Front row: Elizabeth Meader, Tyler Helmuth, Lucas Bontrager, Dominic McCain
Back row: Carly Hubbel, Zoe Fisher, Noah Miller, Madelyn Linnell, Natali Miller, Kaylee Shirkee. Photo courtesy of Christine Meader.

The Mid-Prairie band students are tooting their own horns in celebration of some new improvements to be made this fall.

The band department received a grant this year from the Washington County Riverboat Foundation of $29,570 for new instruments. High school band director David Kunz says this money will be divided amongst the different school band directors. Kunz says “I have used these grants over the years to get instruments that we don’t already have, which has been really nice and amazing to be able to do that with the generosity of the Riverboat.”

Kunz plans on buying a new tuba, a wood bass clarinet which Kunz expects to be played by a prospective All-State student this fall, and a “real” bass trombone, which Kunz says the band has never had before. The Mid-Prairie Fine Arts boosters have also pledged $5000 and the middle school has pledged $2000 to replace worn instruments as well.