After a three-year hiatus, the Mankato 77 Lancers’ 30th annual garage sale filled the gymnasium at Dakota Meadows Middle School on Saturday.
The 77 Lancers Marching Band Parent Association sponsored the fundraiser and used it to kick off its 2024 season recruitment efforts. Last year, just the Lancers’ second year of field marching, played a role in doubling student numbers which had fallen to historic low levels due to the COVID pandemic.
Mike Menne and his son Noah manned one of dozens of tables set up by Lancer students, families and supporters of the longtime District 77 co-curricular activity. Menne believes Noah might be the first third-generation Lancer and praises the organization’s special place in the Greater Mankato community.
“It’s been a good organization for everyone,” Menne says. “The bonds that the students form makes it special. The lifetime relationships, the community. It’s all great.”
Menne says Lancers student numbers dipped to 45 during the pandemic. Now, after this spring’s registration blitz, numbers are expected to hit about 90. And there’s a place for students of diverse talents.
Menne’s son, Noah, is an auxiliary percussionist and has the novel status as one of the few non-District 77 students in the Lancers organization. As a freshman at Minnesota New Country School in Henderson, Noah was “grandfathered in” because other siblings had been Lancers participants.
Mankato West freshman Ella Haggerty switched from the flute to the tuba, which doesn’t seem like a fair trade for a marching band member. But she looks forward to the upcoming field marching and events season.
“I really like all the skills needed with it and the community that comes with it,” Haggerty said.
Fellow Lancer Anna Olsen, a Mankato West sophomore, plays the mellophone. She, too, looks forward to the upcoming 2024-25 marching season, one that’s been delayed since the 2020-21 season.
When asked what a mellophone was, Olsen smiled and explained:
“It’s a big trumpet, a cooler trumpet,” she said, one suited for marching band. Olsen plays the French horn in concert band. Does she have a preference?
“I don’t,” Olsen said. “They have their unique charms.”
The tentative 2024 season performances include U.S. Bank Stadium, the Minnesota State Fair, an optional Walt Disney World trip, four to five Twin Cities shows, two to four East and West halftime shows, and the traditional “Pie in the Park” fun day in Sibley Park, Mankato.
The Mankato 77 Lancers organization is led by director Brady Krusemark of West and assistant director Eric Zimmerman of East, a unique district-wide cooperative effort. The percussion lead is Michael Thursby and the color guard lead is Sarah Thursby. The Lancers organization is open to current 8th-11th-grade students enrolled in District 77.
While registration runs through the spring, rehearsals really take off in June, with one to two per week during June, twice weekly in July, along with a four-day band camp the last week in July and/or a five-day camp the first week in August. During August, rehearsals jump to three times a week.
The optional Disney World trip is set six days over MEA Week in October, with a full Florida tour. While there is a cost to participate, plus for the Florida trip, scholarships are available, funded in part to events like Saturday’s garage sale.
Kelli Milbrath took over the public relations and marketing role for the Lancers this year.
“Last year was only the Lancers’ second year field marching, and we secured second place in Minnesota in our class,” Milbrath said. “We have big plans for 2024 and hope to secure that top spot this year.”