By Matt Sweeney
Round Table reporter

Being a member in the Middletown High School band entitles me to participate in the annual Tag Day fundraiser. This was my second year participating, and I have been shocked both times.

To me, it is amazing how much support the band gets. Over 75 percent of the houses that I went to gave donations, from a dollar up to a one-hundred dollar check. I never would think that so many people support the MHS band organization.

Last year, my group alone made almost $500 from asking around in only one of the many neighborhoods in Myersville. Similar results were reported to the band boosters by some of my friends who participated in the event.

Whenever I get back to the school and see the groups pulling in, I overhear people discussing the crazy stuff that happened to them while asking for donations. I heard about a man that would not give a donation because the student did not play a certain instrument. Another one of the students had to go collect the donation from the man.

I started off by getting in my band uniform, which kept me warm while I walked around the neighborhood. I found members to join together with to be a group and when ready, my group set out to our assigned neighborhood to begin.

My group split into groups of two and each group took one side of the street. We slowly made our way through our area, asking the local residents for any donations to help us buy our new uniforms.

My second and third houses started off the day badly. A loose dog almost jumped on top of me and, while I was talking to a resident, a wasp hovered right in front of my face.

Although the day started off on a bad note, it slowly got better. My group got incredible donations more than $600 total during the day.

I met many former band parents during my shift. I met the parents of the drum major from 1996 and the mother of two former band students that have graduated.

I was incredibly tired after my shift, but happy that the day went well. Perfect weather, good donations, and talking with my friends made Tag Day a great day, and I will definitely be participating next year.