The St. Louis steel bands are putting on a fundraiser for the next few months: popcorn Thursday!

In elementary and middle school, the highlight of students’ weeks were popcorn Fridays! Students paid 50 cents to receive a bag of popcorn to snack on in class. Now you can relive the good old days with a bag of popcorn during advisory on Thursdays! This fundraiser is going towards the Steel Band trip funds as well as other expenses in the band program this spring.

Steel Band club member, Maria Trevino commented, “I think the popcorn fundraiser is going to be very successful for raising money. I think we should do this continuously in order to raise money for our trip to Ohio… which I’m excited for!”

After years of no steel festivals, parades, or concerts, the band is very excited to go on a big trip! The steel band class and club bands will be taking a charter bus down to New Philadelphia, Ohio to perform in the steel festival the high school puts on. They will also be stopping at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to see the sights, and hopefully be able to put on a concert. Earlier in the week, the bands will also be performing at the Hastings Jazz Festival. The participation fee covers the cost of transportation, hotel rooms, food, the hall of fame tickets, and more. Mr. Lawhorne hopes to fundraise enough money for people to maybe even have extra money for the trip. 

Sophomore Hannah Bobzien is very grateful for this fundraiser. She said, “This fundraiser helps the steel band kids with so many things on this trip. I myself can’t afford to pay the full fee, so this fundraiser is a huge help for me. The funding also goes towards our trip fees and much more. I am still in awe at the fact that we get to go on such a trip as a steel band. I really hope this fundraiser goes well for us, so that we won’t stress about the trip.” 

There are many opportunities for the band program coming up. There is a concert for all Jazz and Steel Bands on March 8, all concert bands on March 17, the Hastings Jazz Festival for the Jazz and Steel bands, the spring trip, the Cheeseburger Festival performance, the Highland Festival parade, and the Memorial Day parade.