BAND BOOSTER NEWS

The meeting was called to order at 7:05 p.m. in the high school band room by President Carrie Moore. There were 35 people in attendance.

Meetings of the previous meeting were distributed and read. The minutes were approved as submitted.

We received correspondence from Sandra Sloan and the administration in appreciation for the framed picture of the band at Washington, D.C.

Magazine sales fundraising will start the third day of school (August 17). Readers Digest is the company sponsoring the fundraiser. Each new or renewed subscription will raise 45% of that subscription price into the student’s account for the Chicago marching trip. We hope for 1-3 magazines per family. Middle school will also participate in the fundraiser, however their money will go toward needed equipment in the middle school program.

Thank you to Darrell Bell and Hap Phillips for the work on the trailer. It’s ready for the season.

All band trips currently scheduled were approved by the school board.

Uniforms went home with each student during band camp. Thank you to those helping get the uniforms checked out to the students. It is critical that the pants of the uniform not drag the ground. It will be helpful for some sewers to be on hand at the first home game to tack up pants of any student’s whose pants are dragging the ground. All the uniform should be dry cleaned as necessary EXCEPT the gold sash and citation cord. Ross Miller Cleaners in Blue Springs has considerable experience with our uniforms.

One of the field props is near completion but we’ll need five more constructed. Wayne Miller agreed to oversee the work of the prop construction.

We will continue the “thank you” page in the All Sports program, which will be published three times. This page relates to the Washington trip where Boosters agreed last year to submit this acknowledgement for two years.

The first marching festival will be Carrollton on September 23. Boosters will provide pizza lunch and students are responsible for their own evening meal. Proceeds from T-shirt sales at the festival go to the band program there. Concessions proceeds go to their local civic groups. We will put out a jar and ask for donations for families of band students to eat.

We reviewed the several jobs we need to fill to make the Odessa Marching Invitational a success. Band directors have shared with Mr. Hansen on several occasions how they appreciate the organization of the Odessa festival. We will have a separate meeting August 22 at 7:00 p.m. to organize volunteers for OMI.

Spring concert will be on a Thursday night; not Friday night as has been tradition. Dates in the Bulldog Bulletin are correct.

Anyone wishing to put a parent add in the All Sports program can see Joe Smith. These ads are $25.

The September Booster meeting will be September 18 (not September 11 as would be the normal schedule).

Band will play at the Red & Black game on August 18. Kids arrive at 6:00 p.m. Participants for all fall sports will be introduced.

Remember to frequently check the band website. www.odessabands.com. Thank you to Belinda Johnson who does a great job keeping the website updated and professional looking.

The Indianapolis concert trip is November 3 – 5. We will need 48 rooms for students and we have 70 rooms reserved. We will try to pay for the Friday and Saturday meal. Students will be responsible for their own meals on the trip to and from Indianapolis. We are one of the first two or three bands of the day. We will ask for chaperones at the September meeting. The cost will be somewhere around $100 each. We have four 56 passenger busses (accommodate 224 people). We have 130 students. We may leave that Thursday evening and travel all day on Friday. We have hotel rooms for Friday night and will travel all night Thursday night to arrive back in Odessa around 8:00-9:00 Sunday morning.

The Chicago trip on May 5 will be approximately $400 per student. A letter will be sent to parents suggesting a payment plan to help spread out the cost of the trip.

Band shirts are available for $20 each. Complete an order form on the band website.

Meeting was adjourned at 8:30 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Connie Andrews
Recording Secretary