FAIRFIELD – The Fairfield Community Schools Band Aides and the Fairfield High School band and choir made history on Dec. 3 with their most successful “Chocolate Sunday” ever.

The annual fundraising event, held at Fairfield Middle School, features performances from the FHS choir and FHS jazz band. Attendees can purchase baskets of goodies that have been donated by local businesses. While they listen to the music, they can dine on dozens of sweets and baked goods prepared by members of the Band Aides.

FHS choir director Zach Reiter said this year’s Chocolate Sunday grossed $8,400, which he believed was the largest amount in the event’s history. He said it normally raises about $6,000. Money raised at the event is split between the band and choir.

Lisa Trent is president of the Band Aides, and said that normally one person in the group is in charge of organizing Chocolate Sunday. However, it has become such a big responsibility that this year she decided to delegate responsibilities to multiple people. Another new thing the group tried this year was directly involving the music students in the fundraising, putting them in charge of calling businesses and asking them to provide a basket of goods.

“I told the music directors how many baskets I was hoping to get from them,” Trent said. “The students had a script, which the basket committee came up with. It was a learning experience for them.”

FHS band director Tyler Nunziato said he thought it was a great idea to involve the students in the fundraising.

“This is a life-building skill, since they need to learn how to communicate,” Nunziato said of the students. “Overall, we had a very good turnout.”

The students and Band Aides combined to get enough donations for 49 baskets. On top of that, community members found creative ways of recycling old band uniforms into objects to sell. For instance, Melanie Carlson made a pillow, zipper pouches and wristlets from the old uniforms.

“She came up with that all on her own,” Trent said about Carlson. “Those were part of the silent auction.”

Twenty-seven parents signed up to bring treats to share this year. The Band Aides used to charge admission to Chocolate Sunday but the group has switched to raising money at the door through a free-will offering.

Nunziato said the students really have fun with Chocolate Sunday because they all dress up in festive sweaters. In fact, they hold a contest to see who will wear the ugliest sweater.

Nunziato lets the students try new things and show off their creative side for Chocolate Sunday. Evie Messer, a member of a small flute group that performed, arranged a piece on her own from scratch.

“These are things the kids don’t normally get to do during concerts,” Nunziato said.

The money raised at Chocolate Sunday and other Band Aides fundraisers will go toward offsetting the cost of trips the music students take. In previous years, the band would go to Disney World in Florida every four years, while the choir would go to New York. Nunziato said they’d like to change that so the band and choir students are taking trips together, and that they would go on a “big” trip (like to Disney World) once every four years, and then a “small” trip every two years, to a closer city like Minneapolis.

Apart from Chocolate Sunday, the Band Aides raise money by selling concessions when the high school hosts the Southeast Iowa Bandmasters Association (SEIBA) Honor Band festival, which this school year is on Jan. 6. High school students from all over the region descend on Fairfield for a day of contests, and while they’re here, they spend money on the Band Aides’ pizza, walking tacos, hot dogs and baked goods.

Trent said the Band Aides are always looking for more board members. Those interested in joining can call her at 307-321-3426.