Without the group of parents who form the Analy Band Wagon, there'd be no music program at Sebastopol's Analy High School.
No awards like those harvested by the band and orchestra last month during a statewide competition in Southern California, an effort that required transporting 157 students.
Even Vance Regan, the school's band and orchestra director, said he wouldn't be teaching at Analy if not for the non-profit group of parent volunteers who do everything except teach the students how to play their instruments.
"Quite honestly, I would not be here, because there's no way I would be able to teach music to a couple of hundred students and coordinate the band program at the same time," said Regan, who's been teaching at Analy for 17 years. "Analy Band Wagon allows me to focus on teaching."
Analy's music program is unusual in that so many students at the high school -- 212 of 1,288, or 16 percent -- are enrolled in one of the five bands. Analy is believed to have the highest per capita music program enrollment in the state.
There are three bands requiring differing levels of expertise (intermediate, advanced and honor). There's one for students interested in playing jazz, another for playing instruments in the traditional orchestra.
Most play time occurs during the school day, although the jazz aficionados have to get started before school, at 6:45 a.m.
Analy is also one of the few high schools in Sonoma County to offer multiple levels of music instruction, especially an honor band that plays music written for professional or university groups.
In the recent statewide Music in the Parks competition in Yorba Linda, both the honor band and the orchestra earned a superior rating and a first-place ranking. The orchestra's rating was the highest among all competitors and the honor band came home with the award for best overall high school concert band.
With school budgets so tight and focused on academics, schools are having to rely more and more on booster groups that raise money for everything from sports fields to vocational programs.
"It is no secret that arts in the schools are underfunded," said Rebecca Bondhus-Calley, Band Wagon president. "We get parents who have a long tradition of supporting arts and music programs in the lower schools. This could be their child's last opportunity to play with a music group."
Analy Band Wagon was formed during the 1994-95 school year and it incorporated as a non-profit in 1997.
It operates on an annual budget of about $30,000. That amount pays for uniforms, instruments and their repair, as well as sheet music and fees for special instructors on string instruments, flute, clarinet and oboe. It also pays the salary of program coordinator Marilee Groth, who works out of an office at the school and handles everything from arranging off-campus performances to making sure students show up for them wearing clean shirts.
Throughout the year, the Band Wagon holds several fundraisers, with the biggest effort coming Saturday evening. The jazz band will be featured at a "Moonlight Serenade" fundraiser at the home of Superior Court Judge Mark Tansil and his wife, attorney Jan Tansil, both of whom have been major supporters of arts programs in public schools.
Information on the group and on the event is available at www.analy.org/analybandwagon.
"The Band Wagon keeps a lot of parents involved in their child's education at a time when there are very few other opportunities," said Suzanne Blue, the group treasurer. "The important thing is that the Band Wagon is what keeps the music program going."
You can reach Staff Writer Bleys W. Rose at 521-5431 or bleys.rose@pressdemocrat.com.
