Saturday 9/24/11

Our first contest is this weekend. Actually, it is two performances. The first will be the WTSBOA Marching Festival. This will not be a contest, but a ratings festival. This means we will not receive 1st, 2nd, etc. Instead we will receive a rating of I if we are superior, II if we are excellent, III if we are good, IV if we are poor. The second will be the Liberty Invitational. This will be a contest. There will be 6 bands in our class, and 4 in our division. A class is made up of bands close to the same size, and they usually give awards for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place band in a class. A division is made up of 2 or more classes. They usually give awards for 1st and 2nd place percussion, guard and field commander in division. Then they give an overall grand champion in a division. With 6 bands in our class and 10 in our division, we will have to perform at our best to receive a trophy.
1) Report time is 9:15 for guard 10:15 for band. We will depart SGCHS at 10:45. WTSBOA performance time is 12:45 pm. Performance time for Liberty Invitational is 6:25 pm. We will be arriving back to SGC around 10:30 pm.
2) I have a few parents signed up to chaperone and help with pit crew/props. It would be great to have 4 or 5 more. The people who travel with the band will get in for free. All others will have to pay the gate fee to get in and watch the events.
3) We will be cooking hot dogs after the first performance for the students to eat lunch. They will need to eat supper in the concessions area in the stadium. We will need a few things to go with this lunch, and I want the kids to help provide some of the food. I will need all woodwind instrument players to help bring hot dog buns and some fruit (bananas, apples) . All brass players are responsible for Chips and Little Debbie dessert cakes. Percussion need to bring some type of drinks (water, cokes, gatorades) Guard need to bring paper plates, napkins, and condiments.
4) Uniform reminders: No jewelry, no make-up, hair needs to be tucked into the hat. We will change out of our uniforms between performances, so they need to bring (or wear) a change of clothes to wear while watching other bands. They may need a jacket that evening.
5) The chaperones job during the competition is to keep an eye out and make sure that no student is behaving improperly, or walking around by themselves. They have been instructed not to travel anywhere alone.

Milan Game Video

Here is the link to the video for the Milan Game Halftime Performance

The Milan EVENT

So this Milan game is going to be a big night for many reasons: 1) It's 8th grade night. They will join us for the National Anthem and pep songs. I think they will be pumped for band after this experience! 2) We are doing concessions! I need as many parents there as I can get. All we do is show up, throw the burgers on the grill, and sell the food. We do not have to buy the food or plan in any way. I just need people to man the stations. It will take about 10-12 parents (a lot at the main concession, and at least two at the drinks-only Pepsi trailer they are bringing in for this game). My goal is to have about 24 parents sign up - that way we can switch out between halves. I realize this means some of you will not get to see the field show, but there will be plenty of shows later (and they will be cleaned up by then). I will have one parent recording the show from the pressbox, and I will put that on youtube or the website ASAP so that you can see it. Besides, a lot of bands have to do concessions at all the game, including buying the food and preparing everything, so this isn't really that bad. 3) I still need 4 parents to sell pom-poms, 2 at each gate. I have ordered orange pom poms that we will sell with the blue ones this Friday night 4) We will be doing the full show with props Friday night. I will need 8-10 parents to help carry them on and off the field ( I will also accept little brothers and sisters and friends, etc.) For this reason, I am changing Thursday's rehearsal to a night rehearsal from 6-8 pm. We will not have an after-school rehearsal from 3:15 to 5:15, we will only have the one that night. We need this so that the parents who plan on helping with the props can know what to do. We will not have another performance before the first contest since next week is the bye week for the football team, so I want to go ahead and get the logistics as organized as possible for this performance. As you can see, I am going to need everybody and then some. I appreciate all the work that you are putting in this year, as we continue to step it up a notch as a school and as a band!

9/7 Announcements

1) We are wearing uniforms this weekend. I will need all students to wear the Band T-shirt underneath, and they need to make sure they are wearing Black Socks. Also remind them that during the 3rd quarter they are only allowed to eat food with no condiments and only drink water or Sprite/Sierra Mist. This keeps stains off of the uniforms.

2) I will need a couple of parents to get here a few minutes earlier (5:15 pm )on Friday to help pass out and inspect uniforms. I had a couple of parents do this last year, and if you want to do it again, just let me know since you know the procedure already.

3) Remember if you signed up as a chaperone or pit crew member for this Friday's game. If you can't remember, I will tell you, or if you do want to be a chaperone, let me know.

4) New York trip deposits are due tomorrow. If you have forgotten, it is ok if they are a couple of days late. I will send in the fundraising money from the Butter Braids last year. If you are not sure how much your student has in their account from that fundraiser, I can let you know.

5) I need the BBQ money in by this Friday. Also, I will need a lot of coolers by next week so that we can store the chicken and ribs in ice after we buy them.