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Parents, Welcome back to all students. We
hope you had a well rested and well deserved break. While we had our time
to rest and not think about band, one of our band students continued on as he prepped
and performed for the 2009 Rose Bowl parade. CJ Hall had the distinct
honor to play with the BOA All Star Marching Band at the Rose Bowl Parade on
January 1st. His experiences were great and I’m sure he’d be
more than happy to tell you about them. On behalf of the entire Sound of
the Braves organization, CONGRATULATIONS CJ on an amazing accomplishment! Midterm exams are next week. For
those of you that did not receive the schedule, here it is. You will see
that there are no short days in this schedule. FALL 2008 SEMESTER EXAM SCHEDULE MONDAY –
JANUARY 12
TUESDAY –
JANUARY 13
WEDNESDAY –
JANUARY 14
THURSDAY
– JANUARY 15
There are a couple of changes for the next
semester you need to be aware of. One of these changes involves the lunch
schedule. Whatever lunch they were in for the first semester, they will
now be on the other schedule. For example, band (4th period)
was on A lunch. We will now be on B lunch. For more information on
times and the change, please check the Solo & Ensemble is fast
approaching. There is a sign up sheet on the board for those interested
in doing a solo and/or ensemble. Each student doing a solo must have an
accompanist. Some ensembles need accompanist, but that is rare. If
a student is interested, he/she/they need to sign up no later than January
15. The percussion Ensemble will begin
rehearsals afterschool starting next week. Up until S&E, percussion
will be rehearsing afterschool on Monday and Wednesday. The Wind Ensemble
and Symphonic band will have rehearsals afterschool as well. Please check
the schedule below for that information. A spring calendar will be sent
out after the department meeting tomorrow. There will be a band parent meeting on
Monday, January 12 at 7:00 in the band room. We will be discussing the
Concert MPA, Boone Blitz and end of the year preparations. For those of
you that do not know what the Boone Blitz is, it is when we have the students
go out into the community for donations to the band. Each year, we have raised more than the previous year. Last year, we
raised over $11,000 in one 4 hour period. We will be discussing this
event at the meeting. The All-County band will start rehearsal
the week after exams. This ensemble is comprised of the best musicians in
the county. We have students in every grade level representing Boone in
these two ensembles. All-County will once again be held at At the end of last year, we had a group of
outstanding parents that wanted to do their part to help the Sound of the
Braves. I wanted to take this time to thank everyone for your help and
support throughout this season. Starting off the season was a tough job
but not too tough for Lisa Hall who helped put the whole Band Camp
together. Thank you also to all the parents that stopped by during the
week to help with food, peppermint towels, peanut butter and crackers (who
would have thought that would have been that big of a hit), construction of the
band tower, overall field maintenance and everything that went into the
season. Thank you also to Glenn Kirk for supplying the big rig before
band camp started in order for us get the equipment over to Howard for the
percussion camp. Other parents that helped during band camp included Jan Gidel and Gay Geiger for the uniform fittings, Michelle
Oliver with hospitality and a whole lot more, Kris and Mike Finn to help
document the events as they occurred, Lorna Willard to help answer any questions
from the Freshman Parents, Danette Arcara for helping to get the information to the guard,
Danni Sue for the countless hours helping me with the PFC, David Dittmer for
making the best website ever for this band, Rob Matheson for doing MANY, MANY,
MANY behind the scenes stuff that needed to be done for the sake of the
program, Betty Layton for always striving for the best ideas with fundraising
(too bad we couldn’t do the Xmas tree thing. It was a great idea!), Rob
Connelly for being the best associate director anyone can ever have. Mrs. Connelly and Ms. Weagly for being
part of the best performing arts team around and the students.
These students are the best in the business. If all else failed and I
couldn’t do something, or Mr. Connelly couldn’t do something or a band parent
couldn’t do something the students would step in and make sure it was
done. It is this kind of help and dedication that the Sound of the Braves
was built on and will continue to strive as a result of. If I forgot to
mention someone, please accept my apology. There are sooooooo
many parents that help throughout the year, it is hard to keep track.
People like Juan Prado and Mike Ott for driving our
trailer to away games and competitions. People like Candy Parks and the
spa team at the concessions. People like Mr. Leath,
a band parent that volunteered his time and experience on the field helping our
students get better everyday. People like Mr. Hostetler who,
although is not with us anymore, was a tremendous help while he was.
People like Ms. McMillen, Ms. Iglesias, Mr.
Fitzpatrick, Dr. Bula and Mr. Carlucci for being
amazing administrators. People like Doug Patterson and Coach Ziglar for supporting the band and helping where it is
possible. People like my wife, Stacey Henderson for understanding the
time commitment it takes to successfully operate this program. To
everyone in the band program…THANK YOU! The following is a schedule for the next
three weeks: Jan. 5 – 9
Practice scales for exam! Mon. Jan. 12
Percussion 4:30 – 6:00
Band Parent Meeting 7:00
Board meeting 6:00 Jan. 13 – 15 Midterm Exams Tues. Jan.
20 Wed. Jan.
21 Percussion 3:30
– 5:30 Thurs. Jan.
22 All-County 7:00 – 9:00 Fri. Jan. 23 All-County 8:30 –
4:00 Sat. Jan. 24 All-County
concert 6:00 Again, thank you for all of your support
throughout this season. If there are any questions or conflicts with the
above schedule, please don’t hesitate to ask.
Director of Bands 407-893-7209 |
