The Kingston Junior High Swing Dance and Silent Auction, “Get Your Kicks on Route 66,” to benefit the school’s Cavalier Band takes place 6-10 p.m. March 10 in the KJH Commons, 9000 West Kingston Road.
The 18-piece Buz Whiteley Big Band featuring vocalists Sue Anderson and John Lind will be playing swing tunes from the 1940s and ‘50s and professional swing dancers from the Seattle Dance Club, Jim Minty and Trula Shaffer, will do some demonstrations. A free swing dance lesson offered by Paula Wood takes place 3-4 p.m. March 9 at KJH. Commons.
The swing dance event includes a silent auction, appetizers and desserts. Donut Hole Gang members (a local classic car restoration club) will bring a few classic cars to add to the retro-swing atmosphere.
The Buz Whiteley Big Band has been existence for about 27 years, and plays events in the area, especially promoting the schools. Many of the musicians in the group are music teachers or retired music teachers. The band was first formed in 1979 the brainchild of Buz Whiteley and Frank Randall for a benefit in honor of county engineer Art Waaga, who was battling Lou Gehrig’s Disease. That gig was such a success that it was repeated two years later and then the band just kept at it.
Silent Auction items donated by local businesses include a bobcat rental from Kingston Rentals, a Pacific Eye Care Center services package, having an address number cut into a rock by Corey’s Signs, a Jerry King hand-finished decorative large metal salmon for indoor or outdoor display, and assorted gift certificates from restaurants and retail establishments. A 20-inch flat screen television donated by Wal-Mart will be raffled off.
Proceeds from the dance and auction benefit Kingston Junior High School’s award-winning Cavalier Band and Marching Corps. The band will march in both the Bremerton Armed Forces Day Parade and Poulsbo Viking Fest Parade May 19 and then catch a bus to Port Angeles to board the Coho ferry to Victoria, B.C. It will perform in the Festival of Bands May 20 and the Queens Day parade May 21.
For the third year in a row the Kingston Junior High School Wind Ensemble will perform the National Anthem at Key Arena for the Sonics game March 4. Only one junior high band is chosen and the KJH ensemble had to pass an audition to qualify.
Funds will help cover costs of transportation, meals and lodging for these trips as well as band instrument repair and a donation will be made to seed the Kingston High School band boosters.
The Kingston Junior High Swing Dance and Silent Auction, “Get Your Kicks on Route 66,” takes place 6-10 p.m. March 10 in the KJH Commons. Tickets are $15 and include refreshments. For more information go to www.kjhbb.org, contact Vicki at (360) 697-5835 or e-mail info@kjhbb.org.
