Welcome, new parents! We are glad to have you join us and look forward to working with you and you children.
Your child’s participation in the Westlake band program includes for a free subscription to Thunder Band News. This weekly email covers information and events related to the band program and is our primary method for delivering information to parents. There won’t be a quiz, but there will be things you won’t want to forget.
In This Issue
- Clothing Drive and Pancake Breakfast THIS SATURDAY
- Color Guard Clinics and Auditions
- April Band Booster Meeting
- Marching Band Deposits
- Marching Band Physical Forms
- State Festival Transportation Help
- Rose Parade Visit
- Fundraising Reminders
- Upcoming Events
Clothing Drive and Pancake Breakfast THIS SATURDAY
The pancake breakfast and clothing drive fundraiser is this Saturday, April 15. Thank you to all who have been working so hard to gather clothing for our clothing drive or who have signed up to help with the pancake breakfast. Please be sure to share the Facebook event on all your social media, gather your twenty bags of clothing, and we’ll see you there!
The pancake breakfast will be held from 8:00 to 10:00 AM in conjunction with the Saratoga Springs Easter egg hunt. Clothing gathered for the clothing drive should be dropped off at Lakeview Academy (across the street from Neptune Park) between 8:00 AM and 12:00 PM on Saturday. Let your family and friends know and invite them to come help support the band.
This week is your last chance to finish cleaning out closets and visiting with neighbors to gather clothing to donate. Let’s make a big push to finish gathering clothing and fill the trailer.
You can skip the payment line at the pancake breakfast by prepaying online. To pay in advance, go to www.thunderband.com and look for the pancake breakfast payment links on the right side of the page. These links will take you to MySchoolFees.com to make your payment. Bring your receipt with you to the breakfast to skip the line.
Thank you to those who have volunteered to help with the pancake breakfast. We couldn’t do this without you. Please pay attention to the drop-off times and locations for the items you signed up for. If you have questions or need to make other arrangements, please contact Becky Barney at 914-439-7534.
If you have not decided how you are able to help yet, please check in with one of our booster parents to see how you can help. The more hands we have, the lighter the work, so we hope to see you Saturday.
STUDENTS: We need your help Saturday as well! All bags of clothing will need to be loaded into the semi as they are dropped off and all bags that were placed in the band trailer will need to be moved to the fundraiser trailer. We are aware that it is prom day, but the breakfast is over by 10:00 AM and the clothing drive is over by noon, which leaves plenty of time for a day date and all the trimmings, especially if we have help early on, so plan to take a couple hours to come and help out.
There are still a few items to be donated for the pancake breakfast. Please look at the items remaining at http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e044daeaf23a13-pancake and sign up to help if you can.
Color Guard Clinics and Auditions
Color guard auditions for the 2017–18 season will be held in two weeks. Clinics will be held from 5:00 PM to 9:30 PM on both Wednesday, April 19, and Thursday, April 20. Auditions will be held on Friday, April 21, from 5:00 PM to 9:30 PM. Everyone is welcome and no experience is necessary. Please come in comfortable athletic attire that you can move in.
April Band Booster Meeting
Our next band booster meeting will be held this Thursday, April 13, at 8:00 PM in the Westlake band room following the April music department tour meeting. Parents with students attending the music department tour meeting should arrive at 7:00 PM for that meeting. The band booster meeting will follow directly after at 8:00 PM.
All parents are invited to attend and we have lots to be planning for with our step-off meeting, the Jazz Band dinner dance, and our upcoming visit from Rose Parade president Lance Tibbet. If you have wondered how to get involved, now is the time. We need you!
Marching Band Deposits
There are still a few students that haven’t paid the $100 deposit for the upcoming marching band year. If you haven’t yet paid your deposit, please take care of this as soon as possible. Please send the receipt to Shawna Ivins (sivins4@gmail.com) or you can put the receipt in the envelope on Mr. Mangelson’s door.
Marching Band Physical Forms
Marching band physical forms should be submitted using RegisterMyAthlete by May 31. There is a $15 physical event on June 1, so if you need to take advantage of that, you may do that but it would need to be uploaded right away if you do. Otherwise, get your physicals completed and uploaded as quickly as possible.
Please remember when turning in your physical the preferred submission is:
- Upload directly to registermyathlete.com all pages, completed
- Email to whsathletics@alpinedistrict.org
- As a last resort, Sharon Mardesich can scan them in for you, but please realize she can get very busy during the day. Call ahead for her availability.
State Festival Transportation Help
On May 5 or 6 (we do not have our assigned day and time yet), we will again be looking for a parent who can help out for Symphonic Band and Wind Symphony to travel to state festival. We either need a parent who can pull the trailer or one who has had a background check—and preferably has credentials with Alpine School District as well—to ride the bus so that Mr. Mangelson can pull the trailer.
Thank you to the parent who chaperoned on the bus for regionals! We cannot make the trip without parent help as we have two buses and a trailer and only two staff members to cover those three adult positions.
Please contact Charlotte Ducos (cdducos@gmail.com) if you are able to help. Thank you in advance for helping out.
Rose Parade Visit
On May 19 and 20, Lance Tibbetts, president of the Rose Parade, will be in town to visit the band and to help us raise awareness and money for our trip.
On Friday, May 19, we will be having a “Cool School of the Week” presentation with Fox 13. Please watch for information that will be coming, we will need the students to participate in this! On the morning of Saturday, May 20, we will be participating in service projects to go along with the parade theme of Making a Difference and there will be a fundraising dinner that night.
More details will be coming, but please put those dates on your calendar and plan to be involved that weekend.
Fundraising Reminders
We are still looking for a large corporate sponsor to help with the cost of uniforms. If you know of a company that you think might be interested in a partnership to cover the uniforms, please let us know and we would be happy to help make contact and provide any needed information.
Our banner sponsorship program and uniform fundraiser are still going on. All fundraising information and handouts and fliers have been posted on the fundraising tab on www.thunderband.com. You can contact Charlotte Ducos if you have questions. (801-420-5269 or cdducos@gmail.com)
Upcoming Events
- April 13 – 7:00 PM – Music department final tour meeting @ Westlake auditorium
- April 13 – 8:00 PM – Band booster meeting
- April 15 – Pancake breakfast and clothing drive fundraiser
- April 19 – 5:30 PM to 9:00 PM – Color guard audition clinic
- April 20 – 5:30 PM to 9:00 PM – Color guard audition clinic
- April 21 – 5:30 PM to 9:00 PM – Color guard auditions
- April 19 to 23 – Spring combined music department tour to California
- April 26 – 7:30 PM – Band booster meeting
- April 27 – 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM – Percussion concert dress rehearsal
- April 28 – 7:00 PM – Percussion spring concert
- April 29 – State solo and ensemble
- May 2 – 7:00 PM – Marching band step-off meeting
- May 3 – 6:00 PM – Color guard end-of-year banquet
- May 5 or 6 – State band festival
- May 13 – Jazz Band dinner dance
- May 18 to 21 – Rose Parade visit
- May 31 – Marching band physicals due
You are receiving this email because of your association with the Westlake High School band program. If you no longer have a student at Westlake or wish to be removed from the mailing list, contact us at thunderbandnews@gmail.com or reply to this message to be removed from the mailing list.