Student member and band leadership team manager Thad Harges is pictured here with one of the new Sousaphones.

WARSAW — The Warsaw Community High School Band program is on the receiving end of a $5,000 grant from 1st Source Bank and the Esther Pfleiderer Charitable Trust. The grant, along with funds provided by the Warsaw Community Schools Board of Trustees, was used to purchase three new Sousaphones for the Tigers’ Pride Band.

The Sousaphones are part of a strategic equipment replacement plan begun this year, with the goal of replacing aging and non-functional instrument inventory across the district, some of which was originally purchased more than 50 years ago.

In addition, the band looks to raise $20,000 over the course of the year toward the purchase of new uniforms. The WCS Board of Trustees has agreed to provide funds for half of the total uniform cost, with the band boosters hoping to contribute the remaining half through local business partnerships and individual donors.