September 22, 2024 Band Notes

Upcoming Events

Monday, September 23

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

Tuesday, September 24

• Full Band: 6-9pm; MHS

Wednesday, September 25

• Wind Symphony Rehearsal: 2:45-4:45pm
• Senior Night information Jotform due

Thursday, September 26

• Full Band
• Rehearsal: 3-5pm; MHS
• Homecoming Parade: 5:30-6pm; MHS

Friday, September 27

• Full Band: 3-5pm; MHS
• Homecoming Football Game vs. Fairfield: 6:00pm to approximately 9:30pm (see typical schedule below)

Saturday, September 28

• Mums Sale pickup: 8:30am-12:00pm; Middle School Performing Arts entrance
• No band - enjoy Homecoming!

Sunday, September 29

• Deadline to order Tour Shirt
• Deadline to schedule portrait appointment and order group photos

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

Parent To Do Checklist For This Week

1. Attend our Booster Meeting on Monday, September 23, at 7 pm, in the Large Commons.
2. Order tour shirts HERE by Sunday, September 29.
3. Sign up to volunteer at the Mason Invitational (watch for an email announcing when they are live).
4. Pick up orders from the Fall Mums Sale on Saturday, September 28 at MMS.
5. Sign up for a time for individual portraits, and order prints, buttons, and other photo items, deadline is Sunday, September 29. (See email for details.)
6. Order panoramic and section photos, deadline is Sunday, September 29. (See email for details.)
7. Purchase car raffle tickets, and spread the word about this fundraiser.
8. Senior Parents- Reminder to please fill out this form with information for Senior Night no later than September 25th.
9. 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.)
10. 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

Tour Shirts Available to Order - THIS WEEK ONLY

https://www.fridaythreads.com/store/mason-band-spirit-wear

The highly anticipated 2024 TOUR SHIRTS are now available for sale online! The order Site for the Tour shirts is open for a VERY LIMITED TIME. In order to get the Tour Shirts delivered to our students before their first competition in Indianapolis we must cut off the order collection at Sunday, September 29 at 11:59pm. Orders can be placed HERE.

***All students receive one short sleeve tour shirt as part of their consumable fee, so you do not need to order a shirt for your student. 

The online form offers the design on cotton, triblend, long sleeve, hoodie, and crewneck.  You may also use this form to order extra shirts for your students, for yourself, friends, and family.  This will be the ONLY opportunity to order the official 2024 William Mason High School Marching Band Tour Shirt, so please take a moment to order now before the deadline on September 25. The shirts that you order online will ship out/be available for pick up in store the day or day after delivery to the students depending on when the students receive their shirts. 

A special note to our new band families to let you know that the design on the order form is generic and does not represent how the shirts will truly look. The color shown will be the color of the shirt you receive; however, per tradition, the actual design is kept secret until the students receive their shirts. The staff does a great job designing these show theme shirts every year, so you won't be disappointed! This is a fun tradition for friends and family to show their love and pride for the Mason Marching Band throughout the season.

Please email Gina at spirit@masonbandboosters.com if you have any questions. 

Mums Pickup

Thank you to everyone who ordered mums during our fall sale! Pick-up is this Saturday, September 28th from 8:30am-12:00pm, at Mason Middle School, outside the Performing Arts entrance in the front of the building.

Mason Invitational - Volunteer Sign-ups Coming This Week

One of our biggest local events is quickly approaching. On Saturday, October 12th our marching band will be hosting the Mason Invitational. This is a fantastic event for both our students and other bands in the area to showcase and get feedback on their shows that they have been working so hard to put together. It truly takes a village to make this wonderful opportunity happen for our young musicians. We cannot pull off an event of this magnitude without the help of every single band family. 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 will be available in BoosterHub this week. We will send an email once they are live - keep an eye out! 

Below is a list of the areas where we will need volunteers and donations. Once the sign-ups are live, 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!

Mason is scheduled to perform at the end of the night to allow parents the opportunity to watch their student perform. Details regarding the complete student schedule will be released soon. Please plan that your student will need to keep the entire day free.

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.

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.

• Bake Sale Donations (Does not count towards volunteer hours)
• Bake Sale Volunteers  - need a shadow for the area lead
• Band Guides and Band Check In
• Car Raffle Ticket Sales
• Concessions
• Extra Helpers
• Guest/VIP Parking - need a shadow for the area lead
• Hospitality
• Hospitality Food and Monetary Donations (Does not count towards volunteer hours)
• Spirit Booth - need a shadow for the area lead
• Ticket Sales
• Truck/Bus Parking
• Ushers
• Volunteer Check In
• Water Station
• Programs (the printed program sold at the event) - no volunteer slots, but need a shadow for the area lead
• Trophies - no volunteer slots, but need a shadow for the area lead

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. 

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.

Only 1 week to sign up for Individual Portraits!

Don’t miss this! Sign up by Sunday, September 29!

Individual portraits for both instrumentalists and color guard will be:

• Tuesday, October 1 from 3pm to 5:30pm
• Wednesday, October 2, from 3pm to 4pm

Note: Wind Symphony and Symphonic Band have a concert on October 2, so students in those ensembles should sign up for portraits on October 1. 

You will need to be at the school 20 minutes before the appointment to get your uniform, change, and be photo ready in the assigned room down the hall.

For new families, this is when marchers can get their picture taken for the show-themed buttons that you see everywhere, especially on competition days!

See the email from BoosterHub for additional information and the form for scheduling and ordering portraits.

You only have a week to sign up for your appointment, so get it done now before you forget! 

Pano and Section Photos

The all-band panoramic photo and section photos will be taken October 4 between a short rehearsal and Senior Night / Family Showcase. 

Order these keepsakes on the same form as the individual portraits. See the email from BoosterHub for the order form.

Note: Do not schedule an appointment if you only want to order group portraits.

Homecoming Game This Friday Night!

Friday Night Lights - HOMECOMING Edition!

Uniforms

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

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 again.

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, September 27th, 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!!!

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. This week they will be wearing the Classic Uniform.
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

MSBA Springboro Competition and Saturday Rehearsal 

Our First Competition of the year, the MSBA Springboro Invitational, is SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2024. We are so excited for our students to debut their 2024 production in competition. See below for some important information for the students and parents/spectators.

Students will be wearing Classic Uniforms for this competition.

Student Itinerary

Springboro Invitational Information

Location:

Careflight Field at Watkins Stadium
1605 Main St.
Springboro, OH 45066

Tickets:

• Adults – $15  
• Seniors and Children over 5 year of age – $10
• Children under 5 and Springboro Band Students – Free
• Cash and Credit Card will be accepted at the gate.

Mason’s Performance time is 8:15pm!

For more information, visit the event website at:

MSBA Website

Springboro Website 

HILENSKI'S HOPE MODULES 

Thanks to a generous donation from the Jake Langbein Foundation, all marching band students have access to six mental health modules to be completed in small groups during the month of October during Mental Health Awareness Month. The student leadership for each section can determine a time to work on these modules with their squads as they have time this month. Students are also welcome to sign up for the "Open Practice Time" Connect Session  in the band room, where we will complete a module a week together at the beginning of Connect (beginning the week of Sept 23). 

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.

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!

REMINDERS

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 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.

Senior Night/Family Showcase - 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!

Volunteer Sign-Ups

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

Note:

• Set-up and serving shifts for the Senior Dinner are for Senior Parents only
• Clean-up shift is available to anyone to help
• Feed the Band shifts for the Underclassmen Dinner are open for anyone 

Please contact seniors@masonbandboosters.com with any questions.

Pano/Section Photos - New Information

We will be taking this year’s panoramic and section photos during the afternoon part of the time originally slated for rehearsal. We will now have a short rehearsal right after school, change into uniforms, and head to the stadium for pictures. Following pictures, students will partially change out of uniforms for dinner. 

The schedule for the evening has not changed - dinner, performances, and senior recognition remain at their original times.

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. 

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 you 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.

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 and Room Assignments

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

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.

The next upcoming Fees/Payments are Experience Fee #3 ($300) and School Payment #3 ($400).  Our next fee due is School Payment #3 - $400 on October 1.

Please note that Experience Fee #3 has been moved to November 1, as we had been waiting for final costs from our hotel.  We have been able to confirm these final costs with the hotel and Experience Fee #3 will be $300 and due November 1.  

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.
• 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 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.