November 9, 2025 Band Notes

Upcoming Events

Sunday, November 9

• Good Luck Mug Orders due
• Grand Nats Transportation Waivers due by 11:59pm
• OMEA District 13 Honor Band sign-ups due

Monday, November 10

• Full Band: 3:30-6:30pm; Let’s Play (Wall 2 Wall)
• Medication Drop-Off: 4:30-6:30; Let’s Play (sign up on BoosterHub)

Tuesday, November 11

• Full Band: 3:30-6:30pm; Let’s Play (Wall 2 Wall)

Wednesday, November 12

• Full Band: 3:30-6:30pm; Let’s Play (Wall 2 Wall)
• Medication Drop-Off: 4:30-6:30; Let’s Play (sign up on BoosterHub)

Thursday, November 13

• BOA Grand Nationals - Preliminaries
  • Full Band Rehearsal at Let’s Play (Wall 2 Wall)
    • Students MUST be dropped off - they cannot park at Let’s Play!
  • Family & Friends Band SEND-OFF: 12:00-12:15pm (arrive early); Marions Piazza
  • Mason’s Preliminary Performance: 6:00pm; Lucas Oil Stadium
  • Band returns home from Indianapolis: approximately 11:45pm; MHS

Friday, November 14

• BOA Grand Nationals (not a performance day)
  • Full Band Rehearsal at Let’s Play (Wall 2 Wall)
    • Students MUST be dropped off - they cannot park at Let’s Play!
  • Family & Friends Band SEND-OFF: 12:00-12:15pm; Let’s Play
  • Preliminaries Awards and Semi-Finalist Announcement: 9:00pm; Lucas Oil Stadium

Saturday, November 15

• BOA Grand Nationals - Semi-Finals & Finals
• Mason’s Semi-Finals Performance: TBD morning or afternoon; Lucas Oil Stadium
• Semi-Finals Awards and Finalists Announcement: 5:00pm; Lucas Oil Stadium
• Mason’s Finals Performance (if we qualify): TBD evening; Lucas Oil Stadium

Sunday, November 16

• Band returns home from Indianapolis: approximately 12:15pm; MHS

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

Parent To Do Checklist For This Week

1. Optional: Order a Grand Nats Good Luck Gift for your marcher by TONIGHT, Sunday, November 9.
2. Complete Grand Nats Transportation Waivers by TONIGHT, Sunday, November 9 if you need to pick up your student in Indianapolis.
3. Drop off medication for Grand Nats if needed - sign up for a slot in BoosterHub.
4. Optional: Sign up for OMEA District 13 Honor Band auditions by TONIGHT, Sunday, November 9.
5. Competitive Winter Guard: Sign up for auditions.
6. Senior Parents: Send pictures for the Senior Slideshow at Awards Night.
7. Optional: Order a Memory Book.
8. Order poinsettias from our winter flower sale.

NEW INFORMATION

Congratulations to Our MSBA AAAAA Champs!

Congratulations to the William Mason Marching Band on their First Place finish at the MSBA AAAAA Championships! This is the 16th time William Mason has taken the championship. We are so proud of the hard work and dedication our students and directors have put into making this such an amazing show. In addition to placing first, Mason took home caption awards for Percussion, Music, Visual, and General Effect.

Congratulations to all the AAAAA for their incredible performances yesterday: Hamilton, West Clermont, Miamisburg, Campbell County, and Westerville North! We enjoyed all of your shows and hope you had a fantastic experience!

And a HUGE THANK YOU to the UC Bearcat Band for their great show!

Volunteer Than Yous

Thank you to everyone who volunteered to help make yesterday’s event a huge success! We especially appreciate all the people stepped up to work multiple shifts to cover gaps.

As always, there were a lot of people who have been working hard behind the scenes for weeks and even months planning and preparing for the event. These folks also were the first to arrive yesterday morning (yes, morning!) and the last to leave late last night.

Mason Invitational Chairs - A huge thank you for your leadership in planning and executing such a large and important event for our band program. We are so appreciative of all of you.

• Ann Higdon Wiesman
• Julie Chaney
• Whitley Winstanley

Band Directors- We are grateful for your support and guidance throughout the planning phase of the competition and during the event itself.  

Competition Committee Leads- Special thanks to all of you for taking on the task of running specific areas of the Invitational!  The day ran smoothly due to your leadership, flexibility, and the hard work you put in all day. 

• Jason Langbein - Announcer
• Kate Davis - Ticketing
• Jim Mills - Concessions
• Peter Huisman/Avious Jackson - Tabulations/Judges
• Micah Ewing/Zach Hinson - On Field Staging, Control & Exit
• Chris Minniear - Band Guides, Band Check-in, and Watering Station
• Alison Adduci - Bake Sale
• Michelle Andre/Laura Deardorf - Program Designer and Spirit Table
• Johanna Chasse/Jennifer Livingston - Hospitality
• Blake Norfleet/Aaron Smith - Truck and Bus Parking
• Shari Whited and Pete Hackman - Car Raffle
• Kate Bubak - Volunteer Check-In
• Lee Chaney - Ushers
• Jennifer Rodway - Sponsorship
• Annie Baxter - Feed the Band (so our students could eat!)

Uniform Crew- This team is filled with miracle workers! As always you worked tirelessly behind the scenes to make sure our kids looked sharp and pristine out on the field!  

Pit Crew- You not only took care of our props and equipment but all the heavy lifting of set up and tear down of the event. The Pit Crew also ran the truck/bus lot, as well as our own truck (which is headed back to Let’s Play).  

Color Guard Crew- Thank you to the dedicated volunteers who continue to put in so much time keeping our competition uniforms and headpieces looking great! We know it’s not once and done - those things take maintenance! And the hair and makeup…you really are amazing! Thank you for making sure our color guard members are taken care of and look great on the field.

Announcers- Thank you to our alumni duo for being the voice of the competition and making sure everyone had the information they needed throughout the evening.

Photo Crew- Words cannot express how wonderful it is to have you capture the special memories of the competition so the rest of us can simply enjoy the day. Your photos are simply breathtaking! 

Financial Team- Thank you for taking on the difficult task of keeping our finances in order and keeping track of our profits we make from such a large event. Your job is often unseen by others but is incredibly time consuming and important to our organization.

• Tabytha Lopez
• Angie Anthos

Booster Board- You all did so much behind the scenes these past several weeks.

Band Aids and Chaperones- Thank you for taking care of our kids. We can always trust our kids are in good hands and well cared for with you.

Every Volunteer- Thank you to all the parents, alumni, extended family, and friends who stepped up to volunteer a shift, multiple shifts, and in some cases the entire day to make sure we filled all the critical spots we needed to make the day run smoothly. We are also grateful to those who contributed yummy food and drinks for both the bake sale and for hospitality.  

School administrators, facility coordinators, janitors, and other school staff- Your support and behind the scenes work did not go unnoticed. 

Students- Most importantly thanks to you for putting on a fantastic performance and making us so proud! You are the reason everyone listed above goes to so much effort.

Thanks again! 

Car Raffle Winners

Congratulations to the winners of this year’s Car Raffle, in partnership with Audi Cincinnati East! We did not sell enough tickets to give away the Audi Q3, but our Grand Prize winner received a rather nice cash prize! 

• Grand Prize: Fernando Miskolczi
• Second Place: Alex Pettit
• Third Place: Israel Annepogu

A huge thank you to everyone who helped support Mason Bands by purchasing raffle tickets!

Grand Nationals - Information & Student Schedule

Hello Families! The week we have all been working so hard towards is nearly here!  Below you will find all of the information you need to know to prepare your student to have the best travel experience possible. 

ITINERARY

Tentative Student Itinerary – See multiple-day tables below.

PLEASE NOTE!  The Itinerary is subject to change and we will communicate any important changes as soon as we know of them! (Please ensure you have joined your parent Remind groups for updates)  Saturday is always a big unknown from a student schedule perspective as we will not know our performance times until late Friday night.

STUDENT DROP OFF/PARKING INSTRUCTIONS

THURSDAY & FRIDAY:

For both departures (Thursday and Friday) The Band will be departing from Wall 2 Wall/Let’s Play Sports in the morning and returning to Mason High School Bus Circle upon our return in the evening.  

PLEASE NOTE: For THURSDAY You MUST make plans to drop off your student at W2W/Let’s Play on Thursday morning and pick them up at Mason High School Thursday evening.

PLEASE NOTE: For FRIDAY You MUST make plans to drop off your student at W2W/Let’s Play on Friday morning and pick them up at Mason High School Sunday afternoon.

NO ONE WILL BE ABLE TO LEAVE THEIR CARS AT W2W OVER THE WEEKEND! 

Students may park cars in their SCHOOL ASSIGNED spot at MHS on Thursday and Friday morning prior to getting dropped off at W2W to have access upon returning home to drive home!  Please MAKE A PLAN to ensure you are on time on both mornings.

Chaperones!  We will be coordinating shuttling to and from MHS on Thursday and Friday mornings, so if you need a ride over the MHS to park your car, please make sure to arrange that transportation.  School IS in session on Thursday and Friday, so we must use the School Visitor spots in front of the school (or your student’s assigned spot).

PACKING LIST

• Personal water bottle (FILLED, ready for rehearsal each morning)
• Portable charger for phone
• Performance Clothes  (including underlayers!):

• For Instrumentalists these must be white tops and black/dark bottoms.  

• For Guard these must be Competitive garments/accessories in the Lookbook

• Instrument/Flags/Rifles with travel tags
• Day Bag or Day Backpack - will go inside the bus with travel tag

• Deodorant, hair brush (if needed for performances)

• Mason Band Jacket/ Sweatshirt/Hat

• Snacks for bus. 

• Cashless Spending Money (again cashless, so use credit card or use cash-to-card kiosks located at Lucas Oil sections 105 & 129).  The provided travel lanyard can be used to store money, credit cards and hotel key.

• FRI-SUN Overnight Bag with tag - will go under the bus on Friday.

• Overnight gear and toiletries (toothbrush, deodorant/hair brush if not in day bag etc,) 

• Daily casual outfit, socks, underwear, SHOES (to change into/out of uniforms)

• Snacks for hotel

We will have VERY LIMITED water bottles available on the bus or at the hotel so please ensure students have a water bottle to fill.  Ice machines are available at the hotel.

LUCAS OIL STADIUM INFO

• • Lucas Oil Stadium has a clear bag policy. Clear bags cannot exceed 12”x 6” x 12” or a 1-gallon size freezer bag
    • Mason Bands Spirit is selling stadium-compliant clear bags.  Please see Michelle Andre / Laura Deardorff or email them at spirit@masonbandboosters.com
    • Small clutch bags or a purse approximately the size of a hand are allowed.
  • Medication/medical equipment bags are allowed but will be searched. (Students may not carry their own medication unless they have submitted appropriate documentation per our band medication policy)
  • Cameras are allowed but no tripods or video cameras.
• Students will be provided with a passport-sized lanyard to store cash/cards/etc
• Lucas Oil Stadium is a cashless facility. 
  • Please keep this in mind when spectating and sending money for concessions/souvenirs with your student. 
  • There are cash-to-card kiosks located at Lucas Oil sections 105 & 129.

HOTEL 

• Friday and Saturday Nights:
• JW Marriott Downtown, 10 S West St, Indianapolis, IN 46204
• Will return to Mason HS on Sunday afternoon.

MEALS

Please take a moment to review our meal/snack selections that align with the dietary needs you have communicated for your student.  If the options listed do not align, or your student does not wish to eat the food, please be sure that you ensure your student has packed appropriately.

Please note that Butler University Atherton Hall is a series of buffet stations which allows for very specific, if needed.  Please take a moment to review the Butler University Atherton Link for 11/13/2025 to ensure this meal will align with your student’s dietary needs, and plan accordingly

COMMUNICATION

If you have not done so already, we highly recommend that you join the parent Remind group associated with your student’s section.  This will be the main form of communication to parents throughout the trip.

Indy Grand National Championships Travel Waiver Remind Group (for those picking up on Sunday 1am or Sunday 8am only).

• Text @GNTW25 to 81010

TICKETS

We encourage family and friends to make the drive to Indianapolis for the Grand National Championship to cheer on the band!  This is a ticketed event and tickets may be purchased on the Bands of America website.  See links to purchase tickets below:

• Tickets can be purchased ahead of time at Ticketmaster.com OR the Southeast Ticket Office of Lucas Oil Stadium Thursday-Saturday of Grand Nationals.
• Will-Call tickets may be picked up at the Southeast Ticket Office.
• Prelim Tickets (Mason performs on Thursday) $45 each day + Taxes (GA Tickets) Grand Nationals: Thursday 11/13 Preliminaries   
• Semi-Finals $58-$86 + Taxes (GA and Reserved available) Grand Nationals: Saturday 11/15 Semi Finals
• Finals Tickets range from $35-$162 + Taxes (GA and Reserved available) Grand Nationals: Saturday 11/15 Finals.

SCHOOL WORK

Marching Band students will be out of school on Thursday and Friday (Nov 13/14). 

Students should check in with their other teachers this week to remind them about the absence and come up with a plan for any missed material or assignments. While teachers are made aware of the absence via the student trip calendar and an email from Mr. Jackson, it is the responsibility of students to handle checking in with individual teachers before we depart. If you need to use a band class during the week of Grand Nationals or the week after in order to make up something you will be missing, please check in with a band director and we will make the arrangements. 

You do not need to report your student absent from school these days. All students enrolled in marching band have an approved field trip absence already logged with the attendance office.

A World Class Band Needs World Class Fans!

We know marching band is a LOT for new families (and returning ones, too!), and this weekend is a competition like no other! Our students will be in the national spotlight, and we’re excited to have our amazing fans right there with us!

Here are some important tips and reminders for families who are attending Grand Nationals in person: Marching Band Competition Etiquette Guide

REMINDERS

Grand Nationals - Transportation Waiver

If you plan to check out your student to transport them home from Grand Nationals, you will need to complete the Google form below by TODAY, November 9, 2025 at 11:59pm.  See form for check out times/locations and for more information.  

2025 Grand Nationals Transportation Waiver Form

Student and Adult MUST also join the Indy Grand Nationals Travel Waiver Remind Group: text @GNTW25 to 81010

Medical Secretary Updates

The remaining Medication Drop off are:

• 11/10 4:30-6:30 at Let’s Play practice–sign up for time slot here:  Booster Hub
• 11/12 4:30-6:30 at Let’s Play practice–sign up for time slot here:  Booster Hub

Please follow guidelines found on our Medication Policy: Band Medication Policy 

Thank you for helping us support your students’ needs. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Sally McDonald by email: medicalsecretary@masonbandboosters.com. 

Poster Pick Up & Spirit Send Offs

You may pick up any posters you used to decorate the hallways on Wed. 11/12 from 7-9pm.  Come in the high school music wing door to collect your poster.  Please be aware there is a sports banquet taking place in the small commons at that time. If you cannot pick up your poster, we will transport them to Marion’s for the noon send off on Thursday. You will find them in a white Ford pick up truck parked behind Marion’s adjacent to the send off area.

Thursday 11/13 send off is ~noon behind Marion’s & Friday 11/14 send off is ~noon in front of Let’s Play. Come a bit early, as buses will roll when loading is complete!

Grand Nats Good Luck Gift-last few hours to order!

Spirit is offering this custom Regency mug candy bouquet as a gift you may purchase for your student. You may order using this Jot Form & will receive an email with details for pick up the evenings of Nov. 9-12. If your recipient has food allergies or avoidances, you may indicate on the order form and we will substitute allergen-free candy in your bouquet.

https://form.jotform.com/Masonbands/2025-mug-bouquet

OMEA HONOR BAND AUDITIONS - Sign up by Nov. 9

Click here for SIGNUP FORM, MUSIC and MORE INFORMATION! 

OMEA Honor Band Music has been released! It is available for download in the link above. Paper copies are also available in the band room, in the bins near the woodwind room on the table. This audition music will also be re-used for Concert Band Auditions (more info in December). 

Honor Band Auditions are on Saturday Dec 6th, and the deadline to register to audition is Sunday, November 9th

Poinsettia Sale

It’s time for our annual Mason Bands Poinsettia Sale! Place your order here between now and November 30th. 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 - $10
• 6.5-inch poinsettias - $15

We also have $25 Natorp’s gift cards available.

In addition, save time by purchasing an end of semester teacher/staff gift (poinsettia and/or Natorp’s gift card ) that will be delivered directly to the teacher or staff member’s desk. Multiple options are available. 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 Saturday, December 13th at the Mason Intermediate School building. 

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

Competitive Winter Guard Audition Registration

If you are planning to audition for the CWG team, please be sure to fill out the CWG Audition Registration Form and notify of any conflicts to the season calendar. 

The form has information on auditions, season calendar, and fees.

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 2, 2025. 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 email them to: seniors@masonbandboosters.com.

Be sure to include the name of your student.

****We need pictures NO LATER THAN November 21, 2025****

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

Mmm…Cake

If you attended our last Booster Meeting, you heard about our exciting new fundraising opportunity partnering with Nothing bundt Cakes, targeted for January/February.

We are still in need of one more enthusiastic individual to help chair this event. Please contact Jennifer Rodway at fundraising@masonbandboosters.com for more information.

You can still order the standard Memory Book by December 2!

Every year, the Photo Corps puts together a memory book to celebrate the season, covering  band camps, rehearsals, games, competitions, and behind-the-scenes moments. This year’s memory book will be a soft cover book with approximately 70 pages, priced at $55.

memory book

Secret Buddy Reminder

We are glad so many students chose to participate in Secret Buddy this year!  Here are the remaining dates during band season to bring secret buddy items.  Please make sure everyone takes good care of their buddy! 

• BOA Grand Nationals Friday, November 14th  

Any questions, please reach out to vp-studentexperience@masonbandboosters.com

2025 Marching Band Next Steps

Marching Band Registration Next Steps:

• Registration Guide is now live.
• PAST DUE: 
• All payments for the 2025 MB Season are now PAST DUE.

Other Marching Band Documents: 

• 2025 Marching Band Drop Form
• 2025 Marching Band Handbook
• Color Guard Handbook Extension

IMPORTANT: For all payments by check - please include the student’s name and student ID and the fee you are paying on the memo line of the check. Example: “Jane Doe 987654 Band Fee 1”

Members of Our Band Family Need Us

Thank you to those that donated so far. Fuz and the Burton family have greatly appreciated your support. You can still donate to the GoFundMe.