Originally posted in the Tribune Review, March 1, 2016
A sub sale seems like an easy way to make a little cash — order a few subs, pick them up and stand on a street corner or in a parking lot until they're sold.
But that's not the Hempfield Area High School Marching Band way.
In 50 years of selling subs, the band and its supporters have turned a cottage industry into a highly organized, big-volume, major money-maker.
Profits from the monthly sales are used to fund band trips, and selling is mandatory for students traveling with the group. This year's band has 215 members, says band director Brian Tychinski. He estimates that about 90 percent participate.
Sales tend to range from 10,000 to 12,000 per month, Tychinski says. As of the Feb. 20 sale, they've sold about 83,000 subs in the 2015-16 school year.
The Jan. 30 sale set a monthly record at 13,883 orders, according to sale organizer and band mom Dana Anderson of Hempfield.
“I told the kids I want a 14,000 sale before I'm done,” says Anderson, who will step down this spring when her tuba-playing son, Justin, graduates.
It is an impressive number compared to other sub sales.
Ligonier Valley High School football boosters, for example, have three or four sales from February to April, according to sale organizer and club vice president Theresa Salancy. An average of 450 pre-made subs are sold each time, with each sale netting the group about $900.
The Hempfield subs are not pre-made — they're assembled one by one in the wee hours of sale day by band members and parents in the high-school cafeteria.
“People can't believe we do this all ourselves,” Anderson says.
“When you have 215 kids in band, organization is everything,” says Carmen Davidson of Hempfield, president of the band-parent association. “We do this very well, and 99 percent of the time, we do it with a smile on our faces.”
The orders that students gather are due on Monday for the Saturday sale. The numbers are tallied to determine how much product is needed, with orders placed that evening.
For the Feb. 20 sale of 12,800 subs, that meant 5,700 pounds of honey and deluxe ham and salami and 1,000 pounds of yellow and white American cheese, Anderson says.
On Friday afternoon, band parent Eric Ambrose supervises a crew of 40 to 50 students in setting up the cafeteria for the production line. Students are required to do three set-ups per year.
Anderson opens the doors at 3 a.m. Saturday to accept deliveries. Meats come from Silver Star Meats in McKees Rocks, vegetables from Maloberti Produce in Greensburg and bread from Cellone's Bakery in Pittsburgh.
Band members, who must be accompanied by a parent, arrive soon after. About 450 people end up on site.
“They come in dragging, but then, in a while, you'll see them break out singing and dancing,” Anderson says. “It helps that we have two kids to DJ. They take requests, and we try to play upbeat music to keep everybody in the flow.”
In the half-factory, half-dance-party atmosphere, bread and tomatoes are sliced, onions get bagged, meats and cheeses are stacked on trays and set out on rows of tables.
Assembly begins about 4:30 a.m. and finishes from 8 to 8:30 a.m., Anderson says, all to the beat of everything from classic rock to house music.
When the last sub is packed, tables are cleaned and stowed. Students line up to collect their bags and head off to deliver.
Most students pre-sell, but some make agreements with business owners to sell on their premises, Anderson says.
“Our subs go everywhere,” Davidson says. “A family comes all the way from Ford City to Delmont to make a pick-up.”
There also are regular customers as far away as Cheswick and Uniontown, Anderson says.
“Cellone's buys 20 subs from us at every sale to feed their crew,” she says. “It's just a nice gesture.”
A student makes about $2.50 to $3 from the $6 price of an 18-inch sub, with the profit varying according to the cost of supplies, Anderson says. If any money remains in a student's account upon graduation, it is returned to the general band fund to provide lunches during band camp, T-shirts, jackets, snacks and other needed items.
In April, the band will travel to the Apple Blossom Festival in Winchester, Va. In 2017, it will make its third trip to the Honolulu Festival in Hawaii, where it also performs at Pearl Harbor, Tychinski says.
Performance destinations over the years have included the 2005 Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena, Calif.; the Statue of Liberty in New York City; Disney World and Universal Studios Orlando in Florida; and the Fiesta Flambeau in San Antonio, which Tychinski says is the largest illuminated night parade in the country.
The next sale is March 19.