By Sammi SLAYBACK

The end of a busy week culminated on Saturday with Crescenta Valley High School’s music department hosting their second car wash fundraiser of the school year. The event marked the first time that two car washes were held in the same year. It took place in the faculty parking lot on the corner of Community and Ramsdell avenues from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Just the day before the fundraiser, three divisions of the music department performed at a music festival in Santa Barbara. Both concert band and symphony won first place titles known as “superiors,” while the wind ensemble earned a second place equivalent known as “excellent.” The prior weekend, Jazz Band participated in a jazz festival where they competed against 15 other bands. Crescenta Valley won both first place in their division and overall festival champions.

Following their victories, almost 100 music students volunteered to work the car wash, many staying to help long after their assigned shifts had ended. As car wash organizer Craig Wilson noted, “It’s amazing the dedication these kids have. Many of them ended up working six-hour shifts [at the fundraiser] after attending the event all day [Friday].”

According to Wilson, the car wash is the most successful out of the many different fundraisers held by the CV Music Department year-round. He has been the coordinator for the car washes since 2005 and admitted that, though this event wasn’t the most successful of those he’s organized, it was still very profitable. He attributes that to the faithful parents and supporters that return annually for the fundraisers.

“We have people that tell us they come every year to support the school,” said volunteer parent Michael Salmon.

This time, the fundraiser drew in about 225 customers, making a profit of approximately $4,500 between the $5 service fee and voluntary tips. These earnings will go toward new instruments for the Music Department as well as for payments for future festival fees.

“These fundraisers allow us to purchase instruments that the students probably wouldn’t have access to otherwise,” said Wilson. “Parents can’t usually afford to buy their kids $7,000 tubas, so these donations allow us the chance to provide them.”

The Music Department gave special thanks to Milam, Knecht & Warner LLP for donating the funds to buy the three pressure washers that allowed the fundraiser to run more smoothly this year.

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