Good afternoon, band families!
The Marching Hornet Pride will be traveling to the Mobile area (TBD based on results of the last regular-season region games) Friday, November 8th, to support our football team and our community in the first round of the high school football playoffs.
At last night’s booster meeting, rental of 4 charter buses was voted on and approved at a cost of roughly $16,000. Obviously, this is a huge expense that was not planned for or expected at the start of the regular season. Due to the distance of the trip being farther than is allowed for school bus travel and the need to leave before buses run their afternoon routes, taking 6 school buses is not an option.
We discussed 3 immediate action items we will implement to start recouping some of the trip cost:
1. At the fall concert Tuesday, October 29th, we will sell concessions (popcorn, candy, chips, drinks) similar to how theater does at their performances. All funds raised will be applied to the charter bus rental.
– A QR code will be posted at Tuesday night’s concert, and we will request donations from anyone who is able to help fund the trip. The QR code is also attached to this email for sharing with friends, family, and community members.
– We will also post the donation link on the band website and social media and ask for support from our community.
– The travel cost of 1 student is $91. If you or a friend or family member are able to and would like to cover the cost of your student or other students, we encourage you to do so. (This is optional — not required.)
3. Our middle school band boosters have agreed to provide $2,500 to help with travel costs since we have 16 8th-grade marchers, and high school cheerleading will be sharing a bus and contributing $1,600, reducing our rental cost to roughly $11,900.
Additional fundraisers will be explored throughout the remainder of the school year. We discussed a Boston butt fundraiser, among other things. A Vertical Raise fundraiser is planned for spring, and we will be able to recoup some costs from that.
You can help by sharing this information with your employer, local businesses, civic organizations, churches, and other community groups you’re affiliated with who might be willing to support the band’s participation in this exciting event for our community. If you have fundraising ideas, please feel free to reply to this email.
Hornet Pride!
Chelsea High School Band Boosters
