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La Grande Pride
March 2020 • www.lagrandesd.org
MARCHING IN STYLE
LG High School band dons new uniforms
By Trish Yerges
La Grande High School
Band Director Chris Leavitt
announced that this school
year, his marching band
is performing in their new
custom-made DeMoulin
band uniforms.
“We have been trying
to get new uniforms since
about 2012, and we didn’t
have a lot happening in
that direction,” said Leavitt.
“However, two years ago,
the parents of two freshman
band members wanted to
form a committee and get
that process going. Those
two parents were Tressa
Seydel and Heather Null.”
Leavitt met with Seydel
and Null, and they started
a committee. They met and
decided the type of uniform
they wanted, whether that
was traditional or modern,
what kind of fabric they
wanted, the design and the
longevity of the uniform.
“We put it out to bid to
three different companies,
asking for their designs
after telling them what we
were looking for,” he said.
“We had it narrowed down
to two different designs, two
different companies, and
it came down to materials
and appearance. We chose
DeMoulin.”
DeMoulin Brothers and
Company is located in
Greenville, Illinois. Found-
ed in 1892, the business
today focuses on sewn
uniforms for music perfor-
mance groups like marching
bands. LHS had purchased
uniforms from DeMoulin be-
fore, about 20 years ago for
$30,000, but those uniforms
were now falling apart, and
the band was long overdue
for new ones.
“We seem to have a tra-
dition that every 20 years
we replace uniforms rated
to last 10 years,” he said.
“Somehow in La Grande
we make them last twice
as long. We take very good
care of them.”
Consequently, Leavitt
and the committee were ea-
ger to meet with the repre-
sentative of DeMoulin, who
flew out and drove to La
Grande, bringing with him
a mock uniform to show the
committee. The rep walked
them through various pro-
cesses involved in choosing
the right uniform to meet
the band’s needs.
“He was awesome,” said
Leavitt. “His customer
service, the personal touch
really helped us solidify
going with that company.”
The band parents started
an aggressive fund raising
campaign and created a
26-page proposal and pre-
sented it to Superintendent
George Mendoza during his
first year, and to the Tigers
Boosters and Soroptimists,
who wanted to support the
band.
Leavitt was deeply
appreciative for the help of
Seydel, Null and the com-
mittee, along with the help
of the band boosters and the
community at large, who
were able to raise $75,000
in just six months for new
band uniforms.
“That’s a phenomenal
feat,” he said.
The band program has
both grown in size and com-
munity performances and
other things, so the previ-
ous 100 uniforms they had
no longer met their needs.
Leavitt wanted some room
to grow so he requested 125
new uniforms.
The new uniforms have
the logo of the school dis-
trict on the left breast pock-
et, and they have modern,
creased pants called vents.
The vents have 20 snaps on
the inside legs to allow for
auto hemming, so there is
no need for sewn hemming
anymore. The jackets have
the same feature in the
sleeves. As a result, each
uniform can be snapped to
fit uniquely to each stu-
dent’s arm and leg length.
The new uniforms are
modern, sleek and still have
a traditional look. All of
these uniforms are hand
sewn and hand designed.
They are made of dry-clean-
able fabrics, which the
committee felt were more
professional looking than
the machine washable style.
“I’ve worn the old uni-
forms when I was in the
program back in the early
2000s,” Leavitt said. “I’ve
got to see these kids in their
new uniforms, and they
enjoy them.”
The new uniforms have
capes as well as new, more
modern designed shakos
(hats), and the plumes are
bigger and more vibrant.
Each student has a brand
new pair of marching shoes,
a pair of odorless socks,
gloves, a poncho, uniform
garment bags and hat box-
es.
“We got everything,” he
said. “DeMoulin took care
of our every need.”
DeMoulin sent out a
team of designers, and they
personally fitted them to
each of the band members.
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