SEMO trumpeters to host car wash fundraiser

Trumpet players are used to cleaning their instruments, but Saturday, Sept. 23, the Southeast Missouri State University Marching Band's trumpet section will be cleaning something entirely different.

The 20-member section will be holding a car wash at the Sonic Drive-In parking lot at 262 Siemers Drive in Cape Girardeau.

The event, lasting from noon to 4 p.m., will raise funds to send the band to the Bands of America Super Regional Championships on Saturday, Oct. 21, in Indianapolis.

The championships feature high school bands from across the Midwest competing at Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the Indianapolis Colts football team. The SEMO marching band was one of only two university bands invited to perform.

"It's the biggest stage we've had in a long time," said junior Caleb Williford, a trumpet section leader. "It's an opportunity to put us on the map and show everyone what we've got."

The band plans to raise $45,000 to help fund the trip.

By Thursday, Sept. 21, it had raised more than 76% of its goal. The trumpeters aim to boost that amount even higher.

"This is the first time we're really getting out into the community and trying to raise money" for the regional championships, said senior Christopher Mosher, the band's captain and a trumpet player.

A freshman trumpeter came up with the idea. She had worked at that Sonic location and knew they'd allowed other organizations to host car washes there before.

As for the Saturday date, it was simply a matter of convenience.

"It was, I think, the first free Saturday we all had that wasn't a football game or something else going on," said junior Bailey Jennings, a trumpet section leader. "We all thought, 'Yep, this works!'"

The section created and spread posters, both in person and online, to promote their car wash. According to the posters, a suggested donation is $10 per car.

They will be selling ice pops, and Jennings said they could serenade drivers with their trumpets as well.

No matter how many cars the trumpeters wash, Mosher said any amount they raise is beneficial in helping the band meet its goal.

Aside from practicing three days a week, the band also has been preparing for Indianapolis through game rehearsals, sectionals and band camp.

Mosher said, as the band captain, he'd been telling his bandmates to practice as they endeavor to perform in Indianapolis.

He emphasized the difference between playing in a field with no stands versus a football stadium seating tens of thousands.

"Lucas Oil Stadium is ginormous. You do this," Mosher said, bending his head back, "and this is how you see up to the top row. Being big and present is very important."

Mosher said he was thankful the public has shown the marching band such support so far.

He said he was unaware whether any other sections were planning similar fundraisers, but that the band will still be going out into the community for events.