Kenosha News article

January 9, 2007

(page 2)

So Phase Two of Tremper’s Recovery Project will work to correct that student-to-instrument ratio by soliciting donations of instruments, music method and instruction books and maybe even a set of choir robes.

“The robes, that’s kind of pie-in-the-sky,” Amborn said. “But maybe there is a church that has an old set. You never know until you ask.”

While Tremper will be accepting donations through Jan. 26--when the school is planning a collection day in the schools commons-local instrument-maker Leblanc has already arranged a donation. Erich Merrill, a drafting engineer at Leblanc in Kenosha, heard about the instrument drive from his fiancée, a unified teacher, and pitched it to the company.

“We have instruments that were used for engineering purposes that have been sitting on shelves,” Merrill said. “We’re going through what we have to get an idea of what we can donate.”

So far that means about 30 trumpets and trombones, Merrill said, but Leblanc employees are just getting to their clarinet stash and hunting around the company for instrument cases they can donate.

That Merrill called out of the blue is further proof of the Recovery Project concept for Hardy.

The recovery project is also hoping for cash donations to provide McDonogh’s students with some notes to read. They would rather leave it up to the music teachers at McDonogh to pick school band-appropriate music than take sheet donations unearthed from a Kenosha basement.

Checks can be dropped off at the Tremper office, and made out to Tremper High School.

Amborn doesn’t want to seem unappreciative, but it’s also better that the instrument come in in playable condition. And—after a student offered to donate his family’s organ—that the instruments are suitable for school use.

“We don’t have an organ here at Tremper,” Amborn said. “If we don’t need it here, they probably don’t need it there.”

As with the book donation, Hardy said, instruments McDonogh cannot immediately use will not be packed away in a storage room.

“If this becomes a huge phenomenon—and I hope it does—McDonogh will definitely get what they need out of the donations and then spread the rest around to other schools that need it,” Hardy said. “They’re very good about that in the city.”

Hardy is posting Recovery Project updates on a website,

www.trempergirlssoccer.com, and working on recruiting more Wisconsin schools to partner with New Orleans schools. The Tremper community has certainly responded well, he said.

“I’m excited too,” Amborn said. “But not because it’s a fun thing. I’m excited because we can make a big difference.”