The Car Wash-A-Thon is an event held at Okemos High School on a Saturday in September, rain or shine. This is quite the event, one which involves all band members as well as their parents. It is great fun, and gives the parents the chance to work side by side with their son/daughter, as well as with other band members.

How does the car wash work? Students and parent volunteers form two lines consisting of five steps: spray down, wheels/tires, suds wash, rinse and dry. Every half hour or so the groups rotate so everyone gets the chance to do one of the five steps, as well as to take a rest and grab a bite to eat.

The car wash itself is free to the public. Money is raised by the students collecting pledges based on the number of cars washed. With great participation and effort, we have been able to wash about 500 cars. In 2006, we washed 546 cars. This generated a total of over $20,000! As an example, if we wash 500 cars, and a student gets 20 pledges at two cents each, his or her total pledges are $200. Of this total, a designated amount (currently $80 or $40 during "Big Trip" years) goes directly to the band equipment fund, and the remainder ($120) goes into the student's trip account. The more pledges a student gets, the more $$ they have to go towards their trip account.

This is, by in large, the fastest and easiest way to collect a lot of money in a relatively short amount of time. If every band member collected $200, the total profit for the band and students would be approximately $32,000!!! This fundraiser is very successful, and is a marvelous way for the students to give something back to the community for their support of the OHS bands.

 2008 Car Wash-A-Thon Final Total - 522 Cars

THE FOLLOWING IS FROM OUR CAR WASH CHAIRPERSON:

Dear band parents and students,

We did it! We kept the tradition intact: 1.) over 500 cars washed
2.) NO RAIN! (19 years in a row!) and 3.) a great band community event!

Too many people are responsible for the success but most of all the
parents who volunteered and the band students for their hard work before
and during the car wash-a-thon. I thank all of you for your efforts and
dedication. A huge thanks goes out to all of our sponsors. Please get
the list and patronize our sponsors. They mean a lot to our success.
The band will benefit from our efforts for some time to come. THANK YOU
ALL!

Special thanks go out to Jean "The Dancin' Machine" Jorgensen, Vaughn
and Lori Beck, Julie Creemers and Mark "I'm a New Daddy" Stice for their
assistance in preparation and for their day-long efforts on Saturday. I
also want to specially thank our new Superintendent of Schools, Dr.
Cheryl Kreger for not only bringing her car in to be washed but for
taking the time and working as a greeter at the Car Wash-a-thon! Don't
believe it? We have the photos to prove it! THANKS Dr. Kreger!
Additional thanks to Dr. Lanzetta, Keith Froehlich, Mike Backus, Kathy
Horsch and Al the custodian! Sorry Al, I didn't catch your last name!

The Okemos Band is a very special community within the community of
Okemos High School. I'm proud to be a part of it. The car wash is
successful only because the entire band community gets involved and
makes it happen. Great job, everybody! Let's do it again next year!
At the car wash, yeah!

Larry Leece