Band members may be expecting nothing but hard work during Band Camp later this month, but the Music Boosters hope to alleviate their “suffering” a little with food and fun.

The band leadership team (BLT) plans theme days for camp, so any activi-ties the Boosters will plan must go past the BLT first. However, the Spirit Committee plans to have the hallway decorated in the show’s theme (“The Knight”; see next page), according to Dawn Cottrell, Spirit Coordinator. An email has already gone out re-questing help or donations toward spirit activities.

Like last year, the Boosters will offer à la carte meals for a small price each night of the camp. Students can ei-ther bring a sack lunch/dinner each night during camp, or purchase food items during the dinner hour. Food items will cost anywhere from $1-$4 each, depending on daily availability, and will consist of items such as nachos, hot dogs, fruit, and a variety of snacks. Peanut butter, jelly, Nutel-la, and bread will also be available for sandwiches. Parents can send their students to camp with spending money or set up a hospitality account (similar to a school lunch account) to cover expenses throughout camp.

On Friday, July 21, the Boosters will provide a meal free of charge to all band and guard members during the dinner hour.

Finally, the annual Sip-n-See will occur during the last hour of practice Thursday, June 27 (see calendar). “Families are encouraged to bring lawn chairs to come and see what the kids have learned during July camp,” said Booster President Kyra Davis. During Sip-n-See, the Boosters will provide iced tea, lemonade, and water to sip free of charge and will have band and guard decals available to purchase.

Food, fun in store for Band Camp #2

New turf means new field for band Pretty soon, the Band of Marauders will have a brand-spanking-new foot-ball field on which to perform.

Earlier this year, the school board authorized the installation of artificial turf in the football stadium. The expected cost of the installation is $615,000.

Yes, it’s an expensive proposition, but it will be met completely with outside investments and donations. “Funding is coming from multiple sources,” MVHS Athletic Director Brandon Ecker said in an email. “Obviously, MS Athletics, HS Athletics, and Band are all a part of that, but outside donations/sponsorships have also been a part.”

The Music Boosters will be paying

$5,000 annually for the next 10 years to help cover costs for the new turf. “We can make each payment any time during the school year,” said Erin Flick, co-treasure for the Boost-ers. “We can even split the payments up into small payments—for exam-ple, five $1,000 payments over the school year.”

Bulldozers started stripping the field in early June in preparation for new artificial turf. Mr. Ecker said that installation of that turf should begin July 11; he also said that, barring any weather delays, the field should be complete by Aug. 2. (The first home football game is set for Aug. 18.)

“For the band, this [new turf] will make practices and performances much less stressful,” said Mr.

Ellinger. “Up until now, performing and practicing on our football field was the only time our students marched on grass. While it make not seem like a big difference to some-one who has not experience the difference, performing on grass is far more challenging. It will be wonderful to perform in a stadium that will be similar to our competition surfaces.

“Having turf also opens up the possi-bility of hosting marching band com-petitions on our own,” he continued. “We look forward to pursuing this possibility for 2018 or in the coming years.”

MVHS isn’t the only school in the county getting artificial turf this sum-mer. Greenfield-Central is also in-stalling turf in its stadium.

C A L E N D A R July 17-21, 24-27:

Band Camp #2, 12-9

p.m.

July 17: Music Boost-

ers meeting, 7 p.m.

July 21: Blood drive,

8:30 a.m.

July 22: Motorcycles

for Marauders, 1 p.m.

July 27: Sip-n-See, 8

p.m.

July 2017 Mt. Vernon Music Boosters Volume 3, Issue 1

The Music Boosters will host a “Motorcycles for Marauders” ride July 22 to help raise funds for the band.

This is the inaugural ride. “If this goes well, it may become an annual event,” said Mr. Ellinger.

The ride will begin at Harley-Davidson of Indy, 4146 E. 96th St., Indianapo-lis. Registration will run from 9:30-10:30 a.m., with kickstands up at 11 a.m.

The ride itself will be 2 to 2 hours long and will end at MVHS. When the motor-cycles arrive at the high school, the band will be ready to provide a little entertainment, and the Boosters will have food and drinks for sale.

Online preregistration is $20 for single riders, $30 for couples. Registration will increase in price the day of the ride to $30 for single riders, $40 for couples.

Silent auction items will also be available before riders leave Harley-Davidson of Indy.

The football field is switching from grass to artificial turf and should be ready for use in early August.

Motorcycle ride event to benefit band

This year’s show theme for the Band of Marauders , “The Knight,” promis-es a battle of good vs. evil, and even-tually good will prevail.

But not until Part III.

“The show will be character-driven,” said Mr. Ellinger. It will have two central characters—a “good” knight and a “bad” knight—who will battle each other throughout the show. Freshman Liam Bass will perform the role of the “good” knight; junior Avery Bovard will portray the “bad” knight.

Part I will introduce the two knights and include a battle. “The opener will end with the good guy’s defeat,” said Mr. Ellinger.

Part II features the ballad, in which the good knight finds his love “and finds the motivation to defeat the villain by the end of the show,” ex-plained Mr. Ellinger. Part III will show the good knight defeating his neme-sis.

Among the show props will be a set piece that will resemble a mountain. “The prop will be—to put it mildly—huge,” Mr. Ellinger said. It will have a sword in it.

The music is mostly original by Craig Fitzpatrick, the band’s arranger. However, the ballad in Part II comes from “Après Moi” by Regina Spektor.

Guard director Thomas Thawley came up with this year’s music and theme. “We typically incorporate ideas from a few different people during our design meetings, but we really liked what he brought to the table,” Mr. Ellinger said.

Band members won’t start learning the field drill for the show until the second or third day of camp, Mr. Ellinger said. “We base when to start learning drill off of how the first day or two goes,” he said. “It is largely dependent on how prepared the students are with their music.”

If you’ve had children in the Band of Marauders for a while, you already have an idea what to expect during the marching season. For those of you who are new to the experience, well, you can expect many requests for food donations, prop help, and other things.

Already an email has gone out requesting help and dona-tions for spirit activities during Band Camp. Dawn Cottrell, Spirit Coordinator, wants to pass out treat bags at the end of the first day of camp and needs donations of appropriate treats such as candies, individual drink packets, and such. She also needs help and ideas for decorating the music hallway so that kids are greeted with the show theme when they arrive the first day of camp. “If anyone has any fantastic ideas that support the theme ‘The Knight,’ that would be great,” she said. You can email Dawn or text her at 317-514-9816 (provide

your name and say you’re a band parent); she will call or email back to discuss your ideas and availability.

Pretty soon requests will go out for food donations for the nightly meals during Band Camp (see first page), as well as snack donations for the band’s chuck wagon. The Boosters use the “chuck wagon” concept during competi-tions to provide food items after the band performs. You can also expect requests for food donations for the band/cheerleading/football tailgating parties before each home game. Those emails will come through the Boost-ers via My Music Office on behalf of the football parents organizing the parties.

Finally, expect emails seeking help to build show props (see above). If you are handy with tools or a paintbrush, consider volunteering to help when the call goes out.

Donations and help sought during season

Blood drive set The Band of Marauders will host a blood drive Friday, July 21, from 8:30-11:45 a.m.

Parents and students are en-couraged to donate. How-ever, students must be at least 16 (with a signed parent consent form) to donate whole blood or apheresis. Other re-quirements and re-strictions are listed here.

The band last hosted the Blood-mobile a couple of years ago. “Last time, it was a competition between other schools,” Mr. Ellinger noted. “This year, we are doing it just because it's the right thing to do.”

Middle-schoolers to perform at DCI On Aug. 12, several 7th– and 8th-graders from Mt. Vernon Middle School will open the Drum Corps International (DCI) World Championship Finals.

They will be performing as part of INpact Indiana’s Future Band before the DCI competitors take the field. The band accepts students from all over the state. Students applied for the band back in February; Mr. Day nom-inated them based on talent, effort, and leadership.

MVHS to host color guard competition

Mr. Ellinger announced recently that the Indiana High School Color Guard Association (IHSCGA) was so impressed with the competition we hosted back in January that the organi-zation awarded us a state pre-liminary contest in 2018.

This competition will happen March 3.

“This is a great opportunity to showcase our wonderful school and our amazing parents,” Mr. Ellinger bragged.

B R I E F S Show theme puts knights on field

Drum majors return from camp Senior Emma Flick and junior TJ Bass returned this past weekend from the Music for All camp at Ball State Uni-versity in Muncie. TJ survived the Drum Major track of the camp; Emma, meanwhile, was one of only four drum majors chosen to work with the Carolina Crown drum and bugle corps in the Marching Band track.

Left: Emma directs the marching band campers. Center: TJ and Emma, at the start of camp. Right: Emma (center) with Carolina Crown drum majors.

F U N T R I V I A

The Band of Marauders has 93

kids signed up to perform,

either as musicians or as color

guard. Last year, the total

number was 89.