Marching band students start fundraiser to replace aging instruments

LITTLETON, Colo. — Two marching band members from Chatfield High School are leading the way in raising money for new instruments. Sophomores Carter Musson and Sam Stephens are sousaphone players in the school’s marching band whose instruments have seen the test of time. Parts like tubing and valves of their sousaphones have developed holes, which are now being held together by the homemade remedy of duct tape.

“We have holes and leaks that make it really difficult to play the pitches that you’re trying to play,” Musson said. “It makes it sound a lot worse; tone goes down and declines with the holes in our instruments.”

The two musicians must tape up their instruments at least once a week before practice, halftime shows and competitions. The 5A marching band is preparing to compete to qualify for the Colorado Bandmasters Association’s state finals this weekend but the two said the tape jobs have been an issue all year.

“It freaks you out when you miss all of warmup trying to fix your instrument, and so, you’re going on the field without having played much,” Stephens said. “Right before we go onto the field, we have to look each other in the eyes and be like, ‘Ok, forget everything about the sousaphones, just focus on the show.’”

That’s when Musson and Stephens came up with an idea. They started a donation drive to raise enough money to purchase four slightly used sousaphones at a price of more than half the cost of a brand-new one.

“They would cost about $3,400 [each] for a basically new instrument that originally cost over $8,000,” Musson said. “So, we decided to start a GoFundMe so that we could raise enough money to get some new instruments that function properly and will hopefully last Chatfield for a long time even after we’re gone.”

It’s a tune that caught the ear of school principal John Thanos who appreciates the students’ entrepreneurial spirit. The school has decided to match whatever donations were collected through the fundraiser to show support for the marching band.

“They saw that this was an issue, and I just appreciate that they’re like, ‘Ok, how can we problem-solve this, how can we take this on?’” Thanos said. “Through them just taking that initiative, through them critically thinking how to solve a problem, through them advocating for themselves and saying, ‘We’re going to go out into the real world to solve that problem. That is what we would want for any of our students and I’m proud of them for taking that action.”

Musson and Stephen are hoping to raise $17,000 to replace not only the sousaphones but other instruments that need to be replaced.

“With the school matching what we raise, we’re going to be able to get a handful of horns which would just be awesome,” Stephens said. “We’re over the moon about it. It’s just so helpful to feel like your school can back you.”

Both hope their plan is successful so the next generation of high school marchers can concentrate on competing for a state title.

“It’s not just for us,” Musson said. “It’s really important that students in the future who are looking at Chatfield see that we have good equipment, and they want to be a part of the band.”