September 15, 2024 Band Notes

Upcoming Events

Monday, September 16

• Full Band: 3-6pm; MHS

Tuesday, September 17

• Full Band: 6-9pm; MHS
• New Member Coffee Talk: 7-8pm; MHS Staff Dining Room

Wednesday, September 18

• City Barbeque Dine & Donate: 11am-8pm

Thursday, September 19

• Brass and Woodwinds: 3-6pm; MHS
• Color Guard & Percussion: 6-9pm; MHS

Friday, September 20

• Full Band: 6-9pm; MHS

Saturday, September 21 - SCHEDULE UPDATED

• Full Band: 9am-4pm; MHS
  • HERITAGE DAY PARADE GUIDEBOOK 2024
  • Rehearsal: 9am-1:30pm
    • Snack at 11 am
  • Lunch (on campus, BYO) and Change: 1:30-2:30pm
  • Parade Blocking and Staging: 2:30-3:00pm
  • Heritage Day Parade: 3pm-3:30pm
  • Students dismissed at 4pm

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

Parent To Do Checklist For This Week

1. Senior Parents- Reminder to please fill out this form with information for Senior Night no later than September 25th.
2. Senior Parents-  Fill out this form by Friday, October 4 with a short note for your student. The message will appear along with your senior’s photo in the program for the Mason Invitational. (The note is free of charge; programs are available for purchase at the invitational.)
3. Senior Parents-  Sign up to volunteer to serve at the Senior Dinner on Senior Night (spots are limited). (Non-senior parents are welcome to sign up for clean-up.)

NEW INFORMATION

New Member Coffee Talk This Week

New member parents are invited to join us this Tuesday evening for our second Coffee Talk! We are quickly approaching the competition portion of our season, so there is lot to talk about! Bring your questions and notepads, and we’ll bring the coffee and treats.

Head to the school at 6 pm for the Open House and Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for the High School’s new Dream Center (formerly the Learning Commons, on the second floor), then head down to the Staff Dining Room at 7 pm for the Coffee Talk.

We’ll wrap up around 8 pm so we can all head outside to watch the end of practice.

Senior Ads for the Mason Invitational Program

One of the Senior traditions each year is to print headshots in the Mason Invitational program and have parents/guardians write a short note to their student. There is no fee to have your student's picture and message in the program.

Please complete and submit this form for your student by Friday, October 4, for inclusion in the program. We ask that only one parent respond per senior.

Heritage Day Parade And Rehearsal Schedule - UPDATED

This Saturday is the Mason Heritage Day Parade. Please see below for the day’s schedule. Additional information is available in the Heritage Day Parade Guidebook 2024.

Please note that road closures will begin at 12:00pm. You will want to keep that in mind when heading to rehearsal, and as you plan for dinner. More details on road closures and the Heritage Festival can be found HERE.

Uniforms 

The band will be wearing summer uniforms for the parade. 

Instrumentalist:

• Black socks
• Black/dark shoes
• Black Shorts
• Green Mason Band polo
• Black belt
• No hats (sunglasses are acceptable)

Color Guard:

• Spirit Uniform

Save The Date-Booster Meeting

Please join us for our next booster meeting on Monday, September 23th at 7pm in the High School Large Commons. We will be sharing the latest information regarding the Mason Invitational and our upcoming trips to Springboro and Indianapolis . We hope to see you all there!

Senior/Family Night - New Information

Attention Seniors and Senior Families: The William Mason High School Marching Band senior night is one of the most looked forward to and special events we do throughout the year. We want to honor our seniors and their families for their dedication to our program. In the midst of our planning, we need to collect a little information from our seniors so they can be honored accordingly!

Please fill out this form with the names of those planning to escort your student during the on-field recognition of seniors. Traditionally, escorts have included: parents, step-parents, guardians, siblings, and/or grandparents. We will need the list of all those escorting the student - including phonetic spelling so that everyone can be recognized. Please submit this information NO LATER THAN Wednesday, September 25th, 2024.  

The 2024 Senior Night/Family Showcase will take place on Friday, October 4th. Below you will find the schedule for the night for your planning purposes.  Thanks so much for your help!

NEW - Volunteer Sign-Ups

Volunteer sign-ups are now live in BoosterHub for the Senior Dinner.

Note:

• Set-up and serving shifts are for Senior Parents only
• Clean-up shift is available to anyone to help

Please contact seniors@masonbandboosters.com with any questions.

Wind Symphony Trip

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

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

The slides from the meeting that was held on September 11 are available to view here: CLICK HERE 

Next Steps

• PAST DUE (Sept 13) : Commitment form: CLICK HERE 
• Due October 1: Travel Payment 1 - $200
• A link to a Jotform will be sent out soon, or you can pay by check made out to Mason Band Boosters

Finding Past Band Notes 

Looking for information you know saw somewhere, but can’t find now?

If it was in the Band Notes, you can view and search past editions on the MasonBands.com website. Click the Band Notes button in the website header, or scroll down to the tile.

Once in Band Notes, you can search for a particular word or phrase, or view a specific week’s notes.

In addition, the website itself has a search field in the header that searches all content for the site, including Band Notes.

REMINDERS

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

• Sept 27 (Homecoming)
• 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 5 Springboro Invitational 
• 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)

BOA Housing Update and Room Sign-Ups

We are happy to report we have secured housing for our students, directors, staff and chaperones for the upcoming Bands of America trips in Indianapolis. The entire band will stay at the following hotel in downtown Indianapolis for both the BOA Super Regional (1 Night-Oct 19-20) and BOA Grand Nationals (2 Nights-November 15-17):

JW Marriott Indianapolis
10 S West St
Indianapolis, IN 46204
(Note: This is NOT the Marriott Downtown we stayed at last year)

Room Assignments

Room assignments have been finalized. Thank you to the students for being prepared to make rooming sign ups a success.  We are looking forward to a great travel experience in Indy! 

A few reminders on rooms:

• There are 4 students in each room.
• Each room will have two Queen beds. (no King rooms this year)
• We will be using the same room lists for BOTH TRIPS  this season!

Fees

IMPORTANT: Due to the challenges we have experienced getting confirmed travel costs this year, we will be allowing all students to sign up for rooms on Monday, regardless of current payment status. However, STUDENTS MUST BE CURRENT ON ALL FEES DUE TO DATE OR MAKE A PLAN WITH THE DIRECTORS in order to travel with the band! Our costs must be paid in advance, so it is critical that the band has student payments on time.

There are LOTS of Student Experience fees still outstanding. You should have received two invoices from Quickbooks, both of which are now PAST DUE:

1.  $400 - Due 4/1/24 sent from quickbooks@notification.intuit.com
2.  $400 - Due 8/1/24 sent from quickbooks@notification.intuit.com

If you have not yet paid either of those invoices, please pay them TODAY as it will greatly help us reduce the amount of work for our volunteers who work so hard on these experiences for our students! If you aren’t sure whether you have paid or not, you should have received a payment confirmation email from Quickbooks or if you find the original invoice emailed to you, click on “Review and Pay” and it will tell you your balance is $0.00. If you did not receive any invoices, please email treasurer@masonbandboosters.com. 

We are working to send each family a statement via email as we did prior to Mini-Camp. This statement will include any past due fees.

Note that Experience Fee #3 is not due yet, as we are still waiting for final costs from our hotel. Our next fee due is School Payment #3 - $400 on October 1.

Food Dropoffs - Please Park

When dropping off food for your student for on-campus lunch or dinner breaks, unless your student is standing at the curb waiting for you, you must park. We have been experiencing issues in the parking lot with cars idling along the curb while waiting for their student. This has caused some safety concerns, as well as inconveniencing other drivers.

Once parked, you can either have your student come out to your car, or you are welcome to drop the food off at the Band Aid table for them to pick up.

Note: We realize that some orders arrive via Door Dash or other delivery services. Delivery drivers do not need to park, but if possible, your student should be waiting outside for them. 

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. 

City Barbeque Dine & Donate

Take the night off from cooking and support Mason Band at the same time! Head to City Barbeque at VOA on Wednesday, September 18, any time 11 am - 8 pm for our next dine & donate opportunity. If you are dining in person, just show the flyer. For online orders, use the promo code GIVE.

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
• Due October 1
  • 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.
• Note: Experience Fee 3 due date is now To Be Determined, as we are still awaiting final information on hotel costs
  • This payment will NOT be due in September
  • Invoice will be sent via Quickbooks once the amount is finalized
• 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 medications that a student will be taking while at Band Camp require a form (OTC and Prescription)
  • Must be signed by a parent/guardian
  • Must be signed by a 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: Please review the medication check-in process in the 2024 Marching Band Registration Guide for more details. Email medicalsecretary@masonbandboosters.com to schedule a drop-off time.
  • Medication Drop-Off Event: October 3rd 6:00-7:00pm in the staff dining lounge. Please see BoosterHub to sign up for a drop-off timeslot if needed.
• Parents/guardians should electronically sign the necessary documents in FINAL FORMS.