Super Bowl Sunday subs secure money for SHS

By Jesse D. Smolin, Record-Journal staff

Students will return to Southington High School during the early hours of Super Bowl Sunday, not to cram in extra studying before the big game or take an extra class, but to make sandwiches.

About half of the school’s 113-member marching band and color guard will make grinders in one of the group’s largest fundraisers. The food will then be delivered to the front door of those that placed orders during the early afternoon, before kickoff, said Joe Foti, the chairman of the fundraiser.

Earlier this month teams of band students, escorted by parent volunteers, canvassed their assigned part of town and set up tables in front of Top’s Supermarket selling turkey, ham and Italian combo (ham and salami) subs for $6 each. Throughout the next week, they took orders from friends, relatives and neighbors, selling more than 1,000 subs.

After expenses are paid, members and the whole band will each keep one-third of the cost of the subs. The money will be used to offset uniform costs, marching band instructors and transportation costs to the United States Scholastic Band Association’s New England States Championship at Giants Stadium every year. The band traveled to Washington D.C., last year, but no trip is planned for this school year, Foti said.

“This helps defer the costs for them so they don’t have to dig into their pockets. How much they can earn is unlimited, it just depends on how hard they are willing to work,” he said.

Last year, band members sold 1,250 subs, with students earning up to $250 each for their band expenses….

Preparations for the sale start in the fall, Foti said. “It seems like we start planning after the last one ended.”

The sandwiches have become a popular community item since they were reintroduced last year, after a five-year hiatus. “The students are helping their high school, they work hard, and it’s a good product,” Shaw said.

The meats will be supplied by Top’s Market, rolls from Bernardino’s Bakery in Chicopee, Mass. Gulf Shrimp Company of Southington also allowed the band to use their refrigerated truck to keep the sandwiches cold.