2003 March Bugle

Help TOHS and Benefit YOUR Student Account

In last month’s Bugle we had received some erroneous information regarding the Austrian exchange students. If your family is willing to host a student your band student’s personal account will be credited $200. These students are coming to Thousand Oaks for their English class. They all speak English (obviously), have their own spending money and are fully insured. The school is asking that you provide room and board for them. The students will be taking some trips around the area and will not be with your kids every day at school. On the days they are not traveling they would attend classes with your student. The dates of the visit are March 27-April 10. They can share a bedroom with same-sex kids, they don’t need their own guest room. You could even host two students if you wanted. This is a great way to help the community and to help out in defraying your Band expenses. If you are interested contact the high school office or pick up an application in the Band Room.

President’s Corner

Dear Booster Families:

Spring Competition Season is well underway. Congratulations to the Color Guard for continuing to improve their scores at each competition. The girls gave a great performance at our very own TOHS hosted competition. The girls are happy with their show and are having a lot of fun this season. Their next competition is March 15 at Glendora High School.

The Boosters hosted a very successful Color Guard Tournament on Friday, February 21 at TOHS. We had 25 guards for a Friday night show. The gym was packed with spectators. Thank you to everyone who volunteered to make this evening such a success. Special thanks to Jake Wood for coordinating the event. He and his committee worked tirelessly for this fundraiser. Thank you to everyone who supported us as a spectator. Thanks to the Drumline for their great exhibition performance.

The Drumline show entitled Vampires is “biting” its way through its competitions. They are doing very well and obviously having a lot of fun along the way. They gave an outstanding performance at the Pierce College competition and were one half of a point away from first place. It was great to see so many Band and Color Guard families and students attend and show their support. Drumline is off to Las Vegas March 7 and 8 for their next competition.

Thanks to everyone who supported the Stadium Petition. Many of you sent emails to the City Council and they are listening. Thanks to those who came to the City Council meeting to show your support and thanks to those who spoke. As you have seen from articles in the newspapers, we have a great chance at receiving funds to improve our stadium and practice fields. How soon? Who knows? But, the point is that we woke up the City and the City Council to the schools dilapidated campuses.

The students gave an energetic performance at the Universal Sheraton on Friday, February 28. Thanks Mr. Martone for the great direction. The Savers Corporation employees were an enthusiastic crowd at their mock football game setting. Thank you Sandee Tischler for putting the breakfast together to feed our students during the break. Thanks Diane, Dorothy, Gloria, Adrienne, and Terry for Chaperoning. The event coordinator told Mr. Martone that “you were perfect.” We all had so much fun.

The calendar has been updated and revised to reflect the events scheduled through June. This was made available at the last few Booster Meetings. For those of you not in attendance, you may pick up a copy outside the Band Office door on the bookshelf or check the web site.

Please support our restaurant nights; these are easy fundraisers. A new restaurant night was at Sizzler on Thursday, March 6. Thanks go to Sizzler for providing baked potatoes for the Color Guard tournament. Subway night is Tuesday, March 18 and Baja Fresh night is scheduled for Thursday, March 27.

We are hosting a SCSBOA Ratings Festival on Tuesday, March 25 from 8:00am (for set-up) – 6:00pm. Please see more information here in this Bugle. We hope many of you will be able to see some of the performances and volunteer some of your time to help in various areas.

See you at the Booster Meeting, Tuesday, March 18 and HAPPY 40^th BIRTHDAY to Mr. Martone.

Musically yours,

Lynne Phillips

TOHS Band and Color Guard Want YOU

Mr. Martone and Lynne Phillips will be meeting with parents and students at the middle schools later this month to give them all the details about joining the Lancer Band and Color Guard when they enter high school. If you have an eighth grader or know of someone who does and they are interested in finding out what the Band Program is all about, encourage them to attend one of these informational meetings. Even if the student has never played an instrument before (or played earlier in middle school, but is not currently enrolled in the program) it is not too late to join the Lancers and be a part of this fun and exciting group. The Band offers six free music lessons to students who have never played before.

The meeting dates are: Thursday, March 13, 6:30pm at Los Cerritos Middle School and Wednesday, March 19, 6pm at Redwood Middle School. Counselors will be meeting with students at the middle schools in March 26. School choice forms are due by April 1, 2003. If you have further questions, please call Nancy Skewes-Cox, 492-1333.

SCSBOA Ratings Festival Schedule for

March 25 in the PAC

The Lancer Band will host a Southern California School Band & Orchestra Association (SCSBOA) ratings festival on Tuesday, March 25 in the TOHS Performing Arts Center. Fifteen junior and senior high school ensemble groups will be rated in their concert performances. Band do not compete against each other at this event. There is a panel of judges who evaluate each ensemble and rate them according to their skill level when performing the selected works.

All the area high schools and junior highs are scheduled to attend. The Booster are looking for volunteers to help that day to ensure everything runs smoothly. This is a lot of fun and you can hear some fantastic music as well. The event runs from 8am (set-up) until 6pm. Band will be performing from 8:30am until 5pm. The event is free and open to the public. Call the Band Office, 379-0437, and let them know how you can help. (You don’t have to spend the entire day there, just an hour or two would be a great service.)

Here we go again…

Yep, it’s time to brag about our kids again. They just keep achieving great things in class and in the community. Our hats are off to the following students who participated this year in the Ventura County Honor Band: Don Chiurazzi, Larissa Benedek, Lucas Nishimoto, David Feldman, Janette Liu, Jason Paul, Tony Irwin, Kyle Jester, and Shannon Fouse.

Lucas Nishimoto also was selected to play in the elite Southern California Honor Jazz Band. He was awarded trombone soloist honors. Congratulation, Lucas on that outstanding achieve. You make us proud!!

Good job to all those who attended the Universal City performance for Savers Corporation. They thoroughly enjoyed our performance.

Don’t forget, please email The Bugle with you student’s after graduation plans. We want to celebrate with them as they prepare for their futures. Email Gail Williamson at cgwil483@msn.com.

Concert Attire Reminder

As a reminder, please make sure your student is wearing the appropriate attire when performing at a concert. This would apply to the ratings festival event mentioned on page 3. Appropriate attire at concerts is just as important as it was on the field in the fall. Here is a reminder of what everyone should be wearing.

Ladies

All girls will wear the designated black performance dress, hemmed no higher than ankle length. Only plain, black pumps with a 2 inch heel or less are appropriate shoes. There should be no thongs, sandals, sling back or backless shoes, no oversized heels or platforms, no toeless, and no ornamentation. Only sheer or opaque black nylons or tights are acceptable. Make sure you are wearing the appropriate under garments, these dresses are see through with stage lighting. Remember ladies, no sweaters, vests, jackets or other over garments should be worn during the performance. You will be made to remove them before you take the stage.

Gentlemen

All boys should will wear a white, winged collared, long sleeve tuxedo shirt, black studs and cuff links, a plain, black cummerbund and bowtie. Black dress shoes (marching shoes are acceptable) and black socks. Wind Ensemble should wear a single-breasted tux, all other ensembles may wear a plain black, single-breasted suit or a tux.

A minimum of simple jewelry may be worn, with the exception of bracelets. All jewelry is subject to removal if deemed distracting.

Serve Your Community and Make Money!

The Band and Color Guard has received a $2,500 grant from the City of Thousand Oaks in return for awakening our community to the rechargeable battery recycling program. The no-cost national program just hasn’t taken off here in Thousand Oaks. Betsy Connolly needs a few members, or interested students, to do simple planning, make phone calls and visit stores. This can be a very effective public relations tool for our organization and a great way to get and give additional community support. Give her a call at 498-3638.

Bits & Pieces

Field Show DVDs Available—Band dad, Scoot Fouse, has generously donated his time to make DVDs of the 2002 Banquet Slideshow and the 2002 Reflections of Self field show performances. The field show DVD includes the performances at San Marcos, Simi Valley, Valley View and two views from BOA in Indianapolis. This is a great keepsake from an incredible season. Sales will also benefit out Boosters. The price set at the dinner dance silent auction was $20 per DVD, with $17 going to the Boosters as profit. If you are interested in ordering , please email or call the band office. You can also place your order in the Band White Box. When ordering make sure you designate which DVD you want, banquet slide show or field show.

New FUNd-raiser—Band alum Mindy Cabral is providing a new fundraiser providing top quality products and service and it is available NOW. It requires little work, no financial investment and can be repeated as needed. You can even have family and friends help. What could be easier? Contact Mindy, 805-279-3546 or 323-666-9985 or Melody Fouse, 493-0951.

Don’t Forget Mom— the Boosters will be selling flowers for Mother’s Day in May. This is going to be an easy and fun way to raise money. Watch The Bugle for details.

Calendar Revisions—Pick up a revised calendar that covers the remainder of the school year, through June. They are available in the Band Room on the bookcase next to the Band Office door. It is also on the website.

Jazz Band Notice—All payments are now due for the trip to Reno in May for both chaperones and students. Call Gloria Paul if you have questions, 496-7257.

Thank YOU!!

Just a little note to say thank you to all the Boosters who have continued to work so tirelessly long after marching season is over. Again, the Color Guard tournament was a great success thanks to Jake Wood. He stepped in and graciously headed the committee one more time and the event was wonderful. His committee included Mark and Patti Fonvergne, Sandee Tischler, Betsy Connolly, Jeff Hoffman, Bharati Savla, Ivy Reid and Edith Hauger.

Some of these same people deserve a special thanks for the ongoing behind the scenes work they do for the Boosters and for the students. Betsy Connolly has worked non-stop to get more funding and grants for our group. She has plead our case before the city council in hopes of reducing fees to use the Kavli Theater. She is constantly thinking of ways to refine and improve our fundraising opportunities in the community. Thank you so much, Betsy, for your devotion to us.

Bharati Savla has continued to promote and organize restaurant nights for our organization. These are a good source of income and we appreciate her diligence.

And last but not least, hats are off to our President Lynne Phillips. She only has a few short months left in office, but we all owe her a huge thanks for the job she has done over the past two years. She has sacrificed personal and professional goals in order to help and serve us and our children. She truly does deserve our gratitude. Thank you, Lynne, for everything you have done.

The Scrip Advantage

Our national scrip program is called Scrip Advantage. And we as Boosters need to take advantage of this easy fundraising opportunity. Please truly think about committing yourself to purchasing scrip. One alum family put their daughter through the Band Program for four years and wrote only one check for $200. That is amazing considering they had several big trips while she was in the program. Please carefully look over the enclosed list and see if there aren’t a few vendors that you could purchase scrip for. Many organization in the area raise tens of thousands of dollars with this program. Mary Tessendorf continues to handle this program. Call Mary with your order, 492-5795, or leave it in the box out side her front door at 2657 Castillo Cr., orders can also be left in the White Box in the Band Room. She needs the orders by Tuesday mornings for deliver on Thursday or Friday.

Dorothy Hatfield who sells paper scrip, will have Arco cards on hand in about two weeks. They will be in $50 and $100 denominations. Student profit is 1%. Dorothy is always available to make arrangements with you for scrip pick. Call her at 529-5819.

Parliamentarian is Seeking Nominees for 2003-04

Polly Toohey, this year’s Executive Board Parliamentarian is seeking Boosters who are willing to fill board positions for next year. The Board meetings once a month and then the officers are expected to attend General Meetings as well. Call Polly and talk to her with any questions you might have, 523-2569. Or you can drop a note in the White Box and let her know of your interest.

If you are not interested in serving on the Board but know of an area you would like to chair like churros, AdBook, uniforms, food, etc. Please let Polly know as well. People are often more willing to take on the position when they know ahead of time that they will they have some quality people already in place to support their efforts.

Save That Date

Friday, March 7 & Saturday, March 8 – Drumline to Las Vegas

Saturday, March 15 - Drumline to Chino, Winter Guard to Glendora

Tuesday, March 18 - Booster Meeting, Strawberry Sale, Subway Night

Friday, March 21-Sunday, March 23 - Drumline to Union City

Tuesday, March 25 - SCSBOA Ratings Festival at TOHS

Thursday, March 27 –Baja Fresh Night

Saturday, March 29 - Drumline to Rancho

Cucamonga

GOOK LUCK TO THE GUARD AND DRUM LINE!!