(Community Matters 185) Disc Golf Event to Benefit Lakeview Marching Band

A disc golf tournament with a music pun might sound like a small thing, until you see what it’s really funding. Julie Green from the Lakeview Band Boosters talks about their upcoming fundraiser, Treble On The Fairway, and the behind the scenes costs of keeping a high school marching band strong in Calhoun County. From the stands, marching band can look effortless. Up close, it’s a year round machine powered by student grit and a serious amount of parent volunteer work. 

Treble on the Fairway is Saturday, May 2 at Territorial Brewing Company.

Registration is from 8:00 - 9:00 AM or follow the link to register early on the Lakeview Spartan Marching Band Facebook Page. The cost is $60 per team of two to register in the tournament. 

Episode Resources

Battle Creek City Clerk's Office Website

ABOUT COMMUNITY MATTERS
Former WBCK Morning Show host Richard Piet (2014-2017) returns to host Community Matters, an interview program focused on community leaders and newsmakers in and around Battle Creek. Community Matters is heard Saturdays, 8:00 AM Eastern on WBCK-FM (95.3) and anytime at battlecreekpodcast.com.

Community Matters is sponsored by Lakeview Ford Lincoln and produced by Livemic Communications.

Transcript

Welcome And Where To Listen

Richard Piet 0:01

I'm Richard Pyatt. Welcome to Community Matters. This is us here on a Saturday morning at 95.3 FM, 8 o'clock hour. Thanks for dropping by if that's how you found us. Voices from Calhoun County. That's the Community Matters Focus. We're also at Battle Creek Podcast.com with more voices from Calhoun County that you haven't heard on radio, so come on by and check that out. And where you get podcasts, Apple, Spotify, wherever it might be, just type Community Matters Calhoun County in the search box, and you will find us. And you can follow us there. Makes it super easy to listen on your device. Presenting sponsor is Lakeview Ford Lincoln.

Disc Golf Fundraiser Idea

Richard Piet 0:44

So does anybody play disc golf? Because I've heard about this, but I have not played it. And now there's a special event coming for the Lakeview marching band. And get this, they're calling it Treble on the Fairway. You with me on that? See what they did there? Julie Green is with the Lakeview Band Boosters. She's here today to talk a little bit about this fun event. Hi, Julie.

SPEAKER_01 1:12

Good morning. How are you?

Richard Piet 1:13

Great. Thanks for this. So talk about disc golf. Where did this idea come from?

SPEAKER_01 1:20

We have a wonderful group of parent volunteers that help out with our marching band program at Lakeview High School. And a couple of them disc golf. And they had this brilliant idea to host a tournament as a fundraiser for our marching band program.

Richard Piet 1:36

This sounds serious when you use the word tournament.

SPEAKER_01 1:40

Oh, it is serious, definitely.

Richard Piet 1:43

We're not kidding. Okay. So I guess if you haven't played like me, you can't just show up and expect to win the tournament.

SPEAKER_01 1:52

Well, you can show up if you haven't played. You just need to bring your own partner and you need to bring your own discs and equipment.

What The Money Supports

Richard Piet 2:00

How does this help?

SPEAKER_01 2:01

We are raising money for our marching band program. Every year we have a new show. Our marching band students practice and rehearse and learn new music and learn new choreography. And we need new uniforms to go with the new show theme. And we need new props to it express our show to the people in the stands.

Richard Piet 2:26

And those things cost money, I presume.

SPEAKER_01 2:28

Yes, they do.

Richard Piet 2:29

Yeah. So this will support that effort. I imagine this whole process starts way early. That is to say, your theme, your uh uniforms, etc., this all starts way in advance.

SPEAKER_01 2:46

It does. Our marching band directors actually start planning the show and the theme probably the day after our last competition in November.

Richard Piet 2:57

That's the speed of it. Not even a day off in between. So you get right on it. You talked about the uh volunteers that are a part of this. You mentioned the parents, some of whom are disc golf players, so that's where this idea came from.

The Volunteer Machine Behind Band

Richard Piet 3:11

But this takes a lot of volunteers to pull this off, does it not?

SPEAKER_01 3:15

It absolutely does. We have about a hundred kids in our marching band program, and we need to fit them with uniforms, we need to build props, we need to load instruments and trailers, we need chaperones on the buses to the competitions. We run concessions at some fall and winter sporting events to raise money, and we just need a lot of people to help out.

Richard Piet 3:44

Wow, just imagine that. The concessions alone is a big coordinating effort.

SPEAKER_01 3:49

It really is. It's a part-time job for our already working parents.

Richard Piet 3:54

Yeah, right. And not a paycheck. You get paid in different ways.

SPEAKER_01 3:57

Yes, hot dogs, popcorn, ethyls.

Richard Piet 4:02

I was thinking a uh warmed heart, too, but all that sounds good. So talk about how the marching band students carry this out. This is what you're supporting, folks, if you participate in Treble on the Fairway. Talk about the demands on them, what kind of year it means for them, and you know, just what it's like being a marching band a member. I mean, if you just watch, I don't know how you walk and play an instrument at the same time. I mean, it goes that basic for me. Talk about what it's like for them.

What Marching Band Demands

SPEAKER_01 4:37

It is a very big time commitment. We start with marching band rehearsals in July. So before school even starts, they meet for a couple of times a week for several hours a day. We have two full weeks of band camp, one at Lakeview High School, and also one where they go away for overnight. So it's just uh constant rehearsal, it's constant learning music, learning the the drill, which is the steps on the field and where they need to be, so they don't run into each other when they're out there.

Richard Piet 5:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:16

Which is important. They're also just learning how to be good humans and be leaders, and they're very accepting of everybody and band. It's great to see the seniors and the juniors step up and teach the newcomers how to march and how to play and all of the traditions that we have at Lakeview High School.

Richard Piet 5:41

I'm still in the zone thinking about playing and stepping at the same time. Now, many of us, probably most of us, have seen this take place on a football field or maybe in a parade or something like that. Uh, this is kind of like rubbing your stomach and batting your head at the same time. You've got to uh be coordinated in several ways.

SPEAKER_01 6:06

You really do. And it's not just playing the notes. You have to express the music and express what that show and that theme is trying to convey and be aware of everybody else on the field and where you're supposed to go next. So it's a very complicated process that requires a lot of rehearsal time.

Richard Piet 6:28

Yeah, you bring up a good point. This isn't just taking steps, there has to be feeling in it and expression. There's something to performing that's part of this, not just taking a walk with an instrument.

SPEAKER_01 6:40

Exactly.

Parents, Legacy, And Life After Band

Richard Piet 6:41

Yeah, you have a student in this in this fray, I presume.

SPEAKER_01 6:45

I do. He is a senior this year, so this is my last year with the marching band program.

Richard Piet 6:51

As you've clearly pointed out, get involved in this, I presume mostly because you have a child with a passion for this, so the parents become a part of this, and then it's over in just a few years, right? How does that feel?

SPEAKER_01 7:07

It's a bittersweet. Um, it will be nice to have a little more free time.

Richard Piet 7:13

Right.

SPEAKER_01 7:14

But there's been a great group of parents that has stepped up for various aspects of the program and all of the volunteers that we need, and they've become good friends, and they're still gonna let me come back and work in concessions for some free popcorn.

Richard Piet 7:29

Well, let you, they'll probably call you when your child is there and as part of it, and then they move on. Oh man, it it is a threshold of sorts, and uh, even though you may assist, it's gonna be a little different, isn't it?

SPEAKER_01 7:46

It sure is. Yeah.

Music Paths Beyond High School

Richard Piet 7:48

So do you see this, and maybe you see it with your own child? Uh, the marching band bug, I suppose, sticks with them beyond high school. Do some kids uh stick with this and want to be part of this at the college level?

SPEAKER_01 8:02

It does. We have had several graduates from Lakeview that have gone on to their marching band program in college or they're pursuing a degree in music, either to be a music teacher or to play professionally.

Richard Piet 8:17

Yeah, so this uh is one of these things, and we've talked about a few of these in recent weeks, the notion that we're awakening an interest in a young person, and that may very well be what's happened here for some of these marching band members. This can be something over which they develop a passion for years to come. Uh, others of them, I imagine it's uh part of their high school experience, and then uh they move on to uh whatever's next, but this is the opportunity that helps them sort that out, and you've probably witnessed that in your own child. So, in that case, did you see this musical interest at home when your child was younger, and then you developed this, or was this something they discovered when they went to high school and they said, I might like to do that?

SPEAKER_01 9:08

Or my student, my husband and I were both musical and in marching band in our high school career. Oh, got it. So we definitely encouraged it, but that love of music came early when they tried out an instrument at school in like sixth grade.

Richard Piet 9:25

Okay, that's about the timing of it, isn't it? Uh when these things start to awaken. All right. Well, congratulations on that for yourself, but also to all of the Lakeview marching band members.

Event Details And How To Register

Richard Piet 9:38

When is Treble on the Fairway?

SPEAKER_01 9:40

It is Saturday, May 2nd. Registration is from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. And it's at Territorial Brewing Company.

Richard Piet 9:49

And if you want to participate in this, is there an advanced registration or you just march right up on Saturday the 2nd?

SPEAKER_01 9:57

We would prefer that you register online ahead of time, and you can do that at Disc Golf Scene. There's a really long website link for that, but you can also find the link on our Lakeview Spartans bands Facebook page.

Richard Piet 10:13

Yeah, okay, good. And we'll put a link to it too in the show notes for this episode at BattleCreekPodcast.com. So you don't have to worry about the link. Just go there and click through and you'll be able to find it. What's it cost to do this? And you certainly would welcome that, obviously, after this conversation about the support it provides.

SPEAKER_01 10:32

Yes, it is a two-person team format, and so it is sixty dollars a team.

Richard Piet 10:39

So two people play together, and that's the team. And somebody's gonna win this, right? It is a tournament.

SPEAKER_01 10:46

It is a tournament, it is not a cash prize tournament. We do have some really cool band-related trophies for the top three finishers.

Richard Piet 10:57

Okay, so we get to brag about that if we get one of those trophies. Yes. Okay, there you go. Bragging rights up in the air right now. But the Lakeview marching band's treble on the fairway on May 2nd could provide you with that opportunity. Territorial Brewing, 8 to 9 a.m. Registration on the 2nd, and we'll have the link in the show notes at battlecreekpodcast.com. $60 a team. Julie Green with the uh band boosters, marching band boosters at Lakeview. Thanks for reminding us about this.

SPEAKER_01 11:31

Thank you.