Community Corner
With Fanfare, Maloney Band Kicks Off Fundraiser for New Uniforms
Thanks to a grant and support from the school board, the band is already halfway to its goal of $65,000 by January 1, 2012.
Amid waving flags, spinning rifles and driving percussion, the Maloney Marching Band launched its fundraising campaign for new uniforms Wednesday night in the Maloney High School auditorium. In a performance attended by Mayor Mike Rohde and other city officials, band members showed why they’re worth the $65,000 needed to replace the worn 15-year-old uniforms.
Kicking off the festivities, Maloney Band Booster President Barbara Fraser announced, “This is the largest fundraiser initiative ever.” She went on to say that “after years of raising hems and repairing popped buttons,” band parents recognize that they can’t do it anymore. The uniforms need to be replaced.
Mayor Rohde, a member of the fundraising committee, told the crowd that the campaign begins with $35,000 in the pot. The Board of Education will cover a third of the cost for the uniforms, and a grant adds another $10,000.
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“We’re off to a great start,” Rohde said. “We have a great team. There’s no doubt that by January 1 we’ll reach our goal.”
The campaign has set a deadline of the first of the year, Band Director Brian Cyr explained, because it takes 200 days from the time the uniforms are ordered until they are delivered. If the band is to have new uniforms to start off the upcoming school year, they need to be ordered early in 2012.
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“Marching Band is a visual group as much as it is a musical group,” Cyr stressed. “It’s very important that we look the part as well as sound the part,” he added, before unveiling the design for the new Spartan uniforms. (See photo.)
The Maloney Marching Band, currently 105 members strong, is the city’s largest student performing ensemble. It is one of the biggest competitive marching bands in the state, performing more than 30 times a year, Cyr said.
Fraser attested to the hard work of the band members. On competition Saturdays in the fall, “We’re here from 10 in the morning until 10 at night,” she said.
For information about the band, visit the school website at www.maloneyband.net or call (203) 238-2334, ext. 156. Donations can be made to: The Maloney High School Band Boosters, 121 Gravel Street, Meriden, CT 06450.
