Story originally printed in the Coulee News or online at www.couleenews.com
Published - Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Panther band will get new uniforms
The West Salem High School band will have a different look in the near future as it will be getting new marching uniforms.
Last week, the West Salem School Board approved the purchase of 160 new uniforms, which includes the coat, the shako — or hat — and the plume.
“It’ll be very exciting to see them marching down the street for the first time,” said band director Dave Kies.
The new uniforms will feature a black and white jacket with a diagonal, Panther-orange stripe across the front. The shako will be white and silver with an orange plume. The new uniforms will also have an orange Panther logo on the jacket’s front, left side — something the old uniforms did not have at all.
At its April 28 meeting, the school board agreed to spend $35,842 on the uniforms. The uniforms will be purchased from Stanbury Uniforms, a Missouri-based company. Kies said the band department should have the new uniforms in four to five months, or at least by October.
The new uniforms will replace the 13-year-old outfits currently used by the band department. The band — which encompasses freshman through senior classes — typically wear the uniforms for about 12 marching performances, including up to five home West Salem football games and seven parades. The band also dons the uniforms for other special events or ceremonies that may occur.
The uniforms will complement the new, black pants the band department ordered last year when it spent $5,700 to purchase 130 new pants. Kies said the department had been purchasing about three pairs of pants on a yearly cycle to replace old pants but decided to buy all new pants at one time.
While the new uniforms will give the band a new and classy look, they will also have a unique effect as well.
“When (band members) have their backs to you, all you’ll see is black from the back of the jacket and the pants, and their sound will be going the other direction and their sound will be a little muffled,” Kies said. “When they turn around, you get the white on the front and white hat and orange plume and the sound will be coming right at you.
“The sound with the colors will hit you. It’ll be pretty neat.”
Students, too, are looking forward to the new uniforms.
“I’m really excited because these new uniforms will give us a new look and sense of pride,” said junior Melissa Schiffer, next year’s senior drum major.
Kies, in his 10th year as band director at WSHS, said the process for choosing new uniforms has been a five-year process. He and assistant band director Kelli Martin have worked with students over that time to come up with the most appealing uniform. Other designs consisted of different color-coordinations of black, white and orange, and the option of putting “West Salem” on the uniform was discussed but was later discarded.
This year’s band consists of 107 students, but next year’s class is anticipated to have 133 students. The 160 uniforms include “extra” uniforms to account for different measurements of students in the future; Kies noted additional pants will need to be ordered in the future as well.
Kies said he anticipates the new uniforms will last at least 20 years. The pants and the jackets are polyester — allowing them to “breathe” easier during warm weather — and the department takes special care of the uniforms.
“We have a phenomenal storage area and we dry clean them every year,” Kies said.
The band department has been attempting to donate the old pants to groups who want them, and Kies said he expects the same will happen with the old uniforms.
Kies extended his appreciation to the school board and the community.
“Just a huge thank-you for the school board’s support and the community for its support,” he said.
Kelsey Pischke, the band’s current flute section leader, said she understands the significance of getting new uniforms.
“It’s kind of neat because schools only get new band uniforms about every 20 years, so it’s cool to be a part of it for my senior year,” she said.
All stories copyright 2006 Coulee News and other attributed sources.