MUSCATINE, Iowa–For close to 40 years, Muscatine High School bands have helped fund their activities through the sale of Koeze Nuts and other decadent treats. A favorite tradition both of band students and the people who shop from them, Muscatine’s bands will sell their delectable holiday goodies through Dec. 10.
To make it easy for the community to find them and purchase Koeze snacks, the Muscatine bands find a location downtown to use as the Band Nut House. For the second year in a row, shoppers can find them in the same space as Muscatine Travel, located at 123 West Second Street in Muscatine.
On Tuesdays from 6 to 7:30 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to noon, students will have the Band Nut House open and ready for people to walk in and buy some of their most popular products on site. These include Colossal Cashews in a 30 ounce decorative glass jar, classic mixed nuts both with and without macadamia nuts, assorted chocolates, chocolate turtles, and malted milk balls. Each of the products the Band Nut House sells come beautifully packaged, ready for people to give as gifts or to use while entertaining. Because the bands purchases the items they keep in the Band Nut House in bulk, they can sell them at $5 to $10 less than their list price. The Band Nut House will also have special open hours during the Jingle and Mingle, giving people extra time to shop while enjoying all the downtown attractions as well.
In addition to the items the Muscatine bands will have on hand, Koeze has many other items available which people may order until Dec. 3rd. Special orders will all arrive in Muscatine by Dec. 10, giving people plenty of time to give them to friends and family members as gifts, or to enjoy themselves.
The biggest Muscatine High School bands fundraiser of the year, the money raised from the Band Nut House helps students with a variety needs. Students who work in the Band Nut House or who make individual sales of Koeze Nuts earn credit, which they can put towards everyday needs such as reeds for their woodwind instruments or oil for their bass instruments, or for bigger events, such as paying the cost of traveling with the band both nationally and internationally. Some of the money raised from the sales also goes to the needs of the band overall, such as ordering new sheet music and covering the cost of hosting the Mighty Muskies Marching Band Invitational.
A yummy way to stock up on holiday gifts and support local music students’ education, Scott Comstock, who helps oversee the Koze Nut sale, encourages people to put a stop at the Band Nut House on their holiday to do list. “It’s such a great cause, and they make great Christmas presents,” he observed. “We have people from Des Moines, Burlington, and out of state still buying from us because they like to give them as gifts.”
