Marching Ghosts to Get New Duds

Members of the Abington High School Marching Band may be able to put away the thread and duct tape this season.

Last week, the school board approved a motion to accept a bid from Stanbury Uniforms in the amount of $49,059 for 130 new marching band uniforms.

The new uniforms are white and maroon in the front; a canted, stylized “A” is prominent and separates the two colors. The back of the uniform is black.

The new uniforms are made from a material called Xtreme Dri Polyester, which whisks sweat away from the musicians’ bodies, according to Abington Marching Band Director Joseph Detato. He added that the material “has more give” to it, which allows students to wear another layer of clothing under the uniform in cold weather.

More importantly, though, the uniforms replace the aging Dacron wool outfits—which were 11 years old.

Chelsea Burkart, who graduated this year, modeled the sample uniform for the school board, which was included as part of the bid process. Burkart was part of a committee that decided the design of the uniforms; the committee also included teachers, administrators and members of the community.

Burkart was the band’s drum major for the past two years, and served as the band’s assistant drum major prior to that. She started out as a piccolo player.

“The new uniforms are updated, comfortable and stylish,” Burkart said in the hallway after she modeled the outfit. “Compared to the older uniform … it’s just clean,” she said with a laugh.

“Aren’t they great looking?” Detato interjected.

The purchase order for the uniforms was sent out Aug. 10; Detato said the uniforms will likely arrive in 75 to 125 days.

If the musicians are lucky, they will be able to unveil their new uniforms in late October during the Bands in the Boneyard event—the band’s first home show, Detato said. If the uniforms don’t show up by late October, the band will unveil the new uniforms next year.

Abington Superintendent Amy Sichel said each new uniform costs about $100 more than each of the 11-year-old outgoing outfits did.