By JAN McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Bowling Green High School marching band members may have a little extra swagger in their steps next year. After 38 years of wearing the same uniforms, the band will be getting new ones – to the tune of $99,155.
Bowling Green Board of Education voted unanimously Tuesday evening to pay for 175 new uniforms. The band members in the audience couldn’t wait to share the news with fellow band members.
“I’m so excited,” junior Anastasia Bullis said, bouncing up and down. “We’ve had these for too many years.”
Junior Amelia Bryant was thrilled with the fact that the lighter weight uniforms will be much less hot and stuffy than the current wool uniforms.
For senior Kaleb Van Vorhis, the news was bittersweet since the uniforms won’t arrive for about a year. “I’m a little sad about this,” he said. But he voiced full support for the new design which retains some of the older elements. “A rebirth,” he said.
The current uniforms have performed admirably – traveling over the decades with the band as they marched in London, France, Scotland, Disneyland and Washington, D.C. The red, white and gray uniforms were even featured in an Olivia the Pig book in 2006.
But their lifespan has been stretched about as far as can be expected. The lining in many of the uniforms is long gone, the trim has seen better days, many of the plume slots in the hats are broken, and the white pants are far from white.
BGHS band director Samantha Preisner talked about the advantages of the new uniforms as band booster president Jennifer Van Vorhis held up a sample during the board meeting. The new uniforms will be of lighter weight synthetic cloth rather than current wool. They come equipped with adjustable snaps, which mean band parents won’t have to sew new hems each year. And the dark gray pants will be much easier to maintain than the white pants.
The band currently has 108 members, but the extra uniforms are needed to provide a range of sizes for students.
“I’m just really excited for our band. Forty years is too long,” board member Tracy Hovest said of the old uniforms.
School Board President Ardy Gonyer commented that as a band member he wore one of the existing uniforms on the marching band’s trip to Paris.
“They were pretty old when I wore them – and that was 25 years ago,” Gonyer said.
“They’ve been in disrepair for a while,” Preisner said.
Board member Ryan Myers asked about budgeting for future uniforms. School Treasurer Matt Feasel said the district is using tax abatement agreement dollars to pay for the uniforms, and mentioned that using those funds for instrument replacements is also being considered.
The band had begun raising funds for the new uniforms. Since the board voted to pay for the uniforms, Preisner said the funds raised by the band will likely be shifted over to pay to replace the marching band’s aging raincoats.
“We’re really proud to be part of the BG community, and appreciate all the support,” Preisner said.
Also at Tuesday’s board meeting, Superintendent Ted Haselman presented the list of donations made to the district in the past month, totaling $27,217. The donations included money for a mural, districtwide calendar, school supplies, unpaid lunches, volleyball, cross country, hygiene products and clothing for students, and restaurant gift cards as student attendance incentives.
