October 3, 2001
Students score instruments on sale
Music Boosters holds annual fund-raiser at Oleson Center
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Mimicking a department store closeout sale, the opening minutes of the 10th Annual Used Instrument sale was a mini-stampede as parents of would-be musicians hungered for a bargain.
Scooting among tables heaped with woodwind, brass, string and percussion instruments, the Oleson Center hummed with activity. For three hours Saturday afternoon, children played, parents pondered and roving music teachers bestowed advice as needed.
Avoiding rental payments bought Cindy Conquest to the sale with her son, Christopher Peterson, 11, a sixth-grade student at Long Lake Elementary School. Choosing among a few trumpets, Conquest said she was sure that Christopher would stick with the instrument.
"My oldest son plays the trombone and we ended up paying huge amounts of money over three years to rent one," Conquest said. "I just wasn't sure he would keep going with it but this time we're going to buy because we're sure Christopher will enjoy it."
With some advice from music teacher Dave Cowperthwaite, Conquest left the sale with a trumpet in tow.
Cowperthwaite was one of a number of Traverse City Area Public Schools music teachers at the sale. He helped parents with questions about the brass and percussion instruments, his specialty.
A music teacher at 12 elementary schools working with sixth- grade band students, Cowperthwaite is a strong advocate of the used instrument sale, noting it benefits all parties involved. He even found a keeper for himself at a sale a few years ago.
"The teachers are here to help students find the instrument that is suitable for them," said Cowperthwaite, who has been teaching for 26 years and is also a member of the Traverse Symphony Orchestra. "Teachers come here on their own time to help kids get a good instrument."
The Annual Music Boosters Used Instrument Sale is a fall tradition geared to help parents of beginning music students find an instrument for a good price. It also helps parents of children who for whatever reason - graduation, no longer playing, trading up or playing a different instrument - want to pass on an unneeded instrument that has been gathering dust around the house.
"There are a lot of kids who are starting out and a lot of kids who are trying to step up," said Rosemary Hagan, one of the sale's organizers.
This year's sale featured more than 80 instruments, all of which were professionally appraised that morning by volunteers from Marshall Music. After the appraisal, parents left the instrument and volunteers processed it, labeling and numbering each piece so prospective buyers did not mix up components.
The annual sale also raises money for music scholarships as 15 percent of each sale goes to the organization. The total of 43 instruments sold Saturday raised $1,233 for this fund.
The money will be used to send Traverse City Area Public Schools music students to music camps or fund lessons to improve their skills. This year, the Music Boosters sponsored 25 camp students using funds from the previous year's sale.
While they welcome the opportunity to help music students with scholarships, organizers emphasize that the main focus of the annual used instrument sale is to get instruments in the hands of people who need them.
"Yes, this is a fund-raiser but it is also a community service," said Barb Anderson, the treasurer for the Music Boosters. "We are trying to help that sixth- grade music program, trying to get the kids started."
The Traverse City Music Boosters will help link interested buyers with owners of instruments that did not sell Saturday afternoon. For more information, contact Barb Anderson at 947-3769.