September 24, 2023 Band Notes

Full Band 6-9pm; HS
Pick up Car Raffle Tickets or bring in tickets sold/money 8-9pm; either beside the stadium or bus circle depending on location of practice
Pick up Invitational Tickets 7:30-9pm; near the bus circle or stadium

Wednesday, Sept 27

Color Guard Rehearsal 6-9pm; HS

Thursday, Sept 28

Brass and Woodwinds 3-6pm; HS
Percussion 6-9pm; HS
Booster Meeting 7pm; HS Large Commons
Pick up Car Raffle Tickets or bring in tickets sold/money immediately following the booster meeting
Pick up Invitational Tickets immediately following the booster meeting. (Please see below)

Friday, Sept 29

Full Band Rehearsal 3-6pm

Saturday, Sept 30

CG Show Flag Taping 10-12pm; CG Lunch 12-1pm
Full Band Rehearsal 1-9pm
Volunteer for Mini Flag Assembly 4-7pm

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

Parent To Do Checklist For This Week

Please sign up to volunteer for the Mason Invitational. (See below for details)
Sponsor a trophy if desired. (Please see below for details)
MB Students-Rose Parade pin submissions Due Tomorrow.
Attend booster meeting this Thursday, September 28th at 7pm
Senior Parents- Please fill out this form regarding Senior Night. Due October 4th
Senior Students-It’s time to vote! Please pick out your Senior Song for Family Showcase/Senior Night HERE (Student responses only please)
Schedule and order your pictures today! (Please see below for details)
Order Memory Book (Please see below for details)
Pick up Invitational Tickets and Car Raffle Tickets (See above for dates and times)

IMPORTANT

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED-Mason Invitational Oct. 7th

One of our biggest local events is less than two weeks away. On Saturday, October 7th 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. This year the Rose Bowl Parade President will also be flying in from California to attend as our special guest. 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.

You may sign up to volunteer now through Charms. The following is a list of the links to sign up for each area. Job descriptions can be found there as well. 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. More information regarding the event can be found HERE.

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!

Band Guides and Band Check In- 22 slots available (short shifts; very easy! Please consider signing up for more than one slot.)

Concessions- 22 slots available (Area that generates a lot of money for our program!)

Guest/VIP Parking-7 Slots available

Ushers-4 slots available (You can watch all the bands perform during your shift!

Truck/Bus Parking-3 slots available

Extra Helpers- 4 slots available (floaters)

Hospitality Food and Monetary Donations-several slots available (Does not count towards volunteer hours)

Bake Sale Donations (Does not count towards volunteer hours)

NEW INFORMATION

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 September 30th by Midnight!

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 competition@masonbandboosters.com.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED - Saturday, Sept. 30th

You don't need to have any sewing or crafting skills for this one.

On Saturday, September 30th, 4pm-7pm at the High School the Spirit Team needs your help! We will be assembling Mini Color Guard flags to sell at the Mason Invitational.

We will be cutting PVC pipe, applying colorful vinyl, putting flags on the poles, and finishing them with electrical tape and rubber caps. We plan to assemble over 120 flags, so please come and bring your friends. There is no signup for this, just meet us there. EVERYONE IS WELCOME!!

Time To Order Marching Band Memory Books

Each year, our talented photo volunteers put together a beautiful memory book filled with the many moments of our season including rehearsals, football games, parades & competitions. This is a beautiful 8.5x11 inch soft cover photo book with about 90 pages. Orders for books without custom pages must be received by January 10, 2024.

You have the option of adding custom pages to your book that you design with your own pictures. The first two custom pages are free, and additional pages are available for a small additional cost. If you choose this option, you agree to have your child’s name and your email address shared with the book company, Tree Ring, so you can personalize the pages in the book associated with your student’s name.

This option is only available for books ordered by October 25, 2023 and all pages must be finished by January 10, 2024 along with final book orders.

Place your Memory Book order HERE.

Rose Parade Trip Gala Only Tickets Now Available For Purchase

Due to high demand, families now have the option to purchase individual tickets to the Gala event taking place on January 1, 2024 at the SoFi Stadium in California. Tickets are $169 per person and can be purchased HERE. Please note that the price is set by Bob Roger’s Travel. This option will be available only through October 15th. When you go to the above link and log into your account or create a new one, you will see the following 2 options. You will need to click on the Fan Gala Celebration Dinner Only option.

This is only for individuals who are not purchasing a Ticket Only package or the Friends and Family Package. In other words, this is for anyone who is planning their entire trip to California themselves but would still like to attend the Gala. This event is not the low key New Year’s Eve celebration that students and those with the Friends and Family Package will celebrate at their respective hotels.

Please contact parade@masonbandboosters.com with any questions.

Students, Rose Parade Pin Designs Due Tomorrow!

WHAT: The tradition is that at the end of the Rose Parade, the bands mingle and exchange pins! If you are interested in designing our band’s pin, then you will need to submit a design. Often each student will buy several pins so that they have them for themselves and have some to exchange with other bands. These make great keepsakes and small gifts too. The pins are approximately 1 inch square…so fairly small. Keep that in mind as you are designing! See picture for what Mason’s pin looked like in 2016. If you want to see this pin in real life, stop by the band office and see Mr. Sleppy.

WHEN: Email designs to Mr. Sleppy by this Monday, Sept 25. You can submit more than one design if you would like! sleppyj@masonohioschools.com

VOTING: We will then send out a Google Form for the entire band to vote on their favorite design.

QUESTIONS: Talk to Mr. Sleppy!

*More information will be released at a later date on how to order pins!

Pick Up Your Invitational Tickets-For Those Who Donated $50 Or More For Tag Day

Invitational tickets will be available for pick up during practice this Tuesday, September 26th from 7:30pm until the end of rehearsal and immediately following the booster meeting this Thursday, September 28th. This only pertains to those who donated $50 or more during Tag Day. If you are not available to pick up your tickets on Tuesday, please contact fundraising@masonbandboosters.com so we can mail them to you. All other tickets are sold at the gate. Volunteers will receive free admission!

Spirit Items Available For Purchase

Message from Gina:

Are you interested in purchasing Mason Band swag? Right now I can only sell in person. So... How can you find me?

I'll be at the Boosters meeting this Thursday, Sept 28th.
I tend to linger around the band aid tent/table at the end of practices. If I'm carrying my hot pink tote, then I've got the goods! Please feel free to walk up to me and ask. I'd love to meet you!
I will have two tables of merchandise at the Mason Invitational along with Invitational T-shirts. I'd like to express a special thank you to the many wonderful volunteers that have so graciously signed up to help that day!

Email me (Gina Marshall) at spirit@masonbandboosters.com if you have questions or if you'd like to be part of the team!

Smug Mug Photos - Check Them Out!

Our amazing Photo Corps captured some great photos the past few weeks! These photos are available for you to view/download for free from our SmugMug Site. Check out these recent galleries:

Check back often. The photo corps typically tries to get photos uploaded within a week of the event, but with multiple photographers the photos trickle in over that time period.

If you need the password, send an email to smugmug@masonbandboosters.com with your student’s name, student ID and section.

REMINDERS

Save The Date-Booster Meeting

Please join us for our next booster meeting on This Thursday, September 28th in the High School Large Commons. We will be sharing the latest information regarding the Mason Invitational and our upcoming trips to Indianapolis and California. We hope to see you all there!

Mason Bands Car Raffle

Only a few more weeks to sell and purchase Car Raffle tickets to win a 2023 Jeep Wrangler or a cash prize! Please help us reach our goal of selling 3000 Tickets before the drawing on October 7th.

Information on the Car Raffle can be found HERE.

If you have not yet done so, please pick up tickets to sell near rehearsal (either bus circle or stadium) on Tuesday from 8-9pm or immediately following the booster meeting on Thursday. Adults ONLY please! You may also drop off money/tickets you have already sold during this time. We are asking each family to sell at least 9 tickets. We welcome you to sell as many as you can! The three families that sell the most tickets will win a $100 gift card to Topgolf!!

Please Note: If purchasing a bundle, all tickets in the bundle must have the same name, address and phone number with them.

Questions? - Please direct those to carraffle@masonbandboosters.com.

Time To Schedule Individual Portraits

It is now time to schedule and place an order for individual portraits! You will also be able to place orders for the panoramic picture of the band, section photos, buttons, ornaments, and more. To schedule and place an order, please click HERE.

Instrumentalist photos: Wednesday, October 4th. (Date is subject to change if the competition uniforms do not arrive as scheduled)
Color Guard photos: Thursday, October 5th.

** Please Note** If you are in the Wind Symphony please schedule your appointment after your rehearsal. Your rehearsal ends at 5pm. This will ensure that rehearsal will not be disrupted. For those who are not in the Wind Symphony, if your schedule allows, please sign up for an appointment prior to 5pm. We appreciate your cooperation.

Details On Trips To Indianapolis

The most up to date information on our upcoming trips Indianapolis can be found HERE. The linked page contains what we know so far about performance times, how to purchase tickets, and housing information. If you have any questions, please contact travel@masonbandboosters.com

Marching Band Next Steps

Next Up

October 1- Rose Trip Payment # 5 of $575 is due. Payment can be made to Bob Rogers Travel

Please contact medicalsecretary@masonbandboosters.com with any questions regarding medications or physicals. If you have any questions regarding fees, please email Mr. Sleppy at sleppyj@masonohioschools.com.