Jazzing it Up

Remember this? Schools used to be all about the bake sales. Now, not so much. But anyone who is a parent or who lives in a community with kids has probably had first-hand experience with fundraisers. In Howard County, school music programs raise money to support their missions through restaurant nights, working concessions at football games, selling citrus fruit, raffling gift baskets at Pops Concerts, and in many, many other ways.

About twelve years ago, the Wilde Lake Band Boosters sold subs. They made them, they sold them. But parents (and founders of the WLHS Band Boosters organization) Dan McGrain and Jill Lapides wanted to change the fundraising approach. They made a decision to change from food to jazz.

Why jazz? Well, Ms. Lapides had connections to the world of jazz through her son, Alex Brown. In fact Alex was already a professional jazz musician while a student at WLHS. So a jazz concert would allow the combination of a big name talent, with performances by students in the Jazz Ensemble, and it would provide students and the community with a top quality local musical event.

This year marks the eleventh Jazz @ the Lake Concert. This year's event is headlined by Paquito D'Rivera. (Learn more at Totally HoCo.)Alex Brown, now a well-known jazz pianist, and his brother Zach Brown, a bass player, continue to be a part of the event. The money raised is used to support the entire band program (not just the Jazz band) including: adding to the long-term marching band uniform fund, providing for music, instruments, instrument repair, special visits by clinicians, buses for participation in local festivals, and other program needs.

Tickets are $25.00 and you can purchase them here. It's a refreshing addition in a world of food-based fundraisers. Enjoying jazz can be a healthy part of your New Year's resolutions. It's calorie-free, and you might even move around a little bit if the spirit moves you.

Best of all, you can enter to win two free tickets right here just by clicking on the Rafflecopter widget and completing the following: 1) If you haven't "liked" my blog on Facebook yet--please do. 2) Share this blog post ( "A Hot a Night of Cool Jazz") on Facebook or Twitter, using the hashtag #WildeJazz. The giveaway will end January 16th. Enter now, don't procrastinate or you'll miss it.

Many thanks to ScottE Software for helping me to promote this event.

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