The Whitmer Bands

Marching Band Start-up Meetings

On Monday, July 25, all band members and parents will report to the Whitmer Auditorium at the time indicated below to take care of many important organizational items. There will be several "stations" set-up. Students and parents will visit each of the stations and take care of items including fitting gloves, shoes, shirts, and hat as well as completing a medical card. Parents can pay for accessories during this meeting if they so choose. Returning band members will re-fit their uniform, and new band members will be fitted. Parents will be on-hand to take uniforms for alterations.

In additions, Retting Music will be present. Students / parents can purchase reeds, valve oil, flip-folders, and other accessories as needed. Finally, representatives from the WLS Band & Orchestra Boosters will be present to answer questions, explain opportunities for service (concession stands, committee involvement, etc.), and provide information regarding time and location of meetings.

Students and Parents should report at the following times:

• Senior - 4:00 PM
• Juniors - 5:00 PM
• Sophomores - 6:00 PM
• Freshmen - 7:00 PM

Chaperons for Football Season

Being a marching band chaperon is very hard work, but very rewarding. We use chaperons at all home and away games. The "job description" includes hauling equipment to and from the stadium, loading and unloading the truck, looking after students who are not feeling well, escorting students to and from restrooms, sewing uniforms that have fallen apart, and more. If this sounds like fun to you, please consider serving in this area.

We have a few veteran chaperons (who know "the drill") that will join us for most games, and we rotate all others who are interested.

The Washington Local School District requires that all chaperons be fingerprinted and have a background check completed. If you are interested in chaperoning the upcoming season, please e-mail John Rybarczyk. He will send you information regarding the procedure. If you served as a chaperon last season, please send Dana an email to verify that you would like to chaperon again.

Uniform Alterations

Each fall we fit the band members for their uniforms and each year parents volunteer their time to help repair and alter the uniforms. Some of our recent volunteers have "graduated." If any current band parents would be willing to help in this area, please send Ray Novak an email. We need approximately 5 volunteers so that no one person is overloaded. Thank you!