The Sound and Spirit of Columbus is still a long way off from having raised enough to meet its transportation needs, according to band boosters.
The combined marching band, which is made up of more than 150 students from the Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp.’s three high schools, raised $3,000 during a fish fry fundraiser at the American Legion earlier this month, said Charity Phillips, treasurer for Columbus North High School’s band boosters. However, more is needed.
“We always have a pretty decent budget just to get ourselves down the road and have equipment that is operating at a high level in general,” said Columbus North band director Keith Burton, one of four directors who lead the combined band. “But we’ve got some extra expenses. We’ve got some trailer, some semi repairs that needed to have worked on for this season. And … because we’re growing, we want to get another semi. So we’re starting a campaign to raise money to make sure that we can do that.”
Phillips said in a previous interview that an axle broke on a pull-behind trailer from Columbus East High School that they had been using.
Both Phillips and Burton said that the plan is to replace the trailer with the second semi.
“By adding the second semi, that would take away the need for the other trailers that are too small for really what we need and take away the need of having to rent Penske trucks on the weekends,” said Burton. “In the long run, it would cut down expenses quite a bit. Obviously there’s a lot up front.”
Phillips said that the cost of a new semi trailer ranges from $20,000 to $70,000. With that in mind, $20,000 is the band’s initial fundraising goal, and $70,000 is their second goal.
“We’ll start at the bottom and work our way up,” she said.
Marching band season starts at the end of August, so they would prefer to have a solution by then, she said. In the meantime, they will be renting Penske trucks.
As for the cost of repairing the semi they already have, the initial cost to get it back on the road is $4,000 “and some change,” said Phillips.
“And then they’re saying, within the next two years, an additional $8,000 to $10,000,” she said.
Moving forward, the band has scheduled some car washes and is getting ready to sell McDonalds drink cards. They have also held some “Dine to Donate” events.
Additionally, the Sound and Spirit of Columbus will have a parent preview event on Aug. 17 at Columbus North, with food and other activities starting at 5:30 p.m. and a performance at 7:30 p.m., said Burton. Community members are welcome to attend as well.
The band will get a small donation from the food trucks that are present at the event, said Phillips. There will also be spirit wear available for purchase.
When asked if there are other expenses that the band is raising funds for, she said that that they also try to have a sufficient amount of scholarship funds available, as there are several students that can’t afford the fees required to march. The band sells dining cards to help raise funds for this expense.
Updates to uniforms are also on the band’s radar, though Phillips said that this takes a backseat to transportation needs.
“If we can’t move the instruments from point A to point B, then getting kids into uniforms isn’t a big deal, if there’s nothing for them to play when they get there,” she said.
Burton said 167 students are participating in the combined marching band this year.
The Sound and Spirit of Columbus are currently finishing up their second week of band camp and will have their first halftime performance of the season at North on Aug. 18. The game begins at 7 p.m. and is against Decatur Central High School.
