Dressed in full attire, 40 members of Iola High’s Marching Mustangs paraded into Walmart early this morning, intent on making a merrier Christmas for elementary school students.
They succeeded, in short order. Divided into groups of four, the high-schoolers dashed through the store scoring presents for a preselected group of kids.
The group of Megan Klubek, Lois Weide, Karima Hall and Quentin Mallette were charged with finding size 1 boy’s shoes. They wove their way through a couple of aisles until finding the appropriate section, then leafed through smaller sizes until one realized size 1 was larger than the 8’s and 9’s.
Next came a shirt and a coat. Then toys.
Mallette kept track as the costs mounted.
The shopping blitz started about 8:15 and by 8:30 the band members were done.
All the while Matt Kleopfer, their director, kept tabs with a video camera, making a permanent record of the kids’ charitable venture.
Money for the shopping spree came from stipends the band earned from participating in parades during the fall semester. Middle school students will wrap the gifts.
Student Santas
