Band Boosters is an organization to co-operate with the Board of Education and Band director to further the interest of instrumental music in the Public Schools of Marceline, Missouri.
The first regular meeting of Band Boosters was held at the high school on Thursday night, December 8, 1938. The meeting was called to order by the president, Mr. Clair Bond. The other officers were Mrs. Harry Foster, vice-president; Mrs. Vergie Stephens, secretary; Mrs. Iva Cantwell, treasurer. The three representatives at large with the elected officers to form the Executive Board were Rev. Novak, Dr. Adamson, and Mr. Ross Wooten. The regular meeting time for the Band Boosters, at the present time, is the first Monday in the month while school is in session.
While the band uniforms have been the primary ob¬jective of the organization, we have helped the school to buy several instruments, the type of which the individual student doesn’t care to own. The organization replaces emblems, cords and other needed parts of the uniforms and have the uniforms cleaned and stored at the end of the school term. Band Boosters have paid rental for bus trips to Band Day at Columbia and to contests at Kirks¬ville. Drapes were made for the band room by Band Booster members in 1961. The organization sponsored a band member to All State Band in 1961.
One of the outstanding characteristics of Band Boosters since its beginning is its interest in ways and means for making money. And the tninutes tell the story. We have done about everything from frying hamburgers at football games to performing in Minstrels and Home Talent Shows, sponsoring the Blackburn Brothers, pop¬ping corn and making candy, serving dinners, having rummage sales, selling home-made mincemeat, selling cookbooks and not forgetting Tag Day and selling pen¬nants at Homecoming.
The first 41 uniforms were purchased in 1938 at $21.95 each. On April 1956, 65 uniforms were ordered at $58.75 each. Fourteen new uniforms, drum majors uniform and plumes for majorettes were ordered in 1962 amounting to $1050.00. Shakos for all twirlers were purchased in 1954. Plumes were purchased in 1959 for $95.00. At least $6000.00 has been spent to uniform the band since 1938. With the help of merchants and organizations the Band Boosters have made this possible.
The instrumental music program in the Marceline Public Schools consists of a fifth grade beginning band, a sixth grade intermediate band, a seventh and eighth grade junior high band, and ninth through twelfth grade senior high band.
In the fall the senior high marching band performs at all the home football games and marches in several parades. At Christmas time all of the bands perform at a special Christmas concert. This program is followed by the winter and spring concerts presented by all the bands. Then in the spring there are the district and state music contests where many soloists and ensembles take part.