The band program will hold its eighth annual golf tournament on May 31 at Indian Creek Golf Course with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. The event will have golfing, silent auctioning and side contests.
The tournament is organized by the Hebron Band Committee: a group of parents, relatives and staff who are involved with band. Each member focuses on a different aspect of the tournament, such as finding sponsorships, marketing and finding student or parent volunteers. The committee holds weekly meetings to keep track of everything for the tournament.
“Every week, we have an agenda of items that we need to cover and get through,” sponsorship coordinator Sarah Durrant said. “People [will give] status updates on the silent auction donations [and] volunteers.”
One of the main things the committee focuses on is getting more people to sign up for the event. The entrance fee for one person is $150 and a group of four is $600. Students get a discount, paying $125 for two spots. These costs will help fund the band for the next marching season.
“It is very expensive to plan the marching [band] show,” graphic designer and volunteer coordinator Nikki Wilson said. “[For] all of the things that go into making the band operate, we only get a certain amount of money from the district. We have to raise funds to meet the incremental expense that goes along with that.”
The head planner of the tournament, Mark Haegen, added new features for this year’s event. Along with the regular golf tournament, there are now driving contests, “hole in one” contests and a silent auction. The added activities will also allow participants to get a chance to win a trip to other golf courses.
“At the end of the day, what we’re trying to do with this event is have everyone that participates have a really good time,” Haegen said. “This is the eighth annual golf tournament, and we want people to [be] anxious to sign up and play [next year].”
The golf tournament is one of the last times that graduating and returning band students will be able to participate in the same school event.
“I feel like [seniors who play golf] aren’t part of the Hebron band [anymore], but helping [out] the band,” senior band squad leader Michael Roman Brown said. “Instead of being the worker, [we’re] now the customer.”
The class of 2024 was the last students to have experienced COVID-19 during its high school years. The 2024 graduating class are the smallest group of seniors the band has had, as many quit during the COVID-19 pandemic. The seniors of this year will use the golf tournament as a last goodbye before they let go of the Hebron band.
“[This] group of kids is special because they had to have a lot of grit and perseverance to get through that season of band [in 2020,]” Durrant said. “They persisted in a time when it was not easy, so [this tournament] is a great opportunity, [and a] kind of a last hurrah for them.”
