October 6, 2024 Band Notes

Upcoming Events

Monday, October 7

• Full Band: 3-6pm; MHS
• Instrumentalist Competition Uniform Fittings 6:30-8:30 (see information below)

Tuesday, October 8

• Full Band: 6-9pm; MHS
• Big Dog’s Pizza Dine and Donate: 3-9pm

Wednesday, October 9

• Marching Band Visit to MMS: 1-2:15pm
• Students will be excused from class to walk over to MMS and perform for the 8th grade band students. This is always a very fun event for our future marching band members to get them excited for 8th grade night this Friday! This was on the provided list of absences from Mr. Jackson to teachers at the beginning of the year. Students are responsible for making up any missed work during 7th bell, and should not miss class if there is an important test or project.Communicate any absence needs for this event to your section director. 
• Optional Rifle Clinic: 5-5:45pm; MHS
• Color Guard: 6-9pm; MHS
• New Member Coffee Talk: 7-8pm; MHS Staff Dining Room
• Instrumentalist Competition Uniform Fittings 5:00-8:30 (see information below)

Thursday, October 10

• Brass and Woodwinds: 3-6pm; MHS
• Percussion: 6-9pm; MHS
• Instrumentalist Competition Uniform Fittings 6:30-7:30 (see information below)

Friday, October 11

• Full Band: 3-5pm; MHS
• Football Game vs. Colerain: 6:00pm to approximately 9:30pm (see typical schedule below)
• 8th grade band students will be joining us!

Saturday, October 12

• Mason Invitational (see detailed schedule below):
• Mason performs: 8:00pm

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

Parent To Do Checklist For This Week

1. Sign up to volunteer at the Mason Invitational.
2. Sponsor a trophy (optional - see below).
3. Purchase/sell car raffle tickets, and spread the word about this fundraiser.
4. Review proposed Bylaws updates sent 10/3 - any feedback due by 10/17.

NEW INFORMATION

Congratulations to Our Grand Champions!

Congratulations to the William Mason High School Marching Band on earning first place at the Springboro MSBA Invitational! What a great start to the competition season!

In addition to AAAA/AAAAA First Place and Grand Champion, Mason took each all five caption awards: Music, Visual, General Effect, Auxiliary (color guard), and Percussion. 

Mental Health Awareness Week

The Jake Langbein memorial is proud to sponsor Mason Bands partnership with Hilinski’s Hope this year in providing mental health training modules for marching band students and staff. Mrs. Langbein visited the band this week to talk about the partnership and provided some bracelets, stickers and other items for students to raise awareness about mental health in student athletes and performers. Students and staff were provided access to modules to work through in small groups to learn tools to help deal with mental health issues and anxiety. In addition, the band is the FIRST band in the country to participate in the Student Athlete Mental Health Week with Hilinski’s hope. SAMHW is October 5-12. Please visit the website for more information on Hilinski’s hope about SAMHW: CLICK HERE

The instructions for logging into the modules were provided during band camp, but if students were not able to access them during band camp here are the instructions: 

1) Go to https://preventionstrategies.brainier.com/
2) Your username is your school email in all lowercase
3) Your password is your last name in all lowercase. You can change your password when you first log in.

Instrumentalist Competition Uniform Fittings

Competition uniforms are in! EVERY INSTRUMENTALIST needs to be fit for their competition uniform. This is different from any previous fittings. Please sign up for a fitting via Booster Hub for one slot on the following dates.

• Monday, October 7 from 6:30-8:30
• Wednesday, October 9 from 5:00-8:30
• Thursday, October 10 from 6:30-7:30

Note: If you had your uniform fitting during your individual pictures, you do not need to sign up. 

If you have any questions about if you need to sign up or if you cannot make one of these dates, please email uniforms@masonbandboosters.com.

Sponsor A Trophy For The Mason Invitational

Each year for the Invitational, we offer the opportunity to our Band Families to sponsor a trophy! If you sponsor a trophy, your family name will be listed in our Program as the trophy sponsor and you can select your student or another person to present the trophy. This is a really fun way for us to be gracious hosts and involve our students for all of these hardworking bands! Hurry, the deadline is Thursday, October 10th by 11:59pm!

For more details and to sign up to sponsor a trophy please click HERE.  Should you have any questions, please feel free to send an email to competitions@masonbandboosters.com.

Volunteers Still Needed for the Mason Invitational!

Hopefully our new families were able to attend the Springboro Invitational - if you did, you saw truly takes a village to make this wonderful opportunity happen for our young musicians and their families! 

We want to be excellent hosts and make sure our visiting bands and their families and fans have a fantastic time! 

To do that, we still need lots of volunteers and donations! Our event is THIS SATURDAY, October 12th, so sign up now! As a gentle reminder, each family agreed at the beginning of the year to work at least one shift of the Invitational as outlined in the Marching Band Handbook.

Volunteer sign-ups are live in BoosterHub! 

Below is a list of the areas where we still need volunteers and donations. You will see volunteer signups for each of these in BoosterHub, with job descriptions for each. Slots are first come first serve so the earlier you sign up, the greater the chances you have of finding the area that suits you best. Volunteers receive free admission to the Invitational!

If you have any questions regarding the competition, please contact our competitions team at competitions@masonbandboosters.com. Please direct any questions regarding volunteer sign ups to secretary@masonbandboosters.com.

If you know any alumni families who might be interested in volunteering, have them reach out to secretary@masonbandboosters.com.

Thanks for your help in making the Mason Invitational a fun and successful event!

Note: In addition to volunteers for slots, there are several areas where we need 1-2 people to shadow our area lead, as we have several whose students are graduating after this season. Please email competitions@masonbandboosters.com.

Volunteers

At this event, all volunteers have the opportunity to watch Mason perform, even if our performance is during your shift!

Areas in bold are in particular need of volunteers.

• Bake Sale
• Band Guides and Band Check In
• Car Raffle Ticket Sales
• Concessions
• Extra Helpers
• Guest/VIP Parking
• Hospitality
• Hospitality Food and Monetary Donations (Does not count towards volunteer hours)
• Spirit Booth
• Ticket Sales
• Ushers

Donations

Items can be store bought or homemade. Donations do not count towards volunteer hours.

• Bake Sale
• Hospitality

Area Shadows

• Guest/VIP Parking
• Spirit
• Programs (the printed program sold at the event)
• Trophies

New Member Coffee Talk This Week - Updated Date!

Note: This is a week earlier than the original date. We needed to change weeks due to scheduling needs.

New member parents are invited to join us this Wednesday evening for our third Coffee Talk! We’ve got one travel competition under our belt, and now the Mason Invitational this Saturday, and Super Regionals next weekend! 

We still need lots of help for this Saturday - find out more about what you can do to help!

And Super Regionals will be our first trip with an overnight stay, our first BOA competition, and our first time at Lucas Oil Stadium! Bring your questions

The Coffee Talk will again be in the Staff Dining Room at 7 pm. Hope to see you there!

Football Game - 8th Grade Night

This week’s game is a special treat - our 8th grade band students will be joining us for the night!

They will join us for Feed the Band, then parade up to the stadium with the band, and join the band on the field for pregame! They then get to be on the track to watch the band perform our competition show at halftime!

Let’s make sure our future marchers have a fantastic evening!!!

Note: High school band students will also be visiting the Middle School on Wednesday afternoon during the school day (excused absence) to perform for them and get them psyched up for the special night!

Uniforms

Plan A is for students to wear Classic Uniforms. Please read all communication from the directors in case it changes. 

This will be the instrumentalists’ first time performing in the Classic Uniform this year - see the 2024 Instrumentalists Look Book for a reminder on what they need to wear. They should bring their black undergarments with them to school so they can change into it prior to the game.

Guard will be in their Spirit Uniforms for PreGame, then will change into their competition uniforms for halftime.

Feed the Band

All students will be offered food every FOOTBALL FRIDAY compliments of our sponsors and/or the Mason Band Boosters!

This Friday’s Menu, October 11, will be sponsored by Mason Band Boosters and provided by:

Jet’s Pizza- 7916 Mason Montgomery Rd, Mason, OH 45040

The Menu* will be as follows:

Regular/Nut/Egg Allergy  - Pepperoni or Cheese Pizza with multipack Lays/Frito Chips, Rice Krispies, Fruit Snacks, Cuties, Gatorade.

Vegetarian/Halal/Onion Free - Cheese Pizza, multipack with Lays/Frito Chips, Rice Krispies, Fruit snacks, Cuties Gatorade.

Vegan/Dairy Allergy- Jet’s Plain Breadsticks with marinara sauce, multipack with Lays/Frito Chips, Rice Krispies, Fruit Snacks, Cuties Gatorade.

Gluten Free - Gluten Free Cheese Pizza and/or Salad, multipack with Lays/Frito Chips, Rice Krispies, Fruit Snacks, Cuties Gatorade.

Note:  The special diet foods are ONLY for those who have declared a special dietary need as we only have a limited number of those meals.  Everyone else is expected to eat the Regular Diet meal.  Likewise, those that have declared a special diet are expected to eat their special diet offering. Thank you for your cooperation!

*If the above do not meet your dietary preferences or needs, you always have the option of having food dropped off or packing your own dinner!

Any questions can be directed to our Feed the Band Chair, Smita Ankola at smita.ankola@gmail.com.  We thank Smita for volunteering her time and taking on this large task for us this year!!!

Tickets

A reminder to our new families, tickets are required for anyone who wishes to enter the stadium to watch the game (and the band’s pregame and half-time performances).  

Information on tickets for all Mason sporting events can be found HERE. (You will need to log into Schoology to view) Tickets can be purchased directly HERE the week of the game.

Mason Bands Football Primer--Key Things to Know

1. Students rehearse right after school and do not have time to leave campus. They should have their regular rehearsal gear and filled water bottle with them to keep hydrated throughout the evening on long Friday game nights. 
2. Students should bring both rehearsal and performance clothes (either summer uniform or what they wear under their uniform) to school on Friday. Directors will communicate in advance what uniform students will wear at the game. 
3. Students are not allowed to leave campus for dinner. The Band Boosters provides dinner for students on Friday nights between rehearsal and game time. You may bring dinner to your student at 5:00 pm if you wish. Each week the dinner plan will be shared in the Sunday Band Notes. 
4. The Band plays in front of the Beacon/TriHealth Stadium before they enter the stands. If you want to see that, stay outside the football stadium at the entrance and then enter after they play the fight song,
5. Parents not working to support the band at the game, have to purchase tickets to enter Beacon/TriHealth Stadium. Please see above for information on how to purchase tickets.
6. Students will stay with the band through halftime performance and then have third quarter off to visit friends, family and the concession stand! Students need to bring money if they want anything at the concession stand. Students cannot leave the stadium during third quarter. They will be bringing their personal water bottles up with them for the game.
7. Students will return to the End Zone for the 4th quarter.
8. Parents pick-up students at the High School after they have changed. Students will need time to put away all instruments and equipment and ensure their uniforms are properly put away.

If you have questions about Friday, feel free to contact Tiffany at  Travel@MasonBandBoosters.com

Typical Friday Night Home Schedule - All Times are Approximate

Mason Invitational - Student Schedule

Here is the student schedule for the Mason Invitational on October 12: GUIDEBOOK LINK

Our performance will be classified as “Exhibition.” When a band hosts a show, they do not compete in that show. The adjudicators will evaluate us, provide commentary, and provide us with what our score would have been, but that is not made public. We will not receive a public score or placement.

Feed the Band

Saturday's dinner will be sponsored by Mason Band Boosters and provided by:

Chick Fil A - 7733 Voice of America Centre Dr, West Chester Township, OH 45069

The Menu* will be as follows:

Regular Diets - Chick Fil A Sandwich (no pickle) with choice of assorted sauces, Lays Chips, Apple Sauce, Cookies, Gatorade

Vegetarian/Halal/Vegan/Dairy Free/Onion Free - Southwest Veggie Wrap (No cheese/no onion) with choice of assorted dressing and sauces, Lays Chips, Apple Sauce, Cookies, Gatorade.

Gluten Free/Nut Allergy - Grilled Chicken Nuggets with choice of assorted sauces, Lays Chips, Apple Sauce, Fruit Snacks, Gatorade

Note:  The special diet foods are ONLY for those who have declared a special dietary need as we only have a limited number of those meals.  Everyone else is expected to eat the Regular Diet meal.  Likewise, those that have declared a special diet are expected to eat their special diet offering. Thank you for your cooperation!

*If the above do not meet your dietary preferences or needs, you always have the option of having food dropped off or packing your own dinner!

Any questions can be directed to our Feed the Band Chair, Smita Ankola at smita.ankola@gmail.com.  We thank Smita for volunteering her time and taking on this large task for us this year!!!

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 9th 5-5:45pm
• Monday, October 14th 12-12:45pm
• Wednesday, October 23rd 5-5:45pm
• Wednesday, October 30th 5-5:45pm

Reminder to Sign Up for Remind 

Parents - if you didn’t sign up for your Remind group earlier in the season, make sure you do now!

Remind is the system our marching band uses each year to send out timely notifications to students and parents. The directors use Remind to communicate important rehearsal updates, changes due to weather, travel updates, and other important updates.

Groups are set up by section, with separate groups for students and parents. See the MB 2024 Remind Information guide for instructions on how to join and codes for each group.

REMINDERS

Invitational Tickets For Those Who Donated $50 Or More For Tag Day

Invitational tickets for online Tag Day donors were sent via email on 9/20/2024. Anyone who donated $50 or more during Tag Day should have received an email at the email address they provided in the donation form, with their Invitational tickets attached. (Iit is two tickets per $50 donated.)

Donors will need to print their tickets and bring the printed copies with them. 

Reminder - Invitational volunteers receive free admission. If you got tickets for a Tag Day donation and are volunteering, your tickets can be used by a family member or friend. 

Booster Meeting Slides and Q&A

Thank you to everyone who attended the Booster Meeting on Monday! Below you will find slides from the meeting, along with answers to the Slido questions from the meeting.

9-23-2024 Booster Meeting Slides

SLIDO Questions & Answers Doc

Save the Dates!

Please mark your calendars for a couple key dates that were recently confirmed.

• Next Booster Meeting:  Monday, October 28 in the Large Commons
• Topics include MSBA Championships and BOA Grand Nationals
• Marching Band Awards Night: Tuesday, December 3 in the Auditorium and Large Commons

National Concert Band Festival Trip - Payment #1 PAST DUE

Congratulations to our Wind Symphony on being selected to perform in Music For All’s 2025 National Concert Band Festival in Indianapolis!

The first payment for the National Concert Band Festival trip is now PAST DUE. All payments can be paid electronically using this link: CLICK HERE 

The slides from the meeting are here: CLICK HERE 

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to Mr. Jackson. 

The trip Thursday, March 13 through Sunday, March 16, 2025.

Car Raffle Is Here!!!!

We are so excited to announce the launch of our 2024 Mason Bands Car Raffle! 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 two ways:

1. Online via the 2024 Car Raffle Ticket Order Form
2. In person at home football games and the Mason Invitational

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.

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. 

Big Dog’s Pizza Dine and Donate

Our October Dine and Donate will be Tuesday, October 8th at Big Dog’s Pizza in Downtown Mason, on 322 Reading Road, from 3pm-9pm. No flyer is needed, just mention the Mason Band Fundraiser when ordering.

The band will receive 15% of sales from the event!

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: 

Football Games

• Oct 25

Note: There is no Secret Buddy for the home game on Oct 11 due to having Secret Buddy for the Invitational the next day.

Competitions

• Oct 12 Mason Band Invitational 
• Oct 18/19 Super Regional (TBD which day) 
• 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 - UPDATED
  • Experience Fee #3 - $300
    • Invoice will be sent via Quickbooks
• 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.
  • Medication Drop-Off Events: 
    • October 16th 5:00-6:00pm - MHS staff dining lounge
    • 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 Schedule Meds
  • Super Regionals
    • Friday - lunch, afternoon, dinner meds
    • Saturday - lunch, afternoon, dinner, bedtime meds
    • Sunday - breakfast meds
    • As Needed - when requested by student
  • 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