A communication of the Lakota West Upbeat Club
We hope you’re enjoying Labor Day weekend, and we hope you’re looking forward to the busy and exciting times ahead. To help you keep on top of what’s important in the next several days, this edition of This Week in Band covers:
- volunteer needs for our Tag Day fundraiser this Saturday morning;
- food and beverage contributions for third quarter refreshments;
- September 7-9 activities related to Lakota West Band Day coinciding with the Dayton Wayne vs. Lakota West game this Friday;
- spiritwear orders;
- our students named to elite ensembles;
- this week’s schedule; and
- next week’s schedule-at-a-glance.
Stay in the know by subscribing to our calendar; following Lakota West Bands on Facebook, Instagram, Flickr and Twitter; also, regularly checking Mr. Carr’s class announcements.
Tag Day is This Saturday
This Saturday, September 10, Lakota West concert and marching band members will, in small groups, go door-to-door asking for donations from members of our community. When an individual provides a donation, a band member gives him/her a receipt documenting the tax-deductive contribution and a coupon for a free Skyline Chili cheese coney.
Tag Day is our biggest and briefest fundraiser. Donations go toward the band’s uniform fund — a significant recurring expense. Parents of band members, we hope you’ll support Tag Day by spreading the word and volunteering to drive/follow student groups through neighborhoods.
Thank you to the 50 parents who have already signed up to drive our students along their Tag Day routes this Saturday. To fully cover all of West Chester and maximize our fundraising potential, we need an additional 50 parents to sign up as drivers: Sign-up Genius. Drivers meet in the West Theater with band students this Saturday morning at 8:15. You’re assigned a route and a group of students. You can request your son’s/daughter’s group and your neighborhood, and we will make every effort to accommodate your request. Your route assignment includes instructions and a map. You drive the students to the beginning of the route, where they get out of your car and begin knocking on doors in pairs (or threes or fours). You trail them as they go from door to door and, when the students complete the route, you drive them back to West. Upon returning to West you take the funds collected to the Band Room.
Third Quarter Refreshments
During the third quarter of each home game, our volunteers serve refreshments to the Marching Firebirds and the visiting team’s band members. For this Friday’s game, flutes and saxophones (altos, tenors and baris) should place two two-liter bottles of lemonade or clear soda (no red, orange or dark soda, please!) and two full-sized packages of cookies (no frosted cookies, please!) in the bin outside the band room as they enter the band room Friday afternoon.
Click here for the full schedule of this year’s third quarter refreshment assignments and guidelines.
Lakota West Band Day This Friday
The Marching Firebirds will celebrate the up-and-coming students in the Lakota West Bands program before and during the Friday, September 9 Lakota West home football game versus Dayton Wayne. This celebration — formerly known as Freshman Night — will put a welcoming spotlight on Ridge and Plains eighth graders, as well as Lakota West freshmen with:
- a before-game pizza party with current members of the Marching Firebirds,
- the honor of parading with the Marching Firebirds into the stadium before the start of the game,
- the thrill of going onto the football field with the Marching Firebirds to perform some hit tunes, and
- the fun of spending time with the Marching Firebirds in their north end zone stands.
Between 3 and 4pm this Wednesday and 7 and 8pm this Thursday, Lakota West freshman band students will rehearse with the Marching Firebirds for their halftime appearance together at Friday’s football game.
At 4pm this Friday, Ridge and Plains eighth grade band students as well as Lakota West freshman band students will rehearse with the Marching Firebirds for their pre-game appearance together at Friday’s football game.
At 5pm the Upbeat Club will host a pizza party in the cafeteria for the Marching Firebirds, freshmen and eighth graders, and at 5:45pm they will warm up together in the theater.
At 6:15pm they will line up on Main Street, and at 6:25pm they will march to the north end zone area of the stadium via Lakota West Drive (which will be closed by West Chester Police).
Around 6:40pm the Marching Firebirds, freshmen and eighth graders will take to the field for a pre-game performance. The Wayne vs. West games gets under way at 7pm. During halftime in the 8 o’clock hour the freshmen and Marching Firebirds will perform on the field together and afterward enjoy third quarter refreshments. Once the game ends, the Marching Firebirds will perform their competition show, Bloom. More detailed information appears here.
You Can Still Order Spiritwear!
Take stock of your Marching Firebird spirit wear needs for football games and marching band competitions. If you already placed an order, it will be available at Silvers (Thursday evening rehearsals) as soon as it is delivered to our spipit wear coordinator. If you’re unable to come to Silvers, your teen can check immediately after Silvers practice; alternatively, you can email Rachel Butler to see if your order is in. If you have not placed an order, please do as soon as possible to be included in our next bulk order with our supplier. Questions? See our spiritwear shop or email Rachel Butler.
Also, because our current spiritwear coordinator is a senior mom, we’re looking for a new spiritwear coordinator for next year. This is one of our more time-intensive volunteer jobs for the summer and fall months. The benefit of becoming spiritwear coordinator, however, is deciding what gets offered and getting your hands on it before anyone else! During the summer you work with our vendor to determine our spiritwear offerings. You place an initial order, and update the offerings in the band’s online shop in coordination with our webmaster. You coordinate the Band Camp Show spiritwear sale — bringing spiritwear to the stadium, setting up a tent, recruiting volunteers to help you, and delivering funds and a record of sales to the Upbeat Club treasurer. You take orders throughout the marching band season and for other special events as needed, placing multiple custom orders with our vendor. All orders are delivered to your home address, and you package them and bring them to Silvers/Thursday evening marching band rehearsals for delivery to parents and students. If you would like to learn more about helping us with spiritwear, please email Rachel Butler.
Twelve Students Named to Elite Ensembles
As a result of outstanding auditions, we’re proud to announce that twelve of our student musicians were named to honor ensembles. An additional six were named as alternates. Here’s the breakdown:
- Senior flute Faith Ann Santucci: NAfME National Honor Ensemble, OMEA All-State Band and CSYO Philharmonic Orchestra
- Junior oboe Josh Aude: CSYO Concert Orchestra
- Junior bassoon Kyle Cleavinger: OMEA All-State Band, CSYO Concert Orchestra
- Junior bassoon Yulia Martinez: CSYO Philharmonic Orchestra
- Senior bassoon Becca LaManna: CSYO Concert Orchestra
- Sophomore trumpet Charlie Merk: OMEA All-State Jazz Band
- Sophomore trumpet Joe Keller: CSYO Philharmonic Orchestra
- Junior horn Alex Daiker: OMEA All-State Orchestra and CSYO Philharmonic Orchestra
- Senior trombone James Smith: OMEA All-State Orchestra and CSYO Philharmonic Orchestra
- Senior trombone Spencer Merk: OMEA All-State Jazz Band
- Junior trombone Matt Aaron: OMEA All-State Band
- Junior trombone Tyler Gandee: OMEA All-State Band
The following students are OMEA All-State alternates:
- Senior clarinet Lauren Klenk
- Senior bari sax Owen Carpenter
- Senior trumpet Katie Carson
- Sophomore trumpet Shannon Pullyblank
- Senior percussionist Ray Butler
- Senior percussionist Peter Savage
Congratulations to these outstanding musicians!
This Week’s Schedule
- Monday, September 5: No marching band rehearsal
- Tuesday, September 6: LWHS Main Band Room: Marching band sectionals from 3 to 4pm
- Wednesday September 7: LWHS Parking Lot: Marching band rehearsal with freshmen from 3 to 4pm and without freshmen from 4 to 5:30pm
- Thursday, September 8: LWFS Stadium: Marching band rehearsal with freshmen from 7 to 8pm and without freshmen from 8 to 9pm
- Friday, September 9: LWHS: Marching band rehearsal with eighth graders and freshmen the in the parking lot from 4 to 5pm; Pizza party in the Cafeteria from 5 to 5:45pm; Warm-up in the Theater from 5:45 to 6:15pm; Line up on Main Street from 6:15 to 6:25pm; March to the Stadium from 6:25 to ~6:35pm; Pre-game show with freshmen and eighth graders ~6:43pm; Football game gets under way at 7pm; Freshmen perform with the Marching Firebirds during halftime ~8:05pm; and, when the game ends, the Marching Firebirds will perform their competition show.
- Saturday, September 10: Tag Day starting from LWHS Theater: 8:15am to ~12-1pm
Looking Ahead
- Monday, September 12: LWHS Stadium: Marching Band rehearsal from 7 to 9pm
- Tuesday, September 13: LWHS Main Band Room: Marching band sectionals from 3 to 4pm
- Wednesday, September 14: LWHS Parking Lot: Marching band rehearsal from 3 to 5:30pm
- Thursday, September 15: LWFS Stadium: Marching band rehearsal from 7 to 9pm
- Thursday, September 15: HAC: First New Orleans Symphonic Winds Spring Break Trip payment due
- Saturday, September 17: LWHS Main Street: Mattress Sale Fundraiser from 10am to 5pm
- Saturday, September 17: competition performances at Taylor Band Premiere and Lancaster Band of Gold Invitational with students reporting to LWHS at 11:45 and returning around 12:45am