Why There are No Band Pictures in the 2010 Yearbook

Posted on behalf of Mr. Pirzer: Parents and Students,

As many of you are aware, this year's GHS Yearbook did not contain any pages specifically featuring the band program. I am sending out this email to help answer some of your questions why, and to also tell you what is being done to resolve the situation.

First, what happened? In years past, the band would have 4 pages in the yearbook. Two pages were included in the sports and activities section and the other two we would purchase in addition so we could feature each of the marching band sections individually and give each student's name. These two pages were usually towards the back of the yearbook similar to where you will find the team photos in the yearbook this year.

Typically, we pay for these additional pages in the fall during marching season and then we take the sectional pictures. This year when the folks from yearbook came to me about the additional pages, I found the price had gone up considerably, and I could not justify taking that much money out of my budget for the extra pages. I had communications with the yearbook coordinator, and I thought that we were still going to receive our first two pages toward the front of the book. I guess that I misunderstood what was actually being said, and it turns out that there was very big miscommunication between the yearbook staff and myself.

As it went, I paid no more attention to it, and assumed the other two pages would be included. As the yearbook folks took it, I was to pay for those two pages. Of course, I did not find out until the yearbook came out that the pages had not been included.

Now, I know most of you are asking why should we have to pay to be in the yearbook, and I totally understand why, because I asked that same question as well. What has happened is that a mistake and some oversight has been made on two ends. I made the mistake of thinking all was well, and I did not follow up to make sure, so I am more than happy to take a part of the blame. Also, the staff of the yearbook should have been clearer as to what they needed from me so that we would not have had this omission. I do want to say that the yearbook staff does a fantastic job with the book, and we have never had any issues like this before. The fact of the matter is that a mistake was made by several parties, myself included, and now we have to work on a resolution to the problem. In my mind, we all make dozens of mistakes everyday and this time it just happened to be this.

As soon as Dr. Dixon found out about this unfortunate mistake, he came to me and apologized for the mistake and discussed with me the following resolution. I will tell you that Dr. Dixon is doing everything he possibly can to resolve this problem as quickly as he can. Dr. Dixon and the entire administration and faculty at GHS have always been very supportive of the band and I cannot ask any more than that. I know some of you have already contacted the administration and that is your right, but I want you to know that this administration goes out of its way to support us and to make our program as strong as it can be. They do more on a daily basis to help us then even I know, things like scheduling, funding and fighting for our program at many levels. We are very blessed to have the support staff that we do and I will support them all the way.

Now, the resolution. Dr. Dixon has asked the yearbook staff to produce a four page layout that will be printed as quickly as the printing company can do it. I am providing more photos to the yearbook staff from all parts of the year. Each member of the band and guard will receive a copy of these pages even if they did not purchase a yearbook. These pages will be able to be inserted into the existing yearbook. We hope to have these pages before school is out, but they may not get here until after school is out, at which point the students can pick them up from me or perhaps through the front office over the summer.

I feel like this is the best thing that can be done now to fix the mistake.

Once again, we all apologize for the mistake and can definately promise you that it will not happen again.

Have a good weekend,

Bill

Silent Auction Items Still Available

dings at Band Booster Meeting tonight.

1) Four Thirty Minute Music Lessons -

at Great Southern Music $100.00 Value

...........................start Bidding at $35.00

2) Fitness Gift Basket

Two Months of either Boxing or Kickboxing..$160.00

Pair of 12 oz. Gloves.........................$ 35.00

1 Pair of Hand Wraps........................$ 9.00

1 Gym T-Shirt.................................$ 12.00

TOTAL ..........................................$ 216.00

..............................start bidding at $ 35.00

3) One Month of Boxing ........................ $ 55.00

start bidding at S 15.00

4) One Month of Unlimited Kickboxing........$ 66.00

start bidding at.$ 20.00

5) One Month of Karate- Youth or Adult.....$ 55.00

start bidding at.$ 20.00

6) 2010 Graduation Gift:

Monogrammed Towel ..................... $ 24.00

start bidding at.$ 10.00

If you're interested, please send an e-mail to justus-weinstein@msn.co

or call Susan Justus Weinstein 352-284-7274

2010 May GHS Band Booster Minutes

April 2010 Band Booster Minutes

Mr. Pirzer’s News:

SPRING CONCERT: Thanks to all who came to Spring Concert. Go to Hurricane band website and checkout what the post spring concert storm did to Mr. Pirzer’s tower. “Wind is a wonderful thing,” says Mr. Pirzer.

STATE RECAP: Thanks to all who watched State. Both groups had great results. Concert band received an EXCELLENT. They worked hard for it and deserved it! An excellent at State is like a Superior at districts. The concert band earned higher ratings than many of the “big” schools, and their rating was a testament to their hard work. Symphonic band earned Superiors. The last time our band earned Superiors at State was in 2002. The CD is excellent. We had enough orders to get the cheaper price of $12.00 per CD. Mr. Pirzer will have a few extra CDs available for parents who wanted one, but didn’t get their order in.

Agreement that it was a great idea to feature the three solo student performances at Spring Concert.

DAYTONA BEACH TRIP: Daytona: Friday 5/14/09 – 5/16/09 (Fri-Sun). After school on Friday, the kids pack up and go to Daytona. 67 students are signed up to go!

The group is leaving Friday after school. All students who are not taking an AP test on Friday should bring their belongings to the band room in the morning. Mr. Pirzer will keep the band room locked up for the rest of the day.

Chaperones should be at the band room by 4:15 p.m. on Friday 5/14/2010. Mr. Pirzer still has room for one more male chaperone and would like one more. The Daytona trip is still a go, though, even if the last spot is not filled. To the parents who are going as chaperones -- Thank you!!!

Daytona Beach Student and Parent itineraries were sent home by Mr. Pirzer already. IF YOU DIDN’T RECEIVE IT – ASK YOUR STUDENT TO BRING IT HOME. The parent sheet includes hotel address, phone numbers, and rules, etc. There is a list of What to Bring and What Not to Bring. Don’t forget to pack PLENTY OF SUNSCREEN AND SNACKS, beach attire, beach towels. Label coolers and bags. There are two meals that students purchase on this trip. It is recommended that the students bring $8.00-$10.00 per meal. The other meals are provided.

SUMMER BAND CAMPS: 6/1/14-6/17/2010 4:00 -9:00 p.m., and, 8/7, 8/9-8/13/2010 are the Summer Band Camps’ dates. New this year: At the end of Band Camp I, Thursday night, June 17^th, there will be a New Parent meeting at 7:00 p.m., followed by a “show & tell” at 8:00 p.m. Mr. Pirzer asks for a few experienced band parents to come to the New Parent night meeting to field questions from the new parents. We want to let parents know that it is possible for their musicians and dancers to also be in the top of their academic classes. Three of the TOP TEN GHS 2010 graduates are band students!

We need to start looking at coordinating our donations and volunteers for Band Camp I.

More information on Band Camp 2 when it gets closer to Band Camp 2 dates.

NEXT YEAR’S BAND CALENDAR IS READY: Is already hot off the press. Mr. Pirzer tried to lock in as many dates as possible. The new calendar includes start and end dates to all scheduled fund raisers, also fair share reminder dates, SAT and ACT testing dates. MR. PIRZER ASKS ALL PARENTS TO ENSURE THAT THEIR MUSICIANS DO NOT SCHEDULE SAT AND ACT TESTS ON COMPETITION DATES. Your students will miss prelims, if they do. The competition dates are also marked on the 2010-2011 calendar. Our first compensation is October 9^th in Chiefland. We are not competing at Middleburg next season.

NOTE: Next spring’s State Concert Festival is not on the new calendar yet, as there was a conflict with the FCAT testing date. Date to be announced.

Graduation: 10:00 O’Connell Center 6/12/10, Saturday a.m. Undergrads meet at 8:30 at GHS and bus or carpool to UF. Seniors will meet the band at the O’Connell center. Back to GHS at 12:15 a.m. Senior students will receive some handouts from Mr. Pirzer later in the month about what to expect on graduation day.

Band Award Night: Friday 5/28/2010. Please encourage your student to attend. 7:00 p.m. Parents – please encourage your musicians and dancers to come. We celebrate our year of accomplishments and send off our seniors in style. We have 16 graduating band seniors.

We want pictures! Amy has volunteered to make our slide show. She prefers to receive the pictures on a disc. Just send the discs in to Mr. Prizer.

Ruth Dean is handling the decorations, set up and serving for our Awards Ceremony. She’s looking for volunteers for everything from making surprises for the seniors to baking cookies for the refreshments. An E-mail on this was previously sent out. CAN YOU HELP? She plans a “senior surprise” craft night on Thursday, 5/20/2010 at 7:00 p.m. in the band room. If you can come, bring scissors, paper cutters.

FACEBOOK PAGE FOR CURRENT BAND, STUDENTS & STAFF MEMBERS: Wow! Mr. Pirzer is joining the modern century. He announced that he’s going to launch the band’s own Facebook page. He hopes to get this started before Band Camp I.

Band Booster President: Frank Mason:

April Booster meeting minutes, as posted on our blog, were approved.

Treasurer News:

Checking account: Mr. Pirzer presented, as Suzanne Clark could not attend. Current checking account balance is $14,064.46. All incurred bills that have been received to date are paid, including the Daytona Beach hotel (we think).

Fundraising Baskets at Concert: We made $270.00 off the baskets and a total of $320 when donations and soda sales were included. This fundraiser will go toward next year’s National Championship competition costs. Costs for this should cost about $20,000. (This includes the State competition costs, too, I think). More than half of the $20,000 goes toward the bus costs of $11,000. This includes three buses for three days. The third bus is usually the parent bus. The band will leave Thursday morning for National Competition, which may mean that we have less parents riding the bus. Mr. Pirzer will talk more about the details and work out the third bus details as the event gets closer.

FUND RAISING FOR THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP: Elaine Turner aims to recruit alumni for support. If 200 people donate $100.00, we’ll have the full $20,000 covered. So, if you know of any alumni, plant the seed. In addition, Mr. Pirzer is creating a fundraising letter targeted at raising funds just for this special competition.

DISCUSSION ON THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP COMPETITION: Mr. Kirsten (spelling?), head of FMBC, is starting a new National Tournament. This year is by invitation only. 600 bands from all over the country were invited. Only the top 1% of all high school marching bands across the country were invited. Approximately 20 bands were invited from Florida. He aims to accept a total of 30 bands for the first competition, and divide these bands into three separate groups/classes. The top 10 bands would progress to finals and for the Grand National Championship. Our annual State Championship competition will follow the next day.

NEXT YEAR’S SHOW WILL BE GREAT!!! Mr. Pirzer is working on next year’s show and is quite excited by it. The band started working on the show music last week. It got a very good reception. For those of you who have been around for a few years, Mr. Pirzer warns us to be prepared to see something different: Expect to see a different use of alternates, a different use of color guard, and amplification of the pit with a mixer.

Fair Share: Fair share was updated yesterday, and the list is on Mr. Pirzer’s door. Most fair share balances are in. The balance due is less than $5,000.

Fundraiser News

Tonight’s Booster meeting included a handout of next year’s scheduled fundraisers. It’s missing next year’s concession stands, but that’s about it. Many of the fundraisers need coordinators.

COOKIE DOUGH: There is still some cookie dough left over. $15.00 per box. Whatever boxes don’t get sold will be cooked up for this month’s award ceremony refreshments. The list was read quickly, and I may not have this absolutely correct, but I think we have 4 peanut butters, an oatmeal raisin, a brownie, and two pretzels left for sale.

LEFTOVER FUNDRAISING ITEMS FROM THE SPRING CONCERT: Not all the fundraisers found themselves a new home at our Spring Concert the other day: The sports basket, worth $216.00 didn’t get any bids, and is still available. It included $120.00 in boxing or kick boxing lesions and a pair of boxing gloves. We also have music lessons valued at $100.00 from Great Southern Music Lessons. Starting bid on this item is $35.00. Other martial arts lessons are available for $15.00 and $20.00. We also have a large, white, fluffy towel with a large, purple GHS 2010 monogram available for a minimum bid of $10.00. If you’re interested in any of these items, please let Laura Netardus or Susan Weinstein know.

OTHER FUND RAISING DISCUSSION: There is a shop called Gifts and Stitches located next to Central Office Supply on NW 6^th Street that provides monogram services and items at bulk pricing. Monograms can include embroidered instrument pictures. Some suggestions included monogrammed towels for the various instrument sections.

Fall - Downtown Arts Festival Fundraiser continued? Unknown.

SCRIPT: Due this Thursday. Order forms are available on the website. Mr. Pirzer can provide copies to your students, if you need. Beginning in June, script orders will go toward next year’s Fair Share.

LET'S KEEP RAISING MONEY AT CONCESSIONS NEXT YEAR: We’re changing gears next year and moving to M&M Concessions, which sells at the Football games. Spring concessions just didn’t net us much money and were really, really difficult to staff. Ruth aims to have all the Gator concessions stands staffed by the end of Band Camp I, and no later than Band Camp II. She notes that three of the football games conflict with our competition dates. Ruth hopes that parents will choose to either watch the Nationals or watch the State Competition and commit to staffing the alternate concession stands.

LET'S SHAKE IT UP NEXT YEAR: Mr. Pirzer notes that he’s going to approach the marching band season completely different next season. He’s going to have a physical ed specialist to create a fitness program to help the students get into better marching shape.

LET’S KEEP IT COOL NEXT YEAR: Discussion and suggestion that we start off the school year with a “hydration” info-session for both parents and students.

WE LOVE DR. BERRY: Great news: Dr. Berry will return next year!!! Dr. Berry was the GHS band doctor for 2006 -2009 marching season when his older son was in the GHS band. His younger son joins our trumpet section as a freshman next season!

COLOR GUARD TRY OUTS: There has been some reorganization of the color guard. The auditions have gone very well. We had a lot of great talent audition for our color guard. We currently have 25 candidates forming our color guard group. Mr. Pirzer is still interested in additional color guard, especially guys.

SIZE OF INCOMING CLASS: Numbers are not defined yet. It should be a big class, but exact numbers and firm commitments are not determined. Low end numbers range from 25-30 and high end numbers range from 35-40 for the band. Color guard is in addition to this.

HOW DOES OUR INSTRUMENT MIX LOOK? We need clarinets and/or bassoons for concert season. We have a boatload of saxophones – 11 or 12 signed up. We always like more tubas. We have 5 for the fall, but only have one freshman. Trombones could be better: We’re graduating Ted & Ian, and we will only have 3 trombones left. We have one freshman trombone coming in. We have about 12-15 clarinets, but could use lots more. You can never have too many clarinets. Trumpets and mellowphones are doing great. Flutes are okay, but could use a few freshman. Percussion is shaping up nicely. This pit is going to be unbelievable.

BOOSTER ELECTIONS: THANK YOU TO ALL WHO VOLUNTEERED TO TAKE STAFF POSITIONS FOR THE BAND NEXT YEAR!!!

VP & Volunteer coordinator: Mike Grantham

SECRETARY: Carol Schaffer

UNIFORM MOM: Adela VanAntwerp volunteered for our lead uniform coordinator. Susie Hummell and Nadine Moretta volunteered to be her assistants.

Free pizza was available for the meeting. 22 attendees at the May 10^th, 2010 Booster meeting. (One of our lowest ever).