Clintonville Class of 1975 donates electric guitar, amplifier
By Bert Lehman
Clintonville Class of 1975 has donated an electric guitar and an amp to the Clintonville High School Jazz Band.
The donation comes one week after the jazz band received a donation from the Mark Joy Memorial golf outing to purchase a new drum set.
“It’s great to see so much support from the community and we really appreciate all that support, especially when it’s a surprise. It’s a great feeling at the beginning of the year,” said Josh Heyer, band director at Clintonville High School.
He added, “Those were two really amazing donations. Our drum set is pretty old and within the district we’re down to some pretty old equipment and it gets used all the time. Whenever it can be updated it’s fantastic.”
The guitar and amp donation caught Heyer by surprise, but he said both items are needed.
He said the amp the jazz band currently uses works, but it is old.
“It’s not necessarily one you can always trust to pop on right away,” Heyer said.
The electric guitar is a welcomed addition since the jazz band didn’t have one of its own.
“The guitar we’re using is my old guitar from high school and it still needs some switches replaced and it was never that great to begin with,” he said.
Heyer said the jazz band has two freshman guitarists this semester, and only one of them had their own guitar to use.
“[It’s great] for them to be able to have something at the school to play and not have to drag theirs back and forth,” Heyer said.
The new equipment will also make it easier for students to learn.
“There is nothing more frustrating than watching them use my guitar and saying, ‘You have to wiggle that switch and then it will work.’ A lot of older instruments are in great shape, but we definitely had no guitars,” he said.
Mike Krueger said the planning committee for the 40th reunion for the Class of 1975 decided to conduct a raffle at the reunion, which was held during the summer. Jeannie Sasse and Chris Sasse served on the planning committee along with Krueger.
Krueger’s daughter, Emily, is currently in jazz band, so when deciding what to put the raffle money toward, he consulted her to see what the jazz band needed.
He said the amp and guitar donation was valued at around $375.
It was the first time the Class of 1975 conducted an activity at one of its reunions to raise money for something at the school.
“It would be nice if other class reunions, when they have it, would look at doing something specific for something in the school,” Krueger said.
Heyer said more students have taken jazz band this school year.
“We’re really looking forward to getting that opportunity for the students to use some nice equipment and build our group,” Heyer said.
He said the public will be able to see and hear the new equipment in action at the Pops Concert Oct. 19, which will include the jazz ensemble and concert band. A winter concert will take place on Dec. 7. Solo Ensemble is scheduled for March and a spring concert in May.