The newest generation of Verbena High School Band Boosters is hoping its second annual Verbena Trade Day will resemble the ones from years past.

Verbena Trade Day was created to raise money for the VHS Red Devil Regiment Band while providing the community with an outlet for music, arts and crafts, socializing and sampling various foods.

“Verbena Trade Day was the event,” band booster Karen Williams said. “They had vendors everywhere, and we would like to get it back to a really large event like that. It died off for a while.”

This year’s event will be Saturday, May 5, from 9 a.m. to about 6 p.m. at Magnolia Park in Verbena.

Williams said more vendors and musicians are welcome.

To help increase participation, the band boosters reduced the original vendor booth fee of $50 to $25 for a 10-by-10 booth space.

“We’re not a large event, and we all came together and agreed that we were charging too much for booth prices,” Williams said. “We hope to get more booths and more vendors.”

The fee for food vendors will be 20 percent of their profit from the event.

Williams said local churches may help supply food. Youth groups can pay a $10 fee to set up games and activities for children.

Admission is free to this event for all ages.

“We’re hoping that it is a lot larger than it was last year,” Williams said. “We’re trying to do this to raise some funds for the band, but most of all, we’re trying to do something for the community.”

Since the band is not funded through school grants, the band boosters hold yearly fundraisers to help pay for band equipment, uniforms and transportation to away games.

“We have to pay for the bus, the bus driver, the gas, everything,” Williams said. “It’s not a free ride.”

For more details or to obtain a vendor application, contact: Matthew Williams (president) at (205) 790-2219 or mattspix22@gmail.com; Ricky Smith (vice president) at (334) 430-3592; Beth Smith (secretary/treasurer) at (334) 430-8782 or bethsmith@hughes.net; and Karen Williams (fundraising) at (205) 258-9743 or thewilliamsbunch8@yahoo.com.