Band headed for Winter Park competition

Lynn Volkens

First-Time Event for Pride of the Divide Band

1/27/2005 - Gilpin’s High School/Middle School band has been working since September to raise funds to attend a 3-day music competition in Winter Park this spring. The April festival starts with a judged competition, followed by skiing/snowboarding, then a street dance and awards night. The event is national, with vocal and instrumental groups coming from all over the United States. Gilpin’s vocal music choir has attended the festival several times in past years but this will be the first time for the band to participate, - IF they can raise the money to cover lodging and food for the 15-20 members of the band. Band teacher, Jeanne Sonnleitner said the band must raise enough to cover the competition admission fees (which include lift passes and ski/board rentals for band members), and there is no fee for the street dance. However, the band must also raise enough to cover three-days of lodging and food for students and chaperones. “And we’ve been working like crazy to get there,” she said.

   Band students have, so far, set up and manned the Haunted House at the school carnival, prepared and served a spaghetti dinner to school staff and families during parent/teacher conferences, bagged groceries at B&F the day before Thanksgiving, offered a December Saturday of babysitting for parents to holiday shop without the kids, worked a booth at the Winter Arts Festival selling baked goods and home-made crafts (one band member had decorated dozens of gingerbread people for the sale), and sold more than 100 (10 pounds worth) sprigs of mistletoe that they had cut, arranged, beribboned and bagged. They have raised nearly $2,500.00 and need about that much more she said. They have several more fundraising events planned. Next up, band members will be selling fresh flowers at school for Valentine’s Day.

   Sonnleitner said the band was very appreciative of the many folks who have helped, among them B&F Grocers, Blumen Flowers, local government agencies who allowed the kids to peddle their mistletoe, and the many customers of the band’s various fundraisers. There are two on-going fundraisers. Beginning in September, band members began baking goodies weekly. The brownies, cookies, cupcakes etc. are sold immediately after school on Mondays and Wednesdays in the atrium and main lobby. Prices are very reasonable – usually a quarter a piece. They invite parents who are picking-up their students to drop by for a treat. The band has also been collecting aluminum cans for recycling. Band members have placed collection boxes throughout the school and take turns retrieving and emptying them. Sonnleitner asked community members who have aluminum cans for recycling to consider donating them to the band. “We will take as many as we can get,” she said. To donate cans for the band, contact Sonnleitner at 582-3444.

   Assuming the band reaches their goal, they are scheduled to perform at Middle Park High School in Granby at 3:30 on Thursday, April 7^th. The competition is open to the public. Sonnleitner said she has invited School Board members to attend and hopes the community will also come for this first-time band event.