Wednesday’s frigid Blue Band rehearsal near Beaver Stadium ended just a little bit differently than most Blue Band rehearsals. The Blue Band’s faculty staff and student leadership received whipped cream and cherries directly to the face.

Why, you ask? Not in the name of science, but in the name of THON.

During the first week of October, the Blue Band THON group ran a “coin wars” fundraiser. Every rank of the Blue Band, consisting of around 16 people each, brought spare change to practice. An intense competition ensued as each rank fought to be the top-donating rank.

The total at the end of the week was an amazing $1,630.83, leaving all estimates in the dust.

Before the fundraiser started, Blue Band THON members set up a chart listing officers and staff members and how much money would need to be raised in order to permit a pie-ing for each person. Topping the chart was Blue Band Director Dr. Richard Bundy, who was listed at $1000.00.

Blue Band THON Chair Moira Davies attributes the success of this fundraiser to the participation of the entire 310 person Blue Band:

I think this fundraiser was so successful because it involved the entire band. In the past a lot of our Blue Band THON fundraisers have been focused mostly on the members of our THON committee and not the band as a whole. Also, everyone in the Blue Band is surprisingly competitive, which helped motivate them to participate.

Davies also tells Onward State that Blue Band THON isn’t stopping after this incredibly successful fundraiser:

So far we are hoping to do a movie night towards the end of October, as well as our traditional t-shirt sale for Blue Band THON t-shirts. We haven’t had a chance to plan too far past that at this point, but with the success of our first fundraiser I think we will have a lot more confidence in proposing new fundraisers for the rest of the season.

The Officers and Staff took each pie to the face gracefully and thoroughly enjoyed what was left on their faces. And although the whipped cream was a little runny from the cold temperatures, the plastic capes kept everything but their faces pie-free. The organizers of the event, Blue Band THON Chair Moira Davies and Co-Chair David Heath each received surprise pies-in-the-face.

Stay tuned for more THON news. You can see all Onward State posts related to THON by clicking here.

[Photos courtesy of Kari Haffelfinger]