Sheila's Baritone Bail-out
Banding is an expensive business. The list of outgoings can scare even the most famous names in banding. From new music, music stands, banners, uniforms, the list gathers pace at an alarming rate. This pressure can be so immense that, sadly, some bands simply cannot overcome it.
The biggest expense of them all, I hear you ask?
Instruments.
These fantastically complex tubes of copper, zinc, silver and brass don’t come cheap. We learned that recently when we discovered one of our Baritones has received a nasty bump during transit. Although insured, this still created an adverse effect on the band’s finances. Fortunately, this is where the supporters of Flowers Band came to help.
Sheila Parry is a Flowers favourite. She travels home and away with the band and is a regular at rehearsals alongside Dorothy Howland. The girls are of such an importance to the band, helping out with CD sales, tickets sales and even running the raffles at our concerts. The proceeds from the raffles have enabled us to refresh our Concert jackets to clothe the new members.
Sheila first met Flowers Band in the 1990’s after attending a concert at the Bacon Theatre along with her partner, Don Browning. Don was a jeweller and watchmaker in nearby Cheltenham and took an interest in the trophies that Flowers Band were displaying at the front of the stage. As it happens, Don was more than happy to engrave every single subsequent trophy that the Flowers Band could supply to him!
Sheila blew us away this week. Due to our Baritone being out of service, Flowers Band began to hire one. Sheila got wind of this and immediately contacted band Librarian and close friend Karin Lythell with an offer to purchase the Baritone for the band. This incredible gesture helped to relieve a significant financial stress off the band. We’d like to offer our heartfelt thanks to Sheila for her continued support and for this act of generosity that means so much to us at Flowers Band.
The new Baritone has already been put into service, with one of our latest members, Jasper Dommett, taking full advantage of the quality of the instrument. It will receive its debut at this weekends British Open Championships at Symphony Hall in Birmingham.
“The instrument is wonderful. It’s such a quality horn to play and I’m so grateful Sheila has entrusted me with it. It’ll be fitting to debut it at the Open, too!” - Jasper Dommett, 2nd Baritone.
Thank you, Sheila!