This Bud's for baseball, band at 2 schools

By PAT NEWMAN
Staff Writer

Candy and citrus fruit sales may have been enough to finance high school athletic teams and marching bands in the past, but several booster clubs in Fayette County are feeling the pressure to produce big bucks. And how two of the four booster clubs are raising those big bucks may surprise many people.

How? Sell beer.

Enter the world of school boosters becoming big-event bartenders.

The pressure to raise large amounts of money for extracurricular activities set the booster clubs at McIntosh and Sandy Creek high schools looking for higher returns on their fund-raising efforts. They found their solution at metro sports and entertainment events.

Why do boosters need to sell what their student children can't legally consume?

It's the draw of making good money to fuel budgets that climb as high as $110,000.

The ability for a volunteer organization to earn $1,200 on the average for an event at the Georgia Dome, Lakewood Amphitheater or the Atlanta Motor Speedway has prompted McIntosh and Sandy Creek booster clubs, as well as several other school booster clubs from all over the metro area, to contract with concession operators to sell food, drinks and beer.

Booster club budgets might surprise many people.

McIntosh High School's band boosters are working with a $52,300 budget which falls short of anticipated expenses by about $20,000, based on information distributed to the parents of band members.

Fayette County High School's athletic booster club has a current budget of $110,000, according to Don Apking, booster club president.

Starr's Mill High School's athletic booster club budget tops $100,000 this year, president Jimmy McCullough reported.

While most boosters view these activities as a fun and easy way to make money for their schools' programs, and work together as a team, some are critical of the fact that parents are selling alcohol at some of these venues.

A recent letter to The Citizen from a “concerned parent” from Sandy Creek High School questioned the ethics of raising money for the school's baseball team by selling beer at a Lakewood Amphitheater concert, a venture which the letter writer said raised $3,000 in three hours.

“We have been preaching to our children since they were born: don't drink, don't take drugs, don't smoke cigarettes, just say no, etc... I think we are sending the students at Sandy Creek mixed messages...,” the letter read.

Fayette County schools and Georgia's State Department of Education do not pay expenses for athletic teams and bands, which are considered extracurricular activities. Therefore, students and parents must work to support and fund the purchase uniforms and equipment plus transportation.

Marcia Brown, a veteran fund-raiser for McIntosh High School band boosters, said it costs $750 every time the band travels by bus to an away football game or band competition.

“There is no fluff in our budget,” Brown said. When you pay for special music instructors for band sections such as brass or percussion, pay for five to eight band trips a year and replace or fix broken instruments and accessories such as shoulder straps for the drums, the money starts to add up, she said.

Out of the average $1,200 a group makes working a concession stand, the money is divided up among the members and pool.

“We get 10 percent of the total, and from that, the band fund gets 10 percent,” Bob Brown, booster club fund-raiser and Marcia's husband said. The remaining funds are divided up among the students' accounts which are used to defray costs of travel, uniforms, etc., he said.

“There are certain legalities we must follow and we operate as a separate entity from the school,” Brown said. “We work closely with the school, but the school cannot tell us how to spend our money.”

Or how to raise it, according to school officials.

There are no school board policies in place regarding how booster clubs raise funds, and thus no rules about boosters selling alcoholic beverages to raise money for school equipment and activities at which beer would be banned.

Wayne Robinson, director of secondary school operations for the county schools, said each school and its principal have their own system of accounting. Furthermore, booster clubs such as Fayette County High's and McIntosh's Band Boosters are incorporated as nonprofit organizations with a 501C3 tax designation recognized by the state.

While McIntosh and Sandy Creek high schools have booster groups for football, band, and a host of other sports teams, Starr's Mill High School and Fayette County High School each have one overall booster club.

The Starr's Mill Panther Club raises money for all athletic, choral and band activities at the high school and adjacent Rising Starr Middle School, but they do it without selling alcoholic beverages, McCullough said. “We like it that way,” he noted. Their proposed 1999-2000 budget is $100,000.

McCullough said they had “danced around” the idea of working some of the major venues which served alcohol, but backed off, finding it to be a touchy issue among some parents. The Panther Club has successfully raised money through a monthly pledge system of $25 per month per family, a commemorative brick project for the new stadium under construction, and the sale of discount coupons for oil changes and other automotive specials at Kauffman Tire, an exclusive agreement which has netted the club about $10,000.

Apking said the Fayette County High School Tiger Boosters are well-established and have relied heavily on support from local business. “We're leaning more toward corporate sponsorship,” he said, noting Coke's plan to advertise at the stadium. It costs $50 a year to join the Tiger Booster Club, a fee which generates significant revenue, Apking said. In addition, there is the “super booster” sponsorship which generates about 40 percent of the budget, Apking added.

Hawking hot dogs, cokes and draft beer at huge arenas is not for every parent, and Brown was quick to add that McIntosh parents also have the option of volunteering in a number of different ways. “Parents are never forced to work [selling beer],” she explained.

Other fund-raisers on tap for this year's MHS band boosters include a fruit sale, cheesecake sale, lawn displays of flamingos for a $25 donation and helping at the school's concession stand.

Students who join their parent working at the Georgia Dome never come in contact with alcohol, Brown emphasized, and are never left unattended. “We raised close to $30,00 at the Dome and a chunk of that is tip money for selling beer,” Brown said. “I'm happy to take those tips; it paid off our uniforms last year,” she said, noting a total cost of $80,000 incurred for the purchase of new band uniforms.

Brown noted that McIntosh parents also have the option of working the school's concession during home games, as well as providing support in other ways. “It's not for everybody,” he said, referring to concession work at the Georgia Dome or other major arenas.

Students are required to be at least 16 years old to work at the Georgia Dome, but are not allowed to serve alcohol. For other events, such as Wings Over Dixie, set for next month at Falcon Field, all students and parents may work.

Robert McCloud, who heads up the booster club for Sandy Creek High School put the fund-raising issue plainly. “If the individual who wrote the letter would write a check for $80,00 or $90,000 to the booster club, we wouldn't have to fund-raise.”

He added, “It's very important to note that booster clubs are totally independent of the school. They are incorporated as nonprofit organizations and operate on their own bylaws. In no way are our activities intended to undermine the school system,” McCloud said.

The venue operators make the rules for what is sold and who may sell it, McCloud said. As volunteers at the concession stands at Lakewood Amphitheater, McCloud said, “We don't govern what we do,” the amphitheater management does.

While alcohol may be dispensed at one show, it may not be at another. For instance, the NSYNC concert coming up this weekend is alcohol-free. McCloud also emphasized that no parent is forced to participate. “It is totally voluntary.” He advised the letter writer criticizing the work parents do to support student athletes to “take ownership and spearhead other fund-raising activities.”