'A big deal for students': Dover High School raising money to replace old band uniforms

DOVER —Dover High School Marching Band member Lucas Cabral cannot wait to get his new uniform.

"The uniforms that we have now are from 1999, and may look good on the field from far away, but from up close we are missing buttons, zippers, and there are stains all over them," Cabral said. "Since they are old uniforms, no matter how many times they're dry cleaned, they still smell of years past."

Marching Band students have been performing in the same uniforms for more than two decades and that's more than enough. The band is retiring their outdated uniforms and raising money to purchase new ones – a move that leaders in the band program say is long overdue.

It’s a costly replacement, which is why the purchase has been delayed. The Dover Parents Music Club has been setting money aside for several years. To replace 80 uniforms will cost roughly $40,000, or $500 per uniform.

Students use the uniforms all marching season for every performance, football game, parade and competition.

Katy Cox, a treasurer of the Dover Parents Music Club, said that the uniforms are showing their age.

“They’re not just outdated, many don’t zipper, button or snap, have stains and the fabric is very worn,” Cox said. “These uniforms have had quite a long run, we’re overdue for new ones.”

What will the new uniforms look like?

The new band uniforms include hats and plumes, jackets, pants, accessories and hat boxes.

Trends change over two decades. Students are trading in the white uniforms with a yellow and green swirl on the front with a design that is more streamlined as a white uniform with a D in blackletter font on the chest, and a green and gold stroke mimicking the green wave Dover emblem. The former black hats with white plumes will be traded in for hats designed to complement the design of the front of the uniform, with green and white plumes.

The students took part in designing their new uniforms. Director Jim Butka asked students to vote on their favorite designs, which narrowed it down to the one that was chosen.

“We found a design that everyone really agreed on,” Butka said. “It's nice to see the efforts of these students be rewarded. They work very, very hard to perform a show every year. This is a big deal for the students, everyone is looking forward to it.”

“I know they will really shine in these new uniforms,” Butka said.

Butka said the uniforms are purchased, and their final payments will be due when they are shipped out mid-marching season in September or October. He said that uniforms are a once in a 10-to-20-year purchase, so a lot of thought was put into a design that would remain fresh and contemporary 10 years from now.

Cox said that a sample uniform was sent to the school, and it was well-received by the students.

“Coming out of a pandemic, these kids have been through a lot,” Cox said. “Some haven’t experienced the full marching-band experience yet and it’s a nice bonus to have them looking and feeling good in new uniforms as the program gets back to some normalcy.”

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Raising money for new uniforms

The uniforms are being purchased in partnership with the City of Dover, which is matching a certain percentage of donations the music club raises.

The music club has already raised $19,000 but is working to raise an additional $4,000 to cover costs. The parents and directors have set up a Go Fund Me to help raise what they need. Any additional funds raised will go toward other uniform needs which include replacing old Chorus uniforms, Concert Band uniforms and Marching Band raincoats.

“The fund that we’ve been building up over the years is due to the countless donors who have supported us. From our community, band alumni and their families, to everyone who has supported our concession stand, annual band show and fundraisers,” Cox said. “It was made possible by donors like the Rotary Club and the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation's An'gela Song Fund that got us to the point where we could pull the trigger on choosing the new uniforms.”

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'Just the culture of the band'

The Dover Marching band has just under 80 members enrolled in this next season. Butka said the band is starting to see a decline in enrollment as a result of the pandemic, where younger students may have felt discouraged to join because of remote learning.

Aside from the annual band competition Dover holds, the band marches in several competitions in Maine. One of the band's greatest achievements is its winning streak in the Maine Band Directors' Association marching band finals. Dover has received the highest honor of five gold stars and gold metal for the last 14 years (aside from 2020 when the competition was cancelled), Butka said.

“That is something to be proud of, and is a testament to how hard our students work,” Butka said.

Butka said that in his 33-year tenure as a teacher, he’s seen that programs like band can make a profound impact on a student’s high school experience.

“I’ve been doing this a long time, and I don't know of another activity that will bring kids together more than this,” Butka said. “The way these students lead and work collaboratively, you're hard pressed to find a student not giving 110% because it's just the culture of the band.”

This article originally appeared on Fosters Daily Democrat: Dover NH High School raising money to replace decades-old band uniforms