The Russ-Town Band is proud to announce it’s 501c3 non-profit status. The band has been working diligently since late 2023 to form a board, draft by-laws, and complete the necessary steps to become a non-profit organization. The officers are President, Brian Lassiter, Vice-President, Jonathan Ayres, Secretary, Joseph Ham, and Treasurer, Dr. Stan Cronk.
The next opportunities to hear the band in concert will be Thursday with the Ruston High School percussion ensemble kicking off the night at 6 pm and the Russ-Town Band taking the stage at 7:30 in the Ruston High School Auditorium performing “From Russia With Love”.
Saturday, June 7 at 9 am in Railroad Park, the band will kick off the musical lineup for the 75th annual Louisiana Peach Festival. Saturday, June 28 at 2 pm in the Ruston High School Auditorium the band will present “The Music of John Williams”. All of our concerts are free to the public.
Since its inception in 1994, the all-volunteer community band consisted of basically one person organizing the concerts and doing most of the work necessary to put on the concerts. The band decided to form a non-profit which provides a leadership board to make decisions for the band, better organization in terms of spreading responsibilities and tasks, and the ability to accept donations and sponsorships to provide funding for things such as new music, costs related to putting on free concerts, and future endeavors to benefit the community through music.
Special thanks to Landon Tooke of Tooke Law for assisting the band with drafting by-laws, providing legal counsel, and filing the necessary paperwork to become a non-profit organization.
The Russ-Town Band is also now a member of the Association of Concert Bands (ACB), a national organization dedicated to the support of concert bands across the country. The ACB also has resources available such as music licensing agreements, yearly conventions to provide networking, educational workshops, and musical performances, and many other learning opportunities through online access and publications.
For more information about the band, please visit www.russtownband.org or follow them on facebook.com/russtownband
