Annual Marching Band Tag Day: A Day of Unlimited Outcomes

Surprisingly, it takes a boat-load of confidence to knock on a stranger’s door. As simple and uniform as it seems, my nerves are on edge every time.

As a freshman, last Saturday was my first marching band Tag Day. It is a day where the marching band goes door-to-door, asking the L-S community for any donations. We are randomly sorted into groups of three or four, and we walk together throughout an assigned neighborhood in our uniforms, asking for any donation. Every donation goes towards new instruments, color guard flags, and transportation to away games. Tag Day is our marching band’s only fundraiser each year, so we take it seriously.

Tag Day, besides the obvious financial benefit, is a way to buffer social skills. With every front door comes a new chance to experience a unique situation and response. We practice diction, enthusiasm, and posture at every doorstep, hoping that our smiles will earn us an extra dollar or two.

Now, we dictate what we say and how we act, but unfortunately, we cannot even begin to expect how someone could respond to our fundraiser. Sometimes, they greet us with a pleasing smile and a few dollars. Other times, we aren’t so lucky. There is marching band folklore of the horrendously awkward encounters of Tag Day. Every year, we share new tales of doors slammed in our faces and patrons greeting us in only their bathrobe. But the tale most heard is the family who pretends they aren’t home- toys still cast out on the driveway and lawn, garage door wide open, radio blaring, and lights shining bright. It is as if someone spread the warning of the marching band’s arrival.

Beyond the doors, we grow stronger as a band. Those painfully awkward stories bond us together. We help each other remember our door-to-door speeches, making to include everything that could effectively persuade someone to give. Our tedious duties of Tag Day brighten with the conversations with our band mates, making a seemingly ordinary Saturday one to remember.

As the day comes to a close, the relief and pride in our earnings and kindled friendships ignite a bonfire of spirit for the oncoming season’s games.

--By Alyssa Zaepfel, LS News reporter