“THE RACE TO INDY” REVVES UP

AT FAMILY NIGHT ON AUGUST 23

The excitement of the new marching season begins at Family Night on Friday August 23. At 6pm we officially begin our band season with an all-American barbeque, and our race to the Bands of America tournament in Indianapolis, Indiana, November 13-17. The barbeque is a great time to introduce your entire family to our “band family” here at Thousand Oaks High. It is a fantastic time to meet new people and renew friendships with families you may have known during middle school. All the board members and committee chairs will be available to answer your questions and help you sign up for various committee jobs.

We are planning an all-American barbeque complete with hamburgers, hot dogs, veggie burgers , corn on the cob, potato salad, watermelon, drinks and dessert. We will be serving dinner from 6pm until 7:30pm. (So don’t feel that if you can’t make it at 6pm you can’t come.) Cost is $7.50 for adults and $5 for children under 12 years and seniors. TOHS band students may also purchase their meal for only $5. Cost will include one drink and a dessert. Enclosed on page 4 is an order form for your tickets. You can submit your order form to the White Box. Your tickets will then be held on reserve for you at the entrance to Family Night. Tickets will also be on sale after Band Camp, Monday, August 12—Tuesday, August 20. The deadline for getting your tickets will be Tuesday, August 20. Tickets will not be sold at the door.

There will be an opportunity to purchase Booster wear as well. Most parents buy the Booster t-shirt (green golf shirt with band logo) to wear to our events. They are an easy way for our students to recognize us if they need an adult. Other Booster wear will also be available that night, jackets and sweat shirts, etc.

We will hold a brief ‘mini’ Booster meeting that evening. Lynne and the Board will have info about the upcoming trip to Indy as well as details on all the volunteer opportunities available this year. We will be looking for committee members that night. This is a great time to get involved and find out all about our award-winning program.

And, of course, the highlight of the evening is the actual performance by our students. You will be beaming with pride when you see what your student individually, and what the band as a group, has accomplished in two short weeks.

The Board members are eagerly looking forward to meeting and greeting everyone that evening. We will see you then!!

FUNDRAISING OPPORTUNITIES TO BOOST YOUR STUDENT ACCOUNT

It is especially important that you keep your student account current and make your payments in a timely manner. The Boosters have had a large out lay of cash for the deposit on our trip to Indianapolis, every payment counts. All costs incurred by the Boosters such as transportation, food and hotels are recoverable from band members. These fees are not optional. If you have any questions about the status of your account, please contact Diane Folsom.

AdBook Update

Are you selling your ads? Don’t forget that all ads are due by Tuesday, September 3. Ads are the quickest and best way to increase your student account. The first $100 of ads sold goes directly to the band and for every ad after that your account is credited with 40% of the ad value. An excellent selling point and a great way to double the value of your ad is to offer the advertisers the opportunity to have their ad appear in our field tournament program. Order forms for both the Adbook and the field tournament program are available on the band door. Please call with any questions.

Scrip is another excellent and profitable way to add to your account. SEE PAGE 3 FOR DETAILS ON THE SCRIP PROGRAM.

President’s Corner

Dear Booster Families,

Are you enjoying your summer?

We hope you have had a chance to take a little or a big vacation!

I’d like to thank all of you who have been working so hard this summer planning, organizing, and building for our field show and the events of the fall. We have much more to do and will be calling those who have signed up to help. Please volunteer to be on the organizing committee for our WBA Field Tournament to be held on October 12. We are 10 weeks away from this huge fundraising event. We need help from every family. It takes 200 volunteers to help on the day of the event. Weekly planning meetings should be starting soon. If you can help organize and attend these weekly meetings, please contact Betsy Connelly.

Thank you also to those of you who have turned in your paperwork and payments. We can’t function without them. If you need help with your packets or haven’t received one yet, please contact the band office.

A reminder again to take advantage of the fundraising opportunities to add to your student’s account: Adbook, deadline is September 3 (less than a month away), paper Scrip, National Scrip and e-Scrip, and See’s Candy. Don’t forget to collect those coins (and dollars) for the Pennies for Piccolos drive.

The Sophomore Car Wash is August 17. Keep selling those car wash tickets. Every student is required to turn in $100.00 for the car wash tickets they received at orientation. They are responsible for the $100 whether they actually sell the tickets or not. This money goes to the ASB account and pays for entrance fees, music and other administrative expenses that the program incurs that are not covered by the Booster organization.

We are so excited about our “Race to Indy” Family night celebration on August 23. Our Ways and Means Chairs, Melody Fouse and Julia Schrom and Membership Chair, Nancy Skewes-Cox, have an incredibly fun night planned. You won’t want to miss it. You’ll be so proud of your students’ accomplishments and you will also have the opportunity to sign up early to volunteer for upcoming events. See more information enclosed regarding the event and dinner tickets.

Please remind your students that during August band camp they need to bring lots of water (and drink it), wear sunscreen, bring their notebook and a smile!

Musically yours,

Lynne Phillips

SCRIP SCRIBBLES

I thought that by now, I would have met almost all the Band and Color Guard families.J In fact, it was kind of the reason I agreed to do this job. But I’ve been kind of lonely.L Only about 15 families are taking advantage of this EASY way to earn money towards their student’s expenses for the year. To those families - thank you for your support of the scrip program. Make sure you tell others how great it is!

This is how our scrip program works: The Boosters are able to buy scrip (basically they are gift certificates) at a discount. You buy scrip at face value. So the difference between the purchase price and the discount price is how our organization profits; part of the profit goes to your student’s account, and part of it goes to the Booster organization. How much do you get? 2.5% for returning students; but for NEW students, 5% of the value of the paper scrip purchased is credited directly to their student account through September 15. (So, if you new families had bought $50 per week, right now, eight weeks into the program, you would have $20 in your student’s account – without having had to sell anything .)

So, hopefully I will hear from more of you soon. You can come to my house – or I can meet you somewhere. I have even delivered to families. So we can work it out – and it will help you and the Band organization!

Paper scrip for the following businesses are available: Ralph’s, Whole Foods, Four Seasons, Smart & Final, Longs, and Taco Bell. During Band Camp I will arrive at 4:10 and stay until 4:50. During the fall marching season I will be at school from 4:45pm-5:10pm on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. If you have questions or need to make other arrangements, please call me, Dorothy Hatfield.

And do you know about e-Scrip? If you shop at Vons, register your Vons Club card and you can earn up to 4%. How about Carl’s Junior, Payless Shoe Source, Baja Fresh, Big 5 Sporting Goods, Coco’s, Bristol Farms, Hooper Camera, or Pep Boys (to name a few)? These are all associated with e-Scrip program and you can earn a percentage of your purchases by registering your credit cards. There is no cost to you to do this. Our ID# is 137115759. (And you can get your relatives to register too. If you do this, drop a message in the white box telling us what names are associated with your student.) You can register online at www.escrip.com or I have a form that you can fill out and mail in. Call me if you need an application or more information.

And if none of these stores are ones you do business with, be sure to check out the list for National Scrip which can be ordered through Mary Tessendorf. The percentage shown on the form is the actual percentage that is put into your student’s account. (A small amount of the total percentage goes to the Boosters for shipping and handling charges we have to pay to the Scrip company.) Orders should be placed with Mary Tessendorf by Tuesday morning starting August 12. Orders can be left in the White Box, dropped off at Mary’s home or left with the Dorothy. Orders will be available for pickup at Mary’s by Thursday night or Friday afternoon. This is a painless way to get funds into your student's account to make those band payments! Please call Mary with any questions.

FIELD TOURNAMENT PREPARATIONS CONTINUE

The annual Thousand Oaks High School WBA Field Tournament will be held at the TOHS field on Saturday, October 12. That is only 10 weeks away! The field tournament is taking shape and enthusiasm is mounting. There are 22 committees that cover the various of areas of responsibility. We still need some committee chairs and committee members. The field tournament is by far the biggest fund raising opportunity that we will have this year. We are especially looking for leadership from those who helped last year. We need your valuable experience. In order for it to be a success, we need an army of band parent, grandparents and siblings to pull it off. We will need 100% participation in this event. No matter how small the job, we need every family to do something. We want to continue the Lancer Band and Color Guard tradition of excellence and show all the participants what an outstanding program we have

at Thousand Oaks High School.

Please call Betsy Connelly if you need more information or want to offer your assistance.

Prep Team Members Wanted

The prep team works closely with the uniforms staff to make sure that everyone is looking their best as they take the field in competition. Members of the team help students with hair, uniforms and shakos. Believe it or not, the judges look at the way the sleeves hit, the length of the pants and if hair is up in the shako, neat and tidy like it should be. It can be hectic right before a performance and we need a passel of parents to help with all the details. It never fails that someone forgets their socks or a shoe lace breaks and the preppers need to be johnny-on-the-spot and make a quick repair. If you are interested in being a part of this great team please make sure you sign up on the prepper sign-up list at Family Night.

Gail Williamson will be our head prepper this year and she will be giving you a call to let you know of a training time. If you are thinking of being a prepper, please be aware that you need to be willing to travel to most of the events. This is a wonderful way to get to know the students as well as other parents. Call Gail if you have any questions.

Uniforms

Just a reminder, your students will be fitted for uniforms during band camp. Making sure that your student has the proper socks, shoes, undershirts and uniforms is one of the most confusing and overwhelming parts of joining the band. Please take a few minutes to look over the Handbook which outlines all the items that students will need. Listed below are a few reminders and the time table for having these things.

Obviously, the most important item the kids need is their uniform. Linda Heckendorf and her committee will be fitting the kids during August band camp. The students should have filled out the Uniform Contract and Measurement Chart (this was in your packet you received at the orientation meeting and should have been returned to the band office). The measurements help us find a starting place when fitting new students. The contract is VERY important and must be signed by parents as well as students. No uniforms will be issued until we have the completed contract returned to the Band Office.

The goal is to have all students fitted and uniforms assembled and ready to go home on Family Night. Uniforms will be worn for the first time for Picture Day on Tuesday, September 10. (See page 7 for details.) Chances are that your student’s uniform will need to be hemmed, both pants and sleeves. The fitting volunteers will measure to the best of their ability where the sleeves and pant legs should be hemmed. ATTENTION! a change is being made to the hem length of the uniform pants. The hem length should be 2" (not 2 1/2") from the floor with black marching shoes on. The pants will be adjusted, then measured and pinned for each student at 2" from the floor. However, it is the parent’s responsibility to make sure that the measurements are accurate before hemming. Please note, altering the suspenders, changes the pant length. The pants are meant to be worn like men's slacks, with the rise not too high, yet not so low as to split while maneuvering on the field or parade route. You can hem them yourself or take them to the drycleaner to be hemmed. Marquis Cleaners next door to the old Ralph’s does all our cleaning and does an excellent job at alterations, too.

Students must wear plain black (no logos), sleeved t-shirts, either long or short sleeved, under their uniform.

Remember to treat the uniforms with respect, they are used year after year and we always want to look our best when we perform. After the uniform is worn it should hung up, out of direct sunlight, to be aired out. Never have the uniform dry cleaned on your own. If it becomes soiled speak with Linda.

Alternate Uniforms

Your student must have an alternate uniform shirt to change into after every field tournament event we attend. And they will also need the alternate jacket. You will need to order both a Henley shirt and alternate jacket by Family Night. (If you are wondering about the cool lettermen jackets, those are not available to students until their junior year.) Students also need black pants or shorts to wear as part of the alternate uniform. Please no blue jeans! Questions? Call Peggy Fenger.

SHOES and SOCKS

First and foremost, we will be wearing black shoes for all events this year. Second, try your shoes on before band camp and see if they fit, if they do and they are still in good condition you will be fine. Third, if they no longer fit, but are still wearable, sell them at the shoe exchange on Family Night (see below). If you need new shoes, you will be measured at the uniform fitting and new shoes will be ordered. All new students will receive a bag to keep their shoes in. They should always bring their shoes in these bags when we travel. It is a great ideas to keep your black socks in the bag with your shoes. We will check shoes and socks before your students gets on the bus for every away competition. Never store the shoes in the uniform bag. Make sure to have black socks to start the season you’ll need them on September 10.

SHOE EXCHANGE

Bring your clean, ready to wear shoes to the band room by Friday, August 16. Tie the shoes together and put a self-addressed, stamped envelope in one of the shoes. The shoes will be sold at Family Night, cost is $10 per pair. If your shoes are sold on Family Night, the $10 will be put in your envelope and mailed to you. Call Linda if you have further questions.

Keeping in Touch

Band Roster

The Band roster should be available on Family Night. If you have moved over the summer, had a phone number changed or added, changed e-mail please notify Lori Crosse or the Band Office, 379-0437. We want to put out the most accurate directory possible. Additionally, Lynne likes to e-mail info to families as things arise during the year and this has been a very effective means of communication.

Contacting the Band Office

The Band Office phone number is 379-0437. To leave a message for the Boosters, press #1; Color Guard, #2, Drum Line, #3; any general messages may be left by pressing #4. The e-mail address to the Band Office is tohsband@conejo.k12.ca.us. Any Booster related issues should be directed to Shari Smith. Shari will be in and out of the Band Office this summer and will be checking the messages in the office. The Band Hotline has all the latest info on Band activities, the number is805-435-4331. This is especially helpful during marching season, we keep it constantly update with competition reports and arrival times.

Check out our website -

tohsband.org - it has all the latest info!

Mark Your Calendar

Thursday, August 15

Restaurant Night-Baja Fresh

Saturday, August 17

Sophomore Car Wash

8:30am-3pm

Friday, August 23

Family Night

Thursday, August 29

First Day of School

Band Practice Everyday

After School 3pm-4:30pm

Tuesday, September 3

AdBook Deadline

Pennies for Piccolos

Pennies for Piccolos is an annual fund raiser done during the summer to help raise money for the purchase and repair of equipment and instruments. The idea behind the drive is to collect loose change from friends, family and in neighborhoods in Thousand Oaks. Each student will be assigned to a group that will canvas an area of town. This is usually done with others in your section one afternoon. Your section leader should contact you with more details on dates and times. Until you hit the streets with them, start a change jar at home and begin collecting from family and friends. Prizes will be awarded for the top individual fund raiser as well as the section that raises the most money. Our goal is for each student to raise $50.

Drop off dates will be announced at band camps and will be posted in the band room. The final date for turning in all money is August 20. Make sure all the money that you turn in is clearly labeled with your name and section. Please use the coupon at the left when returning your donations. Questions? Call Jerry or Lori Dulek.

. Thanks for your support and happy collecting!!

Feeding the Masses in 2002…

One of the things that makes our program so special is the fact that we have wonderful parents who plan meals for all away trips. Many bands leave their students on their own to find food to eat. Well as many of you know, cotton candy and nachos don’t make a very nutritious or satisfying dinner. By providing meals for our kids we know where they are and that they will get a good meal before each competition. Sandee Tischler and Linda Heckendorf, chairs of Student Support, are looking for parents to assist with the purchase of food, set up of the serving lines, feeding and clean up. Menus and quantities of items to be purchased will be handled by Sandee and Linda. We are also seeking parents to assist on the food crew as we travel around southern California to our various field tournaments. These individuals will drive the food truck, set up, pick up food at local restaurants, etc. Check out the sign up sheets at Family Night.

We also need some parents who are willing to help supply the kids with water while they are in line waiting. Their mouths can get really dry while they wait; people will walk through the lines and give drinks to the kids. This is an easy way to help and the students appreciate it more than you could imagine.

Thanks to all who have helped in the past and to those who will be helping this year. We are really looking forward to a fantastic year! If you think you can serve in any of these capacities, please call Sandee or Linda.

BAND CAMP BEGINS MONDAY, AUGUST 12 AT 8:30AM

Band camp officially begins on Monday, August 12 at 8:30am. Students will meet everyday for the next two weeks, 8:30am-12noon, 1:30-4:30pm.

Students need to bring the following items everyday to camp:

WATER, WATER, WATER (please make sure your student realizes the importance of staying hydrated), sunscreen, a hat (don’t be embarrassed to wear a hat everyone does and you’ll be glad you did!), sunglasses, your music, your instrument, your marching notebook (this is one of those small 3x5 spiral notebooks with a shoe string tied through the spiral so that students can wear it around their neck, they will record their drill instructions in this!) and a pencil. Bring your comfortable shoes and your winning Lancer attitude because the work really begins now.

“The Race to Indy” is on…

TWO CAR WASH DATES REMAIN

Saturday, August 17 (sophomores) and Saturday, September 7 (freshmen) are the dates of the remaining two car washes. Students are required to attend their class car wash. Attendance will be taken. Every student is responsible for selling $100 worth of tickets. Students may not sell their tickets at the car wash. Make sure your student’s name is on his/her tickets in order to get credit for selling them.

If your student is not available during the car wash scheduled for his or her class they must make arrangements with another band member to fill in for them. After a replacement is found they should notify their class rep to let them know who is filling in for them. They need to plan on serving at another car wash at different date in order to fulfill their car wash obligation. Students are required to stay the entire day, 8:30am-3pm. Lunch will be provided by the Boosters.