LEBANON — Professor Harold Hill would have had an easy sell here. As this historic community has grown, longtime residents and newcomers alike have helped to swell the schools' band programs. But growth and success come with a price tag attached.

        “We have to raise a lot of money for our instructors. We're trying to think ahead about new uniforms for the marching band, and we need instrument repair at all levels,” said Casey Collins, a Lebanon High School senior and vice president of the school's marching band and concert band.

        With those goals in mind, the Lebanon Band Parents' Association is hosting a Spring Swing Dance today. It wasn't hard to come up with entertainment: the high school jazz band headlines the show. There will be food, contests and prizes.

        The proceeds will help rehab some large band instruments, such as tubas and drums. Funds will help pay for Lebanon's percussion instructor as well as its guard instructor, who trains the band's flag corps. The band is also hoping to hire a drill writer to help the high school marching ensemble choreograph its field footwork.

        “There's a certain amount allocated through the schools, but not enough to cover our needs,” Casey said. “We have to do as much fund raising as we can.”

        Band members help out at regional music competitions in exchange for donations to their program. The jazz band performs at every gig it can book. But as Lebanon's school-age population grows, so does its instrumental program, and so do costs.

        “When I got here in 1994-95, there were 53 students in the high school band program,” said band director David Iannelli. “Next year we'll have more than 120. A lot of the growth has to do with the parents' and administrators' support of the program, and the kids are just top-notch.”

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