band music and drill purchase, choreography, clinicians, equipment, Winterguard expenses, festival entry fees, travel and instruments. For detailed information on the Sponsorship program please see the attached document. You may also find information on the band website:
https://palisadeband.org/beahero/
To see a list of sponsors from last year:
https://palisadeband.org/sponsors/
Feel free to share this sponsorship information with anyone you feel would be willing to become a sponsor (employer, family member in another state, etc.). In order to be included on the sponsorship banner for the year, sponsorships will need to be received by August 18th.
Individual fundraising:
If you have not yet signed up for Scrip you should! The money you earn by participating in the Scrip program can be used to pay your band fees at PHS! It is very easy to sign up and start earning. The information can be found on our website:
https://palisadeband.org/beahero/
Scroll down to the individual fundraising section and read more about how the program works. The information on how to sign up is there too. Please email me with questions.
Peach Festival:
We make peach pies and peach cobblers to sell at the Palisade Peach Festival. More information will be coming soon.
Schedule for this week: (All activities will take place at Palisade HS) July 31-August 5
9am-12pm Monday Rehearsal Straw hat decorating contest
2pm-5pm Tuesday Rehearsal Mismatch day
5pm-8pm Tuesday Uniform fitting for all those that have not yet had their uniform fitted. Not for colorguard members. On Tuesday we will also be having all students that have had their uniform fitted already try it on again. They have been hemmed and we will be checking the overall fit.
9am-12pm Wednesday Rehearsal Disney day
9am-12pm Thursday Rehearsal
12pm-6pm Friday Rehearsal We will be handing out t shirts to wear for the parent performance. Please wear black shorts, band tshirt and tennis shoes. Bring your car wash ticket envelope!
5:30pm Friday Parent performance! Please come listen and watch all the work the students have done the last two weeks! This is a free event.
9am-2pm Saturday Car Wash Three locations, Palisade HS, Murdoch’s, Sutherlands
Thanks for reading!
I appreciate your support, I know that it is going to be a great year!
Jeff Mason