Band Hosts Inaugural Fish Fry Fundraiser
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As part of the event, freshman Isabel Espinosa and sophomore Kaley Tellez Rodriguez walk around showing the guests the baskets up for the silent auction.
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Junior Shakira Truong enjoys her time with alumni Kim Nguyen.
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The crowd watches the combined Symphonic and Concert Band perform at the Fish Fry fundraiser event.
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In the middle of the Jazz Lab Band 1 performance, senior Omar Escobar plays his solo.
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(L to R) Pictures of Thomas Hoang, Johanna Hernandez, and Adrian Padilla are displayed with the rest of the seniors in the band program. The pictures were sold as part of the fundraising event, allowing the seniors to keep their pictures.
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Head band director Jesse Espinosa reads out the highest bids in the silent auction.
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Freshmen Isabela Espinosa accompanies the Jazz Orchestra during a cover of “Rocks In My Bed” by Duke Ellington.
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Before the Color Guard’s performance, seniors Sofia Gamez and Elizabeth Pinson help announce the winner of the Astros cap for a raffle.
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Junior Leslie Montalvo and freshman Monica Harbuck perform their part in the Winter Guard’s show, “A Rainy Day.”
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The award winning Winter Guard get into their final poses as their performance closes the Fish Fry event.
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On Friday, March 31st, the band program hosted their Inaugural Fish Fry fundraiser. It was their biggest event of the year, becoming their most successful fundraiser in years with over $10,000 in profit with approximately 700 tickets sold.
“The purpose of the Fish Fry was to raise funds for our Golden Eagle band program to help offset costs for transportation, instrument repairs and for those students with financial hardship,” head band director Jesse Espinosa said. “We also used the event as an opportunity to showcase our performing ensembles.”
Throughout the night there were various performances from Symphonic Band, Wind Ensemble, Jazz Lab Band 2, Jazz Lab Band 1, Percussion Ensemble & Drum Line, the Jazz Orchestra and the Winter Guard. Some of these performances included solos.
“My favorite performance was our first piece that we played for my jazz band,” senior Johanna Hernandez said. “I had to improvise within the moment because it was my first jazz performance with a solo in it. It was very nerve wracking but I was proud of myself that I got through it because it was not with my primary instrument.”
Besides the performances, the event included a dinner plate sale, silent auctions, and a door prize ticket sale. After the event was first pitched to the Klein Forest Band Booster Club by Espinosa and his wife, everyone involved with the program collaborated to make the event a success. Parents helped make the baskets for the silent auction while students helped promote the items up for auction.
“The band members had to be leaders and organize everything,” senior Omar Escobar said. “If they saw something out of place, they had to do it. So besides performing, you’d still have to be on top of things so everything won’t fall apart.”
The band students appreciated the big crowds of people that came in to watch them perform. Whenever they were not performing, they also got the opportunity to enjoy being a part of the audience while hanging out with friends and family.
“I performed like half the time,” senior Alexander Mejia said. “The rest of the time I was just enjoying time with my friends, seeing the alumni coming by. It was a time to enjoy with the family who came and the people who supported us.”
Hi, I’m Geraldine. I’m the oldest of three and my dad's favorite. I’m a very introverted person and my favorite hobbies are writing and reading books...
