Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, December 18, 1993 TAG: 9312210246
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-9 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: DUBLIN LENGTH: Medium
The Boosters board is scheduled to meet Jan. 4 to line up other fund-raising activities for 1994.
The organization is concerned that the future of the band could be threatened if its 10-year-old uniforms are not replaced in the coming year.
``There won't be a marching band if they can't get the uniforms,'' said Ann Carpenter, the group's secretary. ``The band ought to look as good as it sounds.''
It obviously sounds pretty good, because it has been a Virginia Honor Band two years in a row.
``We have several fund-raisers planned, but we're going to need the support of the community. And I believe it's happening,'' Carpenter said.
``We started last summer visiting civic organizations,'' she said. ``Because of that, we really believe the consciousness level has been raised here in the community.''
The band started out this marching season in debt, and that had to be overcome before its supporters could think about replacing its uniforms.
Carpenter said the Cougars football team deserved the support it got from Pulaski County when it went all the way to the state championship playoff last week. But the band works hard, too, she said, and has won the equivalent of a state championship for two years.
Band parents work hard, too. To raise money for the band, they have sold concessions during the Pulaski Jaycees' sandlot soccer program at Calfee Park, dressed in Halloween costumes for the Jaycees' haunted house, and, along with band members, picked up 11 tons of trash by hand during the Lions Club flea market at the county fairgrounds.
They also sell concessions during home football games, often missing the halftime band performance. All this teaches band members the qualities of commitment, dedication, perseverance and team effort, Carpenter said. ``It's not just the music we're pushing for. It's nice, and they'll know that forever, but it's these other things, too,'' she said.
There have been performances in weather so cold that the band members had to take turns playing some instruments, or the mouthpieces would stick to their lips, she said. There was a time about a year ago in Boone, N.C., where a band member had to be treated for hypothermia.
There have been games where audiences are bundled up in coats, mufflers and blankets because of frigid conditions ``and the kids - all they had on were their wool uniforms,'' Carpenter said. ``They are real Spartans, sometimes.''
The concert, which will feature selections from the ``Nutcracker'' ballet and the ``Aladdin'' movie, will start at 7:30 p.m. in the school's Little Theatre.
Varieties of holiday cookies baked by Band Boosters will be sold for $3 a box, or two boxes for $5.
Tax-deductible contributions can be sent to the Pulaski County High School Band Boosters, P.O. Box 458, Pulaski, Va. 24301.
by CNB