GILLETTE HELP

April 1, 2025

Newsletter to follow shortly –

GILLETTE HELP NEEDED ASAP – THIS IS NOT AN APRIL FOOLS JOKE!!

Saturday April 5th – roster needs to be submitted tonight and we have 3 people

Saturday April 12th – roster needs to be submitted no later than Monday, April 7th and we have 1 person

Saturday April 19th (this is the event to help contribute to the senior picnic) – roster needs to be submitted no later than Monday, April 14th and we have 9 people

Sunday May 4th – roster needs to be submitted no later than Monday, April 28th and we have 2 people

We are committed to running BBQ 118 with a minimum of 10 people (14 makes life a lot easier for all of us)

We are dangerously close to losing our status with Gillette which means if we keep backing out of events, we could be moved to the upper levels, split between multiple stands having to share stipends with another group, or have Gillette taken away from us altogether.

We know, understand, and appreciate that everyone has jobs, multiple children, and lives outside of band. We know that the ever changing rules from Gillette are frustrating. We know that not being able to have the student’s help isn’t fair. However, the same 10 people cannot continue this effort. If this year continues on this path we will need to re-evaluate keeping our contract with Gillette and put forth Marching Band and Winter seasons that will look very different than what we have grown to love about our groups.

Short of having someone write us a $60,000 check – WE NEED GILLETTE TO CONTINUE. Please, if you are able, sign up. Sign up as soon as you know. Please do not wait until the week of. We do not have the luxury of giving Gillette our roster at the last minute.

As a reminder, Gillette is more than just your $25 into your student account. Here are some numbers from last year and how it helped.

At the end of band camp, the MBPA provided a dinner for students and families which cost us $789. The funds raised from the Revs v. Columbus game was a profit of $886 and paid for that dinner.
The truck rental & gas for MICCA and the marching band season costs the MBPA $2,684. Funds from the Beyonce concert raised us $2,546.
The MBPA was able to contribute $7,500 to the MetLife Trip, reducing the cost per student. These funds were achieved by staffing the Patriots Ticket Holder Event, the Chargers game, the Army/Navy game, and the Jets game which was a total of $7,853
The truck rental and gas for the color guard winter season costs a total of $2,023. Working the Taylor Swift concert brought in $2,163.
Props for the 2024 Season costs a total of $1,366. Profit from the Revs v. Montreal game was $1,537.
Winter percussion truck rental and gas cost $2,454. We raised $2,447 working just one of the Ed Sheeran concerts.
Working both Bruce Springsteen concerts raised us $3,634 which allowed us to purchase the winter floors which cost $3,994.
We have also purchased mallets, drum sticks, synth and speaker carts which benefit the entire band, including concert band.

So that is $21,006 raised working 11 events. That’s $21,006 that we didn’t have to put onto our families to pay.

All it takes is each family to sign up for 3-4 events to allow us to continue to keep your costs as low as we can. The more we make means we have the ability to make your payments even lower. Conversely, the less we make the more you will owe.

If you have any questions you can contact our Gillette Coordinator Guy Tomase or Katherine Chaloupka at gillette2@mansfieldbandparents.org or Frani Spivak at president@mansfieldbandparents.org.

Thanks for your consideration!

CONTACT: We want to keep you as informed as possible. Please help spread the word. In order for us to be able to contact you via email, you must sign up HERE. Please forward this email to all your friends who have students in the band. Although Mr. DeJoy can message everyone, we need folks to specifically sign up through the MBPA to get notifications from the MBPA.

HOW TO GET IN TOUCH WITH MBPA:

Calendar: mansfieldbandparents.org/calendar

Facebook: Mansfield Band Parents Association

Web: www.mansfieldbandparents.org

Board Members: