Ottawa Hills Band Boosters Organization
June 2026 Newsletter
A Message from the President
What an amazing year (5 months) this has been! Here is a recap of our first school year…
A team of 20 parents came together to define and launch OHBBO. With the support of the school district, Heather Allred, Bill Gosline, and Jenna Feller, we became officially incorporated on January 1st and received our 501(c)(3) status shortly after (retroactive to Jan 1st).
We established our first budget, banking accounts, financial controls, donation tools, newsletter, website, and social media.
OHBBO has supported teambuilding for the band students by hosting multiple high school team dinners and our first band family dinner, a student logo contest, and highlighting the ES, JH, and HS bands in our newsletters and online. We also provided award funds towards registration fees for the BGSU Jr. High Honor Band participants.
OHBBO coordinated volunteer support for the Music Room renovation project over Spring Break, assistance with setup at the last two band concerts, and help after Commencement. In total, we have had 55 volunteer slots (filled by 38 adults and 17 students), providing 117.5 hours of support. The equivalent of donating $4,404 per state of Ohio calculations!
Our band community has donated $7,245 dollars since Jan 1, to support team building, operational costs, and most importantly, the band program! This summer will be our first investment in the program with instrument repairs/replacement, equipment, and new “bibbers” (overalls) for the Marching Band. Specific details on what your donations are able to achieve will be provided once the instruments are assessed and Mr. Leeds determines how to get the most benefit from the funds available.
Thank you to everyone who has been involved in making this happen, through participation in the development meetings, showing your support at the school board meeting, volunteering, donating, and sharing your time and ideas. I am looking forward to all that we can accomplish for the program next year!
OHBBO President
Heather Phillips
Ottawa Hills 2026 Commencement Ceremonies
Congratulations to the Ottawa Hills 2026 Graduates! OHHS Band performed on a beautiful Friday evening for this year's Commencement Ceremony for OHHS.
A wonderful gathering of future 7th graders performed during their moving up celebration!
Volunteer Update
Thank you to the May volunteers that assisted with arranging seats and music stands between the sections during the All District Concert and helping return items to the Music Room after Commencement.
May volunteers:
Jennifer Kapadia, Emily Mullan, Marcy O'Loughlin, Ash Parsons, Joleen Parsons, Heather Phillips, Val Timmerman, and Jen Tremblay. Thank you to these volunteers!
If you were hoping to volunteer for something this year but missed your chance, there will be some opportunities surrounding the summer high school band camps (late July/early August). We will need volunteers to:
Deliver popsicles to our hardworking marching band members after their afternoon field sessions.
Donate food and help with set up for our marching band bonding picnic dinner.
Assist with uniform fittings.
Keep an eye on your email for details as band camp draws closer!
Join the OHBBO team!
We are looking for more friendly faces to help us support our musicians! We currently have needs for:
Social media liaisons: Love sharing student success? We are looking for 3 people to work our social media--one for elementary band, one for junior high and high school band, and one to cover general band information.
Fundraising committee: Join the fundraising committee and help us brainstorm and execute projects to raise funds for our band needs!
Activities committee: We are looking for both a lead and members to plan celebrations and community-building among our band family.
Alumni outreach: The OH Band Family also includes former band students and their families. Help us connect with past graduates, and stay connected to the soon to be graduating class of 2026!
Reach out to [email protected], or reply to this message, if you are interested in any of these roles!
Business Update
Fundraising:
Many, many thanks to our great supporters who have helped us push even further beyond our initial fundraising goal. In the month of May, donations to OHBBO totaled over $700!! Because of all the incredible donations we have received so far this year, we have extended the goal to include our goal for the first half of the 2026-27 school year.
Just a reminder: anyone who donates before the end of 2026 will be included on the founders plaque!
Check the real time progress towards our goal for this year
How are OHBBO funds being used?
Most of your donations to OHBBO are currently supporting repairs taking place over the summer as we help the band program get caught up on some overdue instrument maintenance. Sending instruments off for repair takes coordination to ensure the work is completed before the students need the instruments in the fall (many of these are Marching Band "color" instruments). Mr. Leeds is in the process of coordinating his repair plan based on funds available from the district, OHBBO, and other sources. OHBBO will also be funding the purchase of some replacement bibbers (the black pants worn under the marching band uniform).
We can't wait to watch this list fill up with green checkboxes and get these repaired instruments back into students' hands by the end of the summer!
Member Meetings
Member meetings will resume in August. Look out for our next newsletter for dates, times, and locations.
OHBBO Student Spotlight
The May Student Section of the Month was the Elementary School Band. Check out the slideshow on our homepage to see photos from events this year and quotes from the Elementary School band students.
High School Band Camp
Week of July 27th: Drumline Camp (see Mr. Leeds' band packet for details)
Weeks of August 3rd and August 10th: Full Band Camp (see Mr. Leeds' band packet for details)
August 12th: Marching band bonding dinner and uniform distribution
August 13th: Marching band concert, 8:00 pm at JSHS flagpole
Full Calendar of Events
Mr. Leeds' 2026-2027 Marching Band Info Packet!
Click the logo below to access the high school marching band info packet for the 2020-2027 school year (a hard copy was sent home with your student).
