2014 Marching Band thread

[PrincessKsMom]

Ordered ready made uniforms, jackets, duffle bags with name emroidered on. They do keep the same ones for 3 years though, so if a kid is in guard for 4 years they only have to buy 2 uniforms over the course of their high school years.

Thanks! New guard director last year and he got ready made but so they matched the theme somewhat (Wicked) -- they were black and lime. This year's show is Aladdin and he was looking for something more custom. Guess we'l have to wing it and get a little creative. Was hoping someone knew of a place that worked faster than 12-14 weeks.

I'll have to light a fire under him to get started on our indoor theme and uniforms. Last year we had custom indoor along with matching flags and everyone was super impressed as most go with ready made. He really took our team up quite a few notches. We took first place at Nationals for Guard (USBands) and we were bumped up from 1A to 2A at our second competition at indoor (again USBands). He really has a vision and has an idea of where he wants them to be and they're loving it.

Unfortunately DD graduated but I've been asked to stay on and assist with MB and indoor and I'm happy to do it. Just trying to get up to speed on these types of things, fundraising, etc.

 

[klj27]

This is my first year not being a Guard Mom. My daughter graduated last year and this is my son's second year of marching baritone. They had sectionals at the end of June and first week of July, precamp 9-5 for a week, away camp for a week and are now in another week of 9-5. They will practice 9-5 next week and have a parent show on Friday night.

About Guard uniforms, We get custom uniforms every year. We live near FJM and one of the designers has helped our guard in the past. If you don't have time to have custom ones made you may want to see what is available on theguardroom.com That is where we sell our previous years costumes.

 

[Happy Snowman]

Thanks! New guard director last year and he got ready made but so they matched the theme somewhat (Wicked) -- they were black and lime. This year's show is Aladdin and he was looking for something more custom. Guess we'l have to wing it and get a little creative. Was hoping someone knew of a place that worked faster than 12-14 weeks.

I'll have to light a fire under him to get started on our indoor theme and uniforms. Last year we had custom indoor along with matching flags and everyone was super impressed as most go with ready made. He really took our team up quite a few notches. We took first place at Nationals for Guard (USBands) and we were bumped up from 1A to 2A at our second competition at indoor (again USBands). He really has a vision and has an idea of where he wants them to be and they're loving it.

Unfortunately DD graduated but I've been asked to stay on and assist with MB and indoor and I'm happy to do it. Just trying to get up to speed on these types of things, fundraising, etc.

Do any of the band parents sew? We had some talented seamstresses that would put together patterns and have other parents come in and help sew. They generally got the guard uniforms done in a couple weeks doing that.

 

[okeydokey]

This is my first year not being a Guard Mom. My daughter graduated last year and this is my son's second year of marching baritone. They had sectionals at the end of June and first week of July, precamp 9-5 for a week, away camp for a week and are now in another week of 9-5. They will practice 9-5 next week and have a parent show on Friday night.

About Guard uniforms, We get custom uniforms every year. We live near FJM and one of the designers has helped our guard in the past. If you don't have time to have custom ones made you may want to see what is available on theguardroom.com That is where we sell our previous years costumes.

Thanks for that link. They have great prices on silks.

 

[Mickeyluver37]

Can anyone tell me what your guard does for uniforms for marching band? Are they custom made or do they mostly order ready-made? Our guard director wanted to get custom for our show but they don't seem to be able to turn them around quickly. Most say they'll be available in October, but our season ends the beginning of November, so it's not worth it.

Thanks and happy marching!

This is DD's 7th and final year of Guard since she will be a senior. We've had custom a few seasons, which is great because each girl is measured instead of ordering S, M, L and then having to have them altered. Our guard director used the same person 3 seasons in a row, and last year I think she took on too many schools and really dropped the ball on the marching costumes, so it's back to ordering them from a company. Our guard director only uses A Wish Come True for ordering- and you can alter anything in their catalog for a flat fee (ex. take the sleeves off, change out a color, etc.)

Ordered ready made uniforms, jackets, duffle bags with name emroidered on. They do keep the same ones for 3 years though, so if a kid is in guard for 4 years they only have to buy 2 uniforms over the course of their high school years.

What kind of uniforms are these? My DD has had at least 2 different costumes every year- it always matches the show design, not the band. The band's marching uniforms were replaced after 7 years but they should be good for awhile. The guard members are required to buy the warm ups, which are $100, and the bag I think is another $25. Luckily that has only changed once in all DD's years in. The guard director wanted to change them again but with so many graduating seniors agreed to wait until next year! We are restricted by the school in what we can have there, which is weird. Our school colors are green and white and everything has to be green. We weren't approved to even get black with green and white embroidery. So, the guard warm ups look almost exactly like every other girls' sports warm-ups.

 

[Monykalyn]

My oldest DD (Junior this year!) plays bass clarinet and (started at clarinet in 6th grade and switched in 8th grade to bass-she is 6'1" tall and can handle the larger instrument). 2nd year for middle DD on flute (7th grade this year so not yet marching). older DD got her sister to play flute so older DD could learn it too! I guess it is pretty common for band kids to play multiple instruments? We have an acoustic guitar, electric guitar, piano in addition to the band instruments...

Also oldest DD's band director is a Disney NUT and had them playing Frozen music as soon as he could get his hands on it. This years show is loosely based on Cinderella (DD has to "waltz" in one part) called "If the Shoe fits..."(I think that is the title anyway) They have a large band and allow freshman to march. Most of the schools around here their size don't allow marching in competition until after Freshman year-gives them an edge at competitions but DD's band still does pretty well.

 

[PrincessKsMom]

Thanks everyone for your responses. Unfortunately we didn't have time to get custom, but he did get "authentic" clothing rather than costume-y outfits.

I've asked on the other thread but I'm asking again, what do you do for fundraisers. Unfortunately, we have had very little parental participation in past years and very, very limited budget funding. I'm particularly interested in hearing from anyone in the NY-NJ-PA area, but recommendations are gladly accepted from everywhere!

To give you an idea of what we're working with, our youngest member will be going into 5th grade, and we have NO seniors in the band, 4 seniors in the guard, and 2 of them don't even do out our school. They're allowed to march because the county did away with a lot of extra-curricular programs at many schools, so you are allowed to march if you live in our town, but attend a school outside your district that does not/no longer offers the activity. I'd say, probably half of our band consists of grammar school students. Because of that, I'm hoping there will be more parent participation this year.

 

[Happy Snowman]

Thanks everyone for your responses. Unfortunately we didn't have time to get custom, but he did get "authentic" clothing rather than costume-y outfits.

I've asked on the other thread but I'm asking again, what do you do for fundraisers. Unfortunately, we have had very little parental participation in past years and very, very limited budget funding. I'm particularly interested in hearing from anyone in the NY-NJ-PA area, but recommendations are gladly accepted from everywhere!

To give you an idea of what we're working with, our youngest member will be going into 5th grade, and we have NO seniors in the band, 4 seniors in the guard, and 2 of them don't even do out our school. They're allowed to march because the county did away with a lot of extra-curricular programs at many schools, so you are allowed to march if you live in our town, but attend a school outside your district that does not/no longer offers the activity. I'd say, probably half of our band consists of grammar school students. Because of that, I'm hoping there will be more parent participation this year.

Wow!!! That's hard with kids that young.

Our band's biggest fundraiser was hosting a show. They bring in quite a bit of gate/concession stand money if you have enough bands attend. We had a larger show with 15-20 bands and they would bring in about $25,000-30,000 net with gates, concessions and ad sales in the program book. They also participate in the Script Program--which is where non-profits can buy gift cards at a discounted price--you resell them for full face value and the difference in your profits. Most people would get gas and groceries using that and even just doing that you can make quite a bit of profit.

 

[Monykalyn]

Script program, and individual smaller fundraisers. DH and I are actually in fundraising business (mainly carry Otis Spunkmeyer cookie dough and Worlds Finest Chocolate, starting this year also carrying Jack Links jerky and a candles from local company). DD band did a cookie dough fundraiser at start of band camp this summer (actually pretty bad timing but that is when band director wanted to do it) and they made ~$3000. For smaller groups we generally recommend "cash and carry"-selling chocolate bars. Profit is 40-50% depending on units sold.
My service club also has a fundraiser code through a car wash-everytime someone inputs that code we get a part of the cost of that carwash.

 

[PrincessKsMom]

Unfortunately, we were denied the opportunity to host a show. And the cheerleaders have the concession stand at every home football game. End of story. The Board of Ed really makes it difficult to fundraise with all these different rules. It's disheartening. And we are in desperate need of new uniforms. I think the ones we have are 15-20 years old. This year we have approx. 50 kids. Last year was around 38-40. Not a big band at all.

I'll look into the Script program. Another rule: the kids are, under no circumstances, allowed sell chocolate at school. Unless, of course, you are a cheerleader.

Keep those ideas coming!!

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Can anyone tell me what your guard does for uniforms for marching band? Are they custom made or do they mostly order ready-made? Our guard director wanted to get custom for our show but they don't seem to be able to turn them around quickly. Most say they'll be available in October, but our season ends the beginning of November, so it's not worth it.

Thanks and happy marching!

We make our own every year custom to match the show. Flags too. There are also generic uniforms kept in storage for when the band is just in their uniforms.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Unfortunately, we were denied the opportunity to host a show. And the cheerleaders have the concession stand at every home football game. End of story. The Board of Ed really makes it difficult to fundraise with all these different rules. It's disheartening. And we are in desperate need of new uniforms. I think the ones we have are 15-20 years old. This year we have approx. 50 kids. Last year was around 38-40. Not a big band at all.

I'll look into the Script program. Another rule: the kids are, under no circumstances, allowed sell chocolate at school. Unless, of course, you are a cheerleader.

Keep those ideas coming!!

It's a shame they don't value your band enough not to severely restrict their methods of fundraising. In band threads over the years, it's a growing problem. I've seen several schools wrestle over that snack bar money. Fortunately, ours goes to the band.

 

[Katy Belle]

We are lucky, Band and Orchestra Boosters have every home football concession stand. We make about $17,000 a year! That $ goes to things like uniforms, bus fees, instruments, contest fees, etc.

The students also do fund raising. That $ goes into each students individual account, to pay for band trips. This years trip is to Orlando, which is $1,400 per kid. Our biggest fundraiser is selling sausage, bacon, and chicken strips from a local company. We also sell candles, jewelry, candy bars, raffle tix for various things, etc.

This summer our family attended a cool fundraiser for the local children's theater. It was a bingo night. It was $10 to get in, which got you a packet of bingo cards. If you won the game, you got to choose a basket that was donated by one of the Cast Member families. They sold mini games for $1, the prize for those was 50% of the profit from selling that particular mini game, usually about $100. There was also dinner, chili dogs, brisket sandwiches, chips, cookies, all donated by cast families and local businesses. And a silent auction, with lots donated items. It was mostly cast families, but they made well over $5,000 profit. There were about 300 people there.

Some other groups have huge garage sales.

 

[PrincessKsMom]

We are lucky, Band and Orchestra Boosters have every home football concession stand. We make about $17,000 a year! That $ goes to things like uniforms, bus fees, instruments, contest fees, etc.

The students also do fund raising. That $ goes into each students individual account, to pay for band trips. This years trip is to Orlando, which is $1,400 per kid. Our biggest fundraiser is selling sausage, bacon, and chicken strips from a local company. We also sell candles, jewelry, candy bars, raffle tix for various things, etc.

This summer our family attended a cool fundraiser for the local children's theater. It was a bingo night. It was $10 to get in, which got you a packet of bingo cards. If you won the game, you got to choose a basket that was donated by one of the Cast Member families. They sold mini games for $1, the prize for those was 50% of the profit from selling that particular mini game, usually about $100. There was also dinner, chili dogs, brisket sandwiches, chips, cookies, all donated by cast families and local businesses. And a silent auction, with lots donated items. It was mostly cast families, but they made well over $5,000 profit. There were about 300 people there.

Some other groups have huge garage sales.

Katy Belle that sounds great. Maybe I'll mention that. Right now we're just brainstorming.

And we do not do band trips. We went to DC two years ago, only because the Mayor nominated us for the DC Memorial Day parade. And it was horrible trying to raise $50,000 for that. Basically all favors were called in for that and there's no going back for a second dip. Personally, I think the Mayor and the City should have paid for it. We didn't ask to be nominated and didn't know we were being nominated until we were picked.

 

[K and K's Mommy]

We do a huge rummage sale in June. Our school has two gyms and our smaller one is packed with "treasures." I have never seen so much junk. We ask for donations from the community the month leading up to the sale. We store it in our band semi and then the donations usually spill over into a storage room.

It takes A LOT of volunteers the day before to get everything organized. The day of the sale is really just cashiers and then some people helping on the floor. What doesn't sell Goodwill takes. They bring a truck.

We also do Scrip, sell Entertainment books, sell snacks before school (good fundraiser but hard to get enough parent volunteers because of work schedules), and have all concession sales with football, soccer, volleyball and basketball. In November we sell wreaths that are delivered the weekend after Thanksgiving.

 

[Katy Belle]

I wanted to add... We do one of our fund raisers twice a year. The sausage, bacon, chicken strips, we sell in. September and. March. People really like it, and many don't have big freezers' so it sells well twice.

We have sold poinsettias . One year they froze in transit. That was a mess!

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Our daughter is a Freshman in college and has joined the band. She spent seven years in the high school marching band. She plays mellophone, and was nervous because there was some music she had to memorize over the summer, but she doesn't have a mellophone at home. She played the music on her French Horn with one hand and did the mellophone fingering with the other.

Apparently she had no reason to be nervous, because she did well on her audition on Tuesday and was actually given 1st part music. The leadership said their were impressed. Their band camp is only one week long, and they put on a new show each home game. I can't fathom how that's possible. She does say she works a LOT harder, put that should probably be obvious.

Meanwhile, our son is a Freshman in high school. He plays trombone and this is actually his fifth year in the marching band. Our district is very small, and 7th and 8th graders are allowed to join. But they made a special case for him because when he was in 5th grade, they were short on honor guard. So me spent his first two years in honor guard. He got to play the stand music, but didn't play in the show. Because of all of his years served, he is actually 3rd in seniority in the Trombone section, even though he's a ninth grader.

They are almost done with their second week of band camp.

We took a step back last year with volunteering with the parent organization. I still go to meetings, run the booster website, blog, and twitter accounts, but my wife and I aren't chaperones right now. Maybe next year. We still work at the snack stand once a year, though.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

I've asked on the other thread but I'm asking again, what do you do for fundraisers. Unfortunately, we have had very little parental participation in past years and very, very limited budget funding. I'm particularly interested in hearing from anyone in the NY-NJ-PA area, but recommendations are gladly accepted from everywhere!

Fortunately, we are able to have a snack stand at football games. We actually built it ourselves.

We do a Christmas tree sale in the early part of December. I don't know where we get our trees from, but I think it's a connection we got through a parent.

We do Market Day throughout the year. Our elementary school used to do it, but now the marching band does it.

We sell Matey's Pizza in October, which is actually a locally owned business but does do fundraising. $6 for a pizza. Can't beat that. Not sure if they just do it locally or not. You can ask.

We sell Joe Corbi's in January, with orders ready just in time for the Super Bowl.

We have a battle of the bands every year in May. Local bands compete for a cash prize.

We used to do a Beef & Beer, but didn't make a lot of money on it. This year we are going to do a basket raffle instead.

We have a parent that sells for Thirty One and she has set up a fundraiser for the students. That's going on right now, actually.

We've done flapjack breakfast fundraisers through Applebees.

We've done a carwash.

Sometimes we do a spaghetti dinner. That's not an every year thing, but I remember doing it once, and we are doing it again this year.

We have two Kids Nights at the elementary school, which gives parents in the district a night to themselves. I think we charge $10? Not sure.

We also host Music in the Parks. I think we split the money we get from that with the middle school concert band.

These are separated into booster fundraisers and kid-specific fundraisers (for trips). The parent booster club is able to actually help pay for trips, too, which cuts down the costs for the students.

 

[dispor]

My son is a freshman, and this is our first experience with Marching Band. He attends a small school, with small band (about 40 kids). His first parade is tomorrow. He brought his uniform home from school yesterday. It smells! The tag on the pants say that they are 100% polyester and are machine washable. The jacket says dry clean only. There is a removable band around the neck of the jacket (it snaps in) that was incredibly yellowed, so I removed it and am hand washing it.

Whose responsibility is it typically to have the uniforms washed, and how often/when, etc.?

 

[marcyinPA]

Thanks Flightless for guiding me over to this thread. Without being too redundant, I have a sophomore percussionist. Snare during marching season, and you name it during concert season (the percussion section rotates).

Our band is very large (300 this year) and has a tremendous amount of community and parental support. The operating budget for the band parents association is huge.

They offer several fund raisers every year- many being monthly. Probably the biggest is the monthly hoagie sales. If you sell hoagies, you go to the school cafeteria at 6 am on a Saturday morning and make hoagies. You don't leave until the last hoagie is made. The band has been doing this sale for YEARS- like 40 or more? They buy all of the meats/veggies/rolls from local suppliers and have a very loyal fan base . We also sell Matey's pizzas bi- monthly (these are frozen pizzas you bake at home- locally made. Great sellers at $6 each). We sell fall mums, Christmas wreaths, poinsettias and cemetery logs, and spring flowers- all from a local greenhouse. These are also great sellers because they are things most people buy anyway. We sell Gertude Hawk chocolate, Ninnymuggins candles, Uncle Paul's pierogies, pies at Thanksgiving and Easter, discount cards that offer discounts at local establishments for a years' time ($10 each). That's all I can think of right now.

During trip years, they add more fundraisers in. We marched in the Rose Parade this past January- that trip ended up being $2500 per student. We personally fundraised about 1/3 of it. Had there been no fundraisers, getting him to Pasadena would have been tough.

Flightless Duck- curious as to where your daughter is going to college- and good for her for joining band! I could not talk my son into the band at KU. He wanted no part of it- and hasn't played his trumpet since May 2013