Thunder Band News 12/18/2017

/ Announcements, Booster, Color Guard, Guards, Marching Thunder, Percussion / By

In This Issue

  • Rehearsal This Wednesday
  • Ronald McDonald House Project
  • Rose Parade Tour Itinerary
  • Packing List
  • Cell Phones for Rose Parade Tour
  • Rose Parade Parking Passes, Bandfest Tickets
  • Marching Band Banquet RSVP
  • And Finally…
  • SignUpGenius Summary
  • Upcoming Events
  • Upcoming Rehearsals

There are 14 days until the 2018 Rose Parade. Rose Parade fun fact of the week: There are 9 days until we board buses to head to Pasadena. This is going to be SO AMAZING!

This Wednesday is our final rehearsal prior to leaving for Pasadena. Please keep encouraging your student to practice their music and to bring their best attitude and effort to practice.

Parents, we need your help this week as we get through these last days of preparation. Please read on to see how you can help.

Rehearsal This Wednesday

This Wednesday, December 20, we will be holding our final rehearsal at the Mountain America Expo Center (formerly the South Towne Expo Center) in Sandy. This indoor is necessary to clean up our field show and make final preparations for the parade.

Students should gather in the band room immediately after school on Wednesday. Frontier and Vista students should get there as soon as possible. Students will be transported to the Expo Center by bus. We will stretch and prepare until the buses finish their routes and arrive back at the school.

We will need LOTS of parent support to make this week’s rehearsal run smoothly. You don’t need any experience—just a willingness to work. We will have several shifts so that parents don’t have to be there all day. If you are able for multiple shifts, go ahead and sign up for the times you can be there, but please sign up even if you can only make one shift.

We need parents on:

  • the evening of Tuesday, December 19, to help load the trailer,
  • the morning of Wednesday, December 20, to help mark the floor at the Expo Center,
  • noon on Wednesday, December 20, to help unload the trailer,
  • and the afternoon of Wednesday, December 20, to help load the trailer and clean up after rehearsal.

To sign up to help, go to http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0e44a9ad28a75-expo.

 

Ronald McDonald House Project

Thank you for your generosity and donations for our BandsCare Ronald McDonald House project. Our sign-up is full.

Please make sure you drop off your donations as directed when you signed up. We will be putting together the gift bags and packing boxes of supplies right after school on Tuesday. We will need a few parents to help with this. If you would like to help out, please contact Crystal Bell (jbell014@gmail.com) to let her know you will be coming.

All donations MUST be turned in by this time. If you are donating cash for gifts, please contact Crystal to get this to her on Monday so that the gifts can be purchased by Tuesday. All packed donations for this project will go on the truck on Tuesday night at 6:00 PM when the trailer is loaded for tour.

Please contact Crystal if you have any questions about this project or your donation. Thank you.

 

Rose Parade Tour Itinerary

The final tour itinerary is attached to this email and will be posted on the web site. Printed copies will not be distributed. Please print a copy, if needed, or have your student save a copy to their phone.

The itinerary includes daily instructions for what to wear and when to be where they are supposed to be, so please make sure your student has a copy of the itinerary with them.

 

Packing List

As your student prepares for the trip, please ensure that they pack all of the following REQUIRED ITEMS:

  • Marching shoes
  • Black socks (at least three pair, no ankle socks)
  • Blue Westlake uniform compression shirt
  • Navy blue uniform shorts (or the equivalent that your student wore in St. George, must be navy blue or black, NO COLORS)
  • Items needed to style hair for competition day (elastics, bobby pins, hairspray, etc.)
  • White “Making a Difference” Rose Parade show T-shirt
  • Khaki shorts (we used these for the parade this summer)
  • “Sunday Best” attire for New Years Dance (school dress code appropriate)
  • Light jacket or hoodie
  • Hat and/or sunglasses
  • Swimming suit and clothes for beach
  • Bob Rogers Travel drawstring tour bag
  • Sunscreen
  • Water bottle/jug
  • Deodorant
  • Mole skin recommended in case of blisters

Brass MUST clean their instruments before the trip.

We will be gone for seven days, so students should pack accordingly for that length of time. The itinerary has details on attire listed for each day.

The weather in southern California has been between 65 and 75 degrees during the day. Please check weather as we get closer and plan accordingly when choosing what to pack.

 

Cell Phones for Rose Parade Tour

When traveling with a large group of students, we occasionally use text messages if we need to communicate with all students quickly. If your student will be traveling with a cell phone and can receive text messages, please fill out the form at https://goo.gl/forms/Pjxd9eiW6CCEclVo2 so that we can verify we have current cell phone numbers for all students.

If you have a feature that blocks text messages or calls at night for your student, we recommend you disable it while they are traveling with the group. Since we are traveling west, the time zones do not work in our favor. If a student is not in their room at 11:00 PM in California, that is after midnight in Utah. If calls or texts are blocked, we can’t contact your student and will need to call you (after midnight) to ask you to contact them for us.

If you will be traveling to California and would like to receive updates in case of changes to the schedule, please also provide your cell phone information so that we can send text message updates in case of any significant schedule changes.

 

Rose Parade Parking Passes, Bandfest Tickets

At the tour meeting, we had parents request info on purchasing parking passes for the parade. Parking passes can be purchased at https://www.tournamentofroses.com/rose-parade/parade-day-guide.

The tour group and fan ticket seating is in “Area 1.” If you purchased tickets on your own, please see your tickets and the map provided to determine where the best parking location is for you prior to purchasing a parking pass.

We have a parent who has five extra Bandfest tickets. If you have not yet purchased Bandfest tickets but would like some, please contact Charlotte Ducos (cdducos@gmail.com) for more information.

 

Marching Band Banquet RSVP

If you haven’t yet RSVP’d for the January 10 marching band banquet, please do this as soon as possible. EVERYONE attending (including students) must RSVP so that we can get an accurate count for the caterer. There is no charge for marching band students. Parents and other family members are $8, which is our cost for this event.

To RSVP for this event, go to https://goo.gl/forms/FL8pzqAxyHuQioIF3. You can fill out the form for your entire party, but everyone attending must RSVP.

Payments for parents and family members can be made online at myschoolfees.com.

Submit your payment information by doing one of the following:

  1. Prior to submitting the RSVP form, make your payment using the provided link or go to myschoolfees.com to make your payment, and then enter your payment confirmation code in the box provided below.
  2. Pay for your plate online and send a copy of your receipt to Shawna Ivins at sivins4@gmail.com or Charlotte Ducos at cdducos@gmail.com.

 

And Finally…

There will be no Monday email next week. Merry Christmas!

We will send a short email on December 26 with last minute reminders before we leave for tour the following morning. Please watch for that email, review the packing list provided in this email, and read the itinerary through so that you can be properly prepared and not scrambling for items on that last day before we leave.

We have worked so hard to get to this next two weeks. Several of us have been working and planning and preparing for well over a year on the logistics. Thousands of hours have been spent by countless volunteers during that time and over the course of this season.

Thank you to all who have “made a difference” as we have prepared for this once in a lifetime opportunity. Students, keep practicing, even and especially during your break. Parents, do what you can to encourage your students, help them pack and be prepared, and help where you can this next week as we have our final rehearsal.

We are so proud of our students and staff and so grateful for all of the volunteers who have done so much to make this possible. Let’s go and show Pasadena and the world that the Westlake Marching Thunder knows how to “make a difference”. Go Thunder!

 

SignUpGenius Summary

 

Upcoming Events

  • December 19 – Performing arts holiday assembly
  • December 27 to January 3 – Rose Parade tour

 

Upcoming Rehearsals

  • December 20 – 12:00 PM to 6:00 PM – Rose parade rehearsal at America West Expo Center

 

You are receiving this email because of your association with the Westlake High School band program. If you no longer have a student at Westlake or wish to be removed from the mailing list, contact us at thunderbandnews@gmail.com or reply to this message to be removed from the mailing list.