(no subject)
Marching band season is officially over. Very bittersweet. Joe and I accompanied Catie on her last out-of-town competition. Joe’s dad flew up to Boise and helped Joe drive the equipment truck, which was nice because he had never seen Catie march before. The band director also allowed Katrin to accompany us. David spent the weekend with a friend, which he always prefers over a long bus ride!
The band took every award in their division (the bands are divided by size) during preliminary competition - okay I’ll ‘fess up: there were only three bands in their division, and nine bands in the whole competition! But these bands are part of the “Northwest circuit” and they compete many times during the marching season, so they are pretty much on top of their game and it’s always a challenge to go up against them. In the final competition, our band moved up to 3rd overall, which means they bested all three bands in the division above theirs. We were pretty proud of them! Catie had the alto saxophone part in a trio, so she really got to shine in the show.
The weekend after the out-of-town competition, the band competed in the District III competition on the smurf turf at Boise State University. Lots of bands, both large and small, at DIII. There were six bands in the same division as our school. Katrin, David and I (Joe couldn’t get time off work) were part of the “pit crew” which means that we helped get the front ensemble instruments, the drum majors’ stands and some props out on the field and set up prior to our band’s performance and off the field after they marched. Each band has 15 minutes for its show, which includes getting set up, performing and getting off the field. Since the marching part of the show is about 8 minutes long, that means we had 3-1/2 minutes to set up and 3-1/2 minutes to load up and exit the field. The kids did a fabulous job and I was literally crying as we were running the equipment off the field because I was so proud of them. Yeah, I admit it - knowing that it was Catie’s very last march might have made me cry even if they had blown it. But they definitely didn’t blow it! They took first place in auxiliary, percussion, marching and general effect and first place overall in their division - yielding only the plaque for best music to another band. It was a pretty exciting awards ceremony!
Next big project is the “Boogie Bash” - an annual event put on by the PTA at my son’s school, which includes a dinner, dance, silent auction, games and lots of community building. Since I’m the PTA president this year, that means I’m very, very busy right now! A week from today and it’ll be all over!
Deep breath…
The band took every award in their division (the bands are divided by size) during preliminary competition - okay I’ll ‘fess up: there were only three bands in their division, and nine bands in the whole competition! But these bands are part of the “Northwest circuit” and they compete many times during the marching season, so they are pretty much on top of their game and it’s always a challenge to go up against them. In the final competition, our band moved up to 3rd overall, which means they bested all three bands in the division above theirs. We were pretty proud of them! Catie had the alto saxophone part in a trio, so she really got to shine in the show.
The weekend after the out-of-town competition, the band competed in the District III competition on the smurf turf at Boise State University. Lots of bands, both large and small, at DIII. There were six bands in the same division as our school. Katrin, David and I (Joe couldn’t get time off work) were part of the “pit crew” which means that we helped get the front ensemble instruments, the drum majors’ stands and some props out on the field and set up prior to our band’s performance and off the field after they marched. Each band has 15 minutes for its show, which includes getting set up, performing and getting off the field. Since the marching part of the show is about 8 minutes long, that means we had 3-1/2 minutes to set up and 3-1/2 minutes to load up and exit the field. The kids did a fabulous job and I was literally crying as we were running the equipment off the field because I was so proud of them. Yeah, I admit it - knowing that it was Catie’s very last march might have made me cry even if they had blown it. But they definitely didn’t blow it! They took first place in auxiliary, percussion, marching and general effect and first place overall in their division - yielding only the plaque for best music to another band. It was a pretty exciting awards ceremony!
Next big project is the “Boogie Bash” - an annual event put on by the PTA at my son’s school, which includes a dinner, dance, silent auction, games and lots of community building. Since I’m the PTA president this year, that means I’m very, very busy right now! A week from today and it’ll be all over!
Deep breath…