Music department raises money for band uniforms

MT. PLEASANT - Outgrown, outdated and looking for something new the Mt. Pleasant music department is raising money for new band uniforms for the 2022 season.

Band director Jim DePreist said the current uniforms have been used for almost 18 years, well past the 10-year life span of a marching band uniform.

'In the fall of 2003, the Mt. Pleasant band hit the field with new uniforms. The average life span of the uniform is somewhere between 10 and 13 years,” DePriest said. 'This will be year 18 in the fall, so we think it's time to do something,”

He added: 'We're looking a bit outdated, and we're hoping that these new uniforms will make us look good for the next 13 years.”

Many of the current senior marching band members were born in 2003, meaning that next fall all of the students who take the field in the band uniform are younger than the uniform itself.

DePreist pointed out that future band students that are currently in kindergarten will be wearing the band uniform through their senior year.

The new uniforms that the music department proposed are designed to last long and make the band look better overall. The new uniforms go over the student's clothes to make them easier to change and to ensure that the uniforms do not 'blow out” or break down after use. The uniform includes a cover that goes over their current hats.

Thanks to an anonymous donation there is already a start on the fundraising.

The music department is looking to raise $110,000 dollars to fund the new marching band uniforms as well as a new set of tuxedos and black dresses for the chamber choir and symphonic band. The music department currently has $30,000 toward its goal due to an anonymous donation.

Since the numbers in the marching band are usually between 170 and 190 members, according to DePreist, they are looking to purchase 225 uniforms for the start of the 2022 marching band season. In addition, they are purchasing 70 black dresses and 60 black tuxedos for the chamber singers and symphonic band.

If a donor would like to go all-in on a full uniform, tuxedo, and dress it will cost about $495; however, any donation is accepted, according to DePriest.

The department hopes to finish the fundraising campaign by December 2021 to be able to order the uniforms in time for the 2022 fall marching band season.

'We're hitting year 18 with these [the old band uniforms], and we are long overdue, so I hope you'll help us and keep us moving in a forward direction,” DePriest said.

People wanting to donate can send a check in the mail to the Mt. Pleasant Music Boosters, P.O. Box 826; Mt. Pleasant, IA 52641 and write band uniforms in the memo line.

The boosters are working on getting alternative methods of payment, too.

The form for donation is on the music booster website at mtpmusic.wixsite.com/mpmusic/high-school.