Nashville - Moving Ahead!!!

Hello River Hill Band Families!

We have approval from the school for our trip to Nashville, and it is time to move forward. If the check for your first payment has not already cleared, it will within a couple of days. Initially I had indicated that second payments were due yesterday, so I'm going to ask to have them by THIS FRIDAY, please.

Please make your check, in the amount of $200, out to River Hill High School (NOT to the Music Boosters). Write your student's name on the check, and deposit it in the lock-box in the Band Room. The only other method for making your payment is to use money that has accumulated in your student account.

We have a couple of great ways to offset the cost of your student's trip. The first is our ongoing Scrip program, which is maintained by Kathy Hartley. The next delivery of Scrip cards will coordinate with fruit delivery on Saturday, December 17th, and the deadline for ordering will be this Sunday evening, December 11th. You can pay with a check or with PrestoPay. I know that Kathy will be out of town from Thursday to Saturday, so if you need assistance, please contact her at ki.hartley@verizon.net. Also, PrestoPay takes a few days to set up, so if you need to do that you should get started right away. Scrip really is a "win-win" for you, since a percentage of the value of every card you purchase goes directly into your student account, and you can purchase cards for your everyday needs such as gas, groceries, and meals. You can even get "instant" (downloadable) Scrip! Complete information can be found here: http://rhhsband.wixsite.com/boosters/scrip-gift-cards

We have another fundraising program, and this one is being provided to us by WorldStrides OnStage, the company that is organizing the music festival in Nashville. TriQuest cards are like the old "Entertainment" books, but with a couple of significant advantages. One is that it is electronic - you do not have to have a book or a card. The other is that the discounts are not limited to a particular area of region. You just enter the zip code of your location (anywhere in the country) and you have discounts available to you! In addition, you can get the same discount more than once, so you can visit your favorite restaurant, salon, movie theatre, store, or entertainment venue as many times as you like and enjoy the same savings. And....here's the best part: for every $20 card you sell, $18 goes into your student's account. I would encourage you to purchase multiple cards and give them as gifts for the holidays (the Blackmans will definitely be doing that!). I have ordered 200 cards to get us started, and we can get as many as we need. More details will be available by next week, but I figured that you might want to start thinking about this option.

If you have any questions, please contact Esther Evans (esther_evans@hotmail.com) or me. Thanks very much, and thanks for your terrific kids - I am truly looking forward to traveling with them!