October 27, 2024 Band Notes

Upcoming Events

Monday, October 28

• Full Band: 3-6 pm; MHS
• Booster Meeting: 7-8pm; MHS Large Commons

Tuesday, October 29

• Full Band: 6-9pm; MHS

Wednesday, October 30

• Optional Rifle Clinic: 5-5:45pm; MHS
• Color Guard: 6-9pm; MHS

Thursday, October 31

• Woodwinds, Brass, Percussion: 3-6 pm; MHS
• *The normal 6-9pm Percussion sectional was adjusted to not conflict with Mason’s Trick or Treat timing. 

Friday, November 1

• Full Band: 6-9pm; MHS

Saturday, November 2

• Full Band: 1-9pm; MHS

• On-campus dinner break 4:30-5:30pm

Future planned events can be found on the updated band calendar: Mason Band Calendar.

Parent To Do Checklist For This Week

1. Pay Experience Fee #3 (see QuickBooks invoice sent via email) - $300, due November 1. 
2. Sign up to volunteer at the MSBA Championships.
3. Purchase/sell car raffle tickets, and spread the word about this fundraiser.
4. Senior Parents: Send pictures for Awards Night.
5. (Optional) Order your memory book for the season TONIGHT (October 27) for the Early Bird Discount and the option of custom pages.
6. (Optional) Order Super Regional Finalist apparel from BOA TONIGHT (October 27). (Not a Mason Band fundraiser.)
7. (Optional) Get your plaid hat on Amazon and add “mason BAND” by OCD. (Not a Mason Band fundraiser.)
8. (Optional) Order a mug arrangement for your student by November 2. (Not a Mason Band fundraiser.)

NEW INFORMATION

Booster Meeting This Monday

Join us for our next general Booster Meeting this Monday, October 28 at 7pm in the Large Commons. Our main topics will be the MSBA 5A Championships and Grand Nationals.

MSBA 5A Championships

Mason is again hosting this year’s Mid-States Band Association (MSBA) AAAAA Championships, on Saturday, November 9. This is our second and final host event of the season.

The event will be very similar to the Mason Invitational we held in October, with a full day for the students, and parent volunteers needed to staff all the various areas, as well as donate food for Hospitality and our Bake Sale.

Unlike the Invitational where Mason performed in exhibition, we will be competing at the Championships. That means our band is treated the same as all other bands. It also means that we do not perform last, though we are second-to-last this year.

There are 5 bands competing in addition to Mason. Unlike the Invitational, where some bands were small, these will all be large bands. That means more people (which means more volunteers needed).

For this competition, we will be doing a Full Retreat for Awards (like the one at BOA Super Regional Finals). It’s a great opportunity to recognize all the performers from all the schools, and for students to meet marchers from other schools!

Also note that the drawing for our CAR RAFFLE will take place at 8:00 pm, following the performances, before awards.

Student Schedule (Tentative)

We Need Our Amazing Parent Volunteers Again!

It’s time to volunteer again!!! As with the Invitational, we cannot pull off an event of this magnitude without the help of every single band family. This is another important event for our program, community, and most importantly the students who benefit from its success. These are a few of the many reasons we include it as a parent volunteer requirement in our Commitment & Financial Agreement Form.

All volunteer and donation sign-ups are now live in BoosterHub. Job descriptions can be found there as well. Sign-ups are first come, first served, so sign up early! The areas where we need help are the same as last time:

• Bake Sale
• Band Guides & Check-In
• Concessions
• Extra Helpers
• Guest/VIP Parking
• Hospitality
• Spirit Booth
• Ticketing
• Ushers
• Volunteer Check-In
• Water Table

We also need donations for:

• Bake Sale
• Hospitality

Note: Because Mason is competing this time and is not the last to perform, we cannot guarantee that all parents will be able to watch their performance. That said, we will do our best to enable as many volunteers as possible - particularly senior parents - to watch, even if they are working a shift at our performance time.

***Please remember all marching band families agreed to volunteer one shift of each of our competitions that we host. Please see the marching band handbook for details. 

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to the Jeanie Knuth at competitions@masonbandboosters.com, Laura Minniear at secretary@masonbandboosters.com, or the area chair listed in the BoosterHub event.

Spectator Information

Times:

• Gates open: 5:45 pm
• National Anthem: 6:15 pm 
• First band performs: 6:30 pm
• Mason performs: 7:30 pm
• Car Raffle: 8:00 pm
• Awards/Full Retreat: 8:15 pm

Ticket Prices:

• $15 General Admission
• $10 Seniors
• $5 Children Age 5-12
• Children under 5 years of age are free
• Event volunteers are free

Cash and Credit Card are accepted.

Parking:

• Spectator parking is at Mason High School, north of the stadium, or at Mason Intermediate across the street.
• Preferred parking closer to the stadium is available for $10.00, all other parking is free.
• Disabled parking for properly identified vehicles is available across from the stadium entrance.

Other Information:

• Programs and T-Shirts will be available on site for purchase
• Spirit Shout-Outs and Candygrams will be available
• Both concession stands will be open
• Hot beverages available at food truck vendor

Event information is available here on our website.

Poinsettia Sale

It’s time for our annual Mason Bands Poinsettia Sale! Place your order between now and November 24th. The proceeds of this sale benefit all band students in grades 6-12. 

We have poinsettias available in red, pink, or white this year, in two different sizes::

• 4.5-inch poinsettias - $9
• 6.5-inch poinsettias - $15

In addition, save time by purchasing an end of semester teacher/staff gift (poinsettia + $10 gift card) that will be delivered directly to the teacher or staff member’s desk. This is available for any Mason City Schools Employee and will be delivered to their desk between December 10-12th.

Poinsettia pick up will be December 7th at the Mason Intermediate School building. 

Click here to order by November 24!

Note: Please include both personal and teacher gifts in the total number of flowers you order at the top of the form. You can specify how many are for teacher gifts in the next section of the form, with the ability to indicate which color/size is for which teacher. Any flowers ordered over the number of teacher gifts will be assumed to be for pickup on December 7th. 

Please reach out to flowersale@masonbandboosters.com with any questions.

Senior Parents: Pictures Needed for Awards Night

We would like to recognize each of the seniors at our Marching Band Awards Ceremony planned for Tuesday, December 3, 2024. If you have attended this celebration in the past, you know that we like to put together a slide show of pictures submitted by each senior’s family. The family keeps the picture choices a secret from their student until the big night. So how can you help us? 

Please start picking out your favorite pictures, usually 3-4 pictures from infancy to now. Please scan and email them to: seniors@masonbandboosters.com.

Be sure to include the name of your student.

****We need pictures NO LATER THAN November 22, 2024****

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to seniors@masonbandboosters.com. 

Grand Nats Decorating and Send-Off

The week of Grand Nationals we decorate the Music Wing with signs to celebrate and encourage our kiddos! Parents make signs both for sections and for individual students. 

If you already made signs for Super Regional sendoffs, those are perfect for this. If not and you would like to, here are some ideas from parents:

• Create and Print a Poster Board Print via Walgreens Photo 
• Some parents do 16x20, others do 11x14.
• Create directly in Walgreens Photo, or create in an app (e.g., Canva or Photoshop) and upload as a single image.
• They usually have a photo discount for up to 50% off, making a 16x20 board around $14. 
• They have same-day pick-up available - Cox Rd location tends to be the best quality.
• Print on cardstock at Office Depot or Staples
• A full-color 11x17 cardstock print from them will be $2-5 each.
• Note: Quality might not be great for photos.
• Hand-made - print and cut out photos and/or artwork and tape to a poster board.

SmugMug has a whole season’s worth of pictures you can download and use. There is also a gallery for artwork you can use: https://masonbands.smugmug.com/2024-2025.../Art-to-share

Note: Signs are optional!  Not every student will have a personal sign. Gina is working on a large bulletin board that will be from the Spirit Committee that will have the name and section listed for every student.

Have You Checked Out SmugMug Lately!?

Check out SmugMug for all the amazing pictures our Photo Corps have taken throughout the season. These are perfect to use for posters!

• Super Regionals
• Mason Invitational
• Springboro Invitational
• Football Games
• October Rehearsals
• September Rehearsals

REMINDERS

BOA Super Regionals Merchandise

BOA has shirts and other merchandise available for purchase on their website - if you or your student didn’t have a chance to shop at Lucas Oil Stadium, you can click here to see what they have available specific to the Indianapolis Super Regional. 

Among the items available are Finalist shirts and hoodies. These were not available at Lucas Oil, as they are made with the names of the 14 Finalists from the event printed on the back. Orders for Finalist gear are due by Sunday, October 27 and typically ship a couple weeks later. (BOA does similar Finalist shirts/hoodies for Grand Nationals as well, with a different design.) 

Note: BOA merchandise is not a fundraiser for our band. Shirts are manufactured by PepWear. Expect to pay shipping for online orders.

Grand Nationals Gift Opportunity

One of our band parents is making cute mug arrangements you can purchase for your student as a send-off gift for Grand Nats! (This is not a fundraiser nor for profit - just a fun way to celebrate your marcher.)

Click here to place your order. All orders are due by Saturday, November 2nd.

Details:

• Payment can be made through Venmo (@KevinHallVball) or by cash or check the day of pick up.
• Pick up at Kelly’s house any time on November 3rd (3252 Riverside Drive; Mason), or at band rehearsal on Saturday, November 9. 

If you have any questions, email Kelly Hall at averylanden@gmail.com or you text at 513-312-2942.

Customized Hats - SHOW THEME - For Fans

Did you see these hats at the Invitational? Do you want one? This is a great way to show our Mason Pride at the remaining competitions this year. To get your personal hat it is a two step process:

1. FIRST - Order your own hat on Amazon (or other) and have it delivered to your home. These are the links to the hats that many of us have ordered, but you can select any hat that you like. https://a.co/d/aWY7cDY or https://a.co/d/52oFCJ6 

After the hat arrives…

1. SECOND - Contact Kathleen at OCD unlimited to place your order directly from her. She is charging only $5 per hat to put the band logo on the front and the text on the side. (Kathleen Martin • ocdunlimited@yahoo.com) Kathleen will let you know how to drop the hat off and when you can pick it up from her.

Contact Gina Marshall - spirit@masonbandboosters.com if there are any questions.

Early Order Discount for Marching Band Memory Books

Each year, our talented photo volunteers put together a beautiful memory book filled with the many moments of our season including rehearsals, football games, parades & competitions. 

This is a beautiful, 8.5x11 inch, soft cover photo book with about 72 pages. Samples of previous years’ memory books will be available at Monday’s booster meeting for you to look through.

You have the option of adding custom pages to your book that you design with your own pictures. The first two custom pages are free, and additional pages are available for a small additional cost. If you choose this option, you agree to have your child’s name and your email address shared with the book company, Tree Ring, so you can personalize the pages in the book associated with your student’s name.

This option is only available for books ordered by October 27, 2024 and all pages must be finished by December 4, 2024, along with final book orders.

Place your Memory Book order HERE by October 27 to receive the early order price of $50 and the option to do custom pages.

Orders placed between October 28 and December 4 will be at the regular price of $55, without the option of the custom pages.

Contact Nancy Riley at photo@masonbandboosters.com for questions.

Attendance Reminders 

Attendance is a vital component of a successful marching band program during these final weeks of the season. During these final weeks, there will be many changes and finishing touches to the show that will help students truly feel the energy and emotions that make a marching band show so memorable! Absences, no matter the reason, have a negative impact on the achievement and environment of the entire group since the students rely on the other performers in the ensemble for success. 

As a reminder, here are the description of absences from the Marching Band Handbook: 

• Excused Absence Examples: Illness, conflicts approved by a Director (more than 2 weeks in advance), death in the family, private lessons.
• Unexcused Absences Examples: Absent with no communication, homework/work, birthday dinners, fall vacations, family gatherings, concerts. Unexcused absences during the week of a performance can result in not performing that week.

• Reporting: The student/family will communicate known absences at least 2 weeks in advance, and report absence due to illness prior to rehearsal. All absences must be reported to the section director.

The latest and most up to date calendar is always the Mason Bands Calendar. You should bookmark or sync this calendar and check it often: https://www.masonbands.com/calendar/

Continue to communicate with the director that works with your section as soon as possible if you have attendance concerns.

Rifle Clinics

See below for the rest of the Rifle Clinic dates for the current season. You will need to bring your own rifle, and will be split into groups catered to your skill level - beginner, intermediate, and advanced. These clinics are optional, but strongly encouraged to those who hope to begin rifle upon completion of this marching band season. All are welcome!

• Wednesday, October 30th 5-5:45pm

Car Raffle - Time is Running Out!!!!

Time is running out to purchase your 2024 Mason Bands Car Raffle tickets! 

Mason Band Boosters is partnering with Audi Cincinnati East to raffle off a 2024 Audi Q5 or a cash prize. This fundraiser is a very important one for our organization as it helps provide some much needed funds to help with the expenses of our program as well as allows us to reach outside of our band family and community to help raise funds!  

We Need Each And Every Family To Help Reach Our Goal Of Selling 5,500 Tickets And To Give Away This Fabulous Vehicle Or A Cash Prize!  

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW NOW

Raffle Period - Raffle runs NOW until November 8th at 5 pm OR until 5,500 tickets are sold...whichever comes first!

Drawing - Saturday, November 9th, 2024 at the MSBA AAAAA Championships, hosted at Mason. Need not be present to win!

Prizes - 

• Grand Prize -  2024 Audi Q5 or a cash prize!
• 2nd Place Prize - $1000 cash  
• 3rd Place Prize - $500 Cash

Car Raffle Rules And Regulations - Please Click Here for complete Car Raffle rules and regulations. Must be 18 years of age or older and a Resident of Ohio to purchase or be named on the ticket.

Ticket Prices - 1 ticket-$25 or 5 for $100 (to same individual)

• Note: If purchasing a bundle, all tickets in the bundle must have the same name, address and phone number with them.      

Ticket Purchases - Tickets can be purchased Online via the 2024 Car Raffle Ticket Order Form

Band Family Sales - We are NOT distributing paper tickets to band families this year, but we are still asking each family to sell (or buy) at least 10 tickets to help make this a successful fundraiser.

• Please share the link and QR code with family and friends. Feel free to share it via social media as well.

Information regarding the Car Raffle can be found on our website Here. 

Questions? - Please direct those to carraffle@masonbandboosters.com.

Invitational Programs still Available

Invitational Programs are still available to purchase. They are $10 each and contain all the senior spotlights. So these are wonderful souvenirs for Senior families. 

Use this jotform to place your order: https://form.jotform.com/242857600221147

Contact Gina Marshall - spirit@masonbandboosters.com with questions.

Office Hours with Mr. Jackson

As another avenue for connecting with parents and addressing our needs, Mr. Jackson will host weekly office hours. CLICK HERE to sign up for a time. These will be open to all parents with a student enrolled in a Mason Bands program class. 

Marching Band Secret Buddy Reminders

We are glad so many students chose to participate in Secret Buddy this year! Here are the dates for the rest of the season to bring secret buddy items: 

Competitions

• Nov 9 MSBA Champs
• Nov 14-16 Grand Nats (TBD which day) 

2024 Marching Band Next Steps

Marching Band Registration Next Steps

• 2024 Registration Guide
• Past Due
  • Experience Fee 2 - $400
    • Invoice sent on 7/10/24 via email from: quickbooks@notification.intuit.com
  • Marching Band School Fee #3 - $400
    • Payment can be made in Payschools or via check made out to Mason City Schools.
    • Payschools is the system that replaced EZPay earlier this year district-wide. It is the same system used for paying your student’s school fees. Click here to view the district’s guide to Payschools.
• Due November 1
  • Experience Fee #3 - $300
    • Invoice sent on 10/13/24 via email from: quickbooks@notification.intuit.com
• Your student must have an ACTIVE physical on file in order to participate throughout the season
  • Examination must have been performed within the past 13 months
  • Medical Eligibility Form must be completed in its entirety signed and dated by the healthcare provider
• Dispensing Medication at School (DMS) forms may be submitted any time throughout the season via masonbands.com >> How To Submit Forms
  • All student medications taken during marching band activities require a DMS form (both OTC and Prescription)
  • Must be signed by parent/guardian AND healthcare provider
  • Only valid for up to one full season
  • Marching Band DMS forms are separate from any other DMS forms submitted through Mason City Schools administration or nursing staff
  • Medication Drop-Off: Review the medication check-in process in the 2024 Marching Band Registration Guide for more details.
  • Last Medication Drop-Off Event prior to Grand Nats:
    • November 12th 5:30-6:30pm - W2W near Band Aid station
    • See BoosterHub Volunteer section to sign up for a drop-off time
• Travel Medication Scheduled Meds
  • Grand Nats
    • Thursday - lunch, afternoon, dinner meds
    • Friday - lunch, afternoon, dinner, bedtime meds
    • Saturday - breakfast, lunch, afternoon, dinner, bedtime meds
    • Sunday - breakfast meds
    • As Needed - when requested by student