It's Homecoming Week - Let the Craziness Begin!

Homecoming Week at THS and our first marching competition of the season all at once - wow! What a week it will be! Let's see if we can lay it all out:

• Monday:
• Homecoming Assembly AM. Everyone wears pep shirts
• MB regular rehearsal 5-9
• Tuesday:
• MB field rehearsal 6:30-9
• Wednesday:
• Parade rehearsal 3-4:30. WEAR ATHLETIC SHOES
• MB Sectional and ensemble rehearsal 5-7 (bring a nutritious snack)
• NO FIELD ACCESS
• Thursday:
• Nothing scheduled! Yay!
• Friday:
• Homecoming Parade 3:30 call time (please eat a small nutritious snack). PEP SHIRTS, BLUE JEANS, ATHLETIC SHOES
• Band dinner after parade - yay! Fowler and Twality will join us - be good examples! 
• MB uniform 6pm
• Homecoming Game and halftime show. Eye O' TIger with Tigerettes. Pep with Fowler and Twality in stands
• Load truck after game
• Saturday:
•  Sunset Marching Classic! Schedule to be posted Monday evening 10/1. Yay!

Looking Forward to FOB (October 20)

OK folks - it is apparent that our prelim performance time at the U of O Fessstival of Bands will be quite early - we don't have a firm time yet, but we do know that Class A will go 1st, and we will be the 4th Class A band performing that morning. So, we are making plans to drive down the night before and stay at our favorite inexpensive Eugene-area motel, the Springfield Motel 6. Mr. Neffendorf has given us the go-ahead and now we just need to get the OK from Dr. Rada - I do not anticipate any problems with that. 

We will publish our itinerary in a couple of weeks, but right now I am planning to have us leave THS at 8:30 pm that Friday evening. The lodging cost is $15/student and many of you have student account $$ available that can be transferred. 

Some parents are going to want to drive down and join us. I will need this information sooner than later. I need to talk to the good folks at Motel 6 next Monday morning and give a firm number of rooms we will need, so anyone wanting to join us will need to send me the information via email this week. Parent/adult cost under our group rate will be $50 per room - what a bargain! 

More information to come -

PSAT Test Takers

Here's the list of those signed up to take the PSAT at La Salle High School on Wednesday October 17:

• Conner A
• Jennifer D
• Gabe E
• Gabi G
• Kayla K
• Rebekka K
• Wendy M
• Jay R
• Bryn R
• Austin S
• McKenna W
• Tyler W

Any corrections needed? Email McKee RIGHT AWAY!

"I Have a Conflict - What Do I Do?!?"

The question has come up a few times very recently about conflicts between Marching Band and (fill in the blank) activities. Sometimes the conflict is with rehearsal, and there is one particular event that some folks are very interested in that conflicts with a performance. Here's the lowdown:

• Rehearsals are essential to our overall success. If you are truly ill (raging sore throat, fever, vomiting, diarrhea, rash, etc), we don't want you to infect the rest of us and you should probably stay home. If you are "ill" (tired, lethargic, bummed out, weary, ticked off, sore, etc), get off your behind and get to rehearsal! If you have relatives who are in town for this night only and you won't see them again until you get married in another 15 years, bring them to rehearsal with you and let them see from the stands this very cool thing you do. If your mom is missing you and wants to have dinner with you, take her out on a Tuesday, or a Thursday, or a Sunday, or any other day when you are not expected to be at Marching Band. Here's the deal: if you are gone, it affects everyone around you and the total sound and picture. UNLESS THERE ARE OVER-THE-TOP EXTENUATING CIRCUMSTANCES, COME TO ALL REHEARSALS. PERIOD.
• Performances are not optional. Period. I too would love to go with a group of my friends on a weekend trip to Ashland and see the fabulous Shakespearean theatre and watch plays, but I have made a commitment to the Tigard High Marching Band. And if I am gone, the entire group will suffer. That is not an exaggeration - the performance will not be successful and the scores will go down. Meanwhile, I'm off having fun and my bandmates are back with the MB doing their job. Not cool, not ok. You've made a decision to be part of a group - now be a person of integrity.

This should be the end of this conversation. 

MB PSAT testers

If you are in MB, you CAN NOT take the PSAT test when it is given at Tigard High - you'll be in Eugene that day. And no, I will not allow you to miss the competition to take the test - that would be detrimental to the group and let your bandmates down. No worries - La Salle High School in Milwaukie has graciously offered to allow a limited number of us to test with them when they take it on Wednesday morning October 17. Yay! 

If taking the PSAT this year is important to you (this is a test primarily for Juniors), please email McKee to sign up to take the mid-week La Salle PSAT test. You must bring a check for $25 to McKee by Friday September 21, made payable to THS Band Boosters (we will then write one check for La Salle). To take the test, you must be at La Salle High School on Wednesday October 17 by 7:30 in the morning. Your absence for the morning of the test WILL be excused. 

Please note: This is NOT a THS Band field trip, and WE WILL NOT PROVIDE TRANSPORTATION TO OR FROM THE TESTING SITE. You and your parent will need to decide how you will travel to and from the test. In the past, some have arranged to car pool, with perhaps one parent taking a group to La Salle and another picking the group up when finished. After you finish, you will return to THS and finish out your day.

Again, email McKee and bring your $25 check on or before Friday September 21 to participate in the La Salle PSAT. 

SHOW TIME!!!

Hey Band! (hey what?)

It's time for our first performance of the year  - yay! Here's what you need to know:

• Call time for MB is 5:30
• Call time for everyone else is 5:45
• Dress for the evening is pep shirt, marching shoes, and pants (jeans, for example)
• Don't have marching shoes? Make sure your shoes are close-toed types [athletic shoes are a good choice]

PLEASE make sure you eat well and hydrate tonight and tomorrow. This is essential!

And for those who aren't sure what will happen, here's the nitty gritty:

• Pit loads
• Band warms up
• Everyone lines up and marches in
• We create the tunnel for the team to run through (not sure what that means? Don't worry - just follow the person in front of you)
• Fight Song, then Banner
• We move to the stands and pep, pep, pep for the team
• Partway through 2nd quarter, we move down from the stands and warm up (pit moves to the north sideline)
• MB lines up to take the field; Pep Band moves in behind
• MB presents show opener and helicopters to the back hash when done; Pep Band runs out to join
• Band plays Hey Baby! and Fight Song for Tigerettes
• Band gathers in the south endzone - plays Fight Song when team runs out
• Short break during the beginning of 3rd quarter - eat cheese!
• More pep, pep, pep
• Tigard wins and we play Celebration!
• Band lines up on field and we march out
• Everyone meets in the band room (Parents, please wait outside - the room's too small to invite everyone in. Thanks!) A few minutes of chatting, then put things away
• AND, go home! 

Got it? Good! Now, go get some rest - we've got a big day ahead of us!

A Special "Thank You"!

The final thing that had to be accomplished at Wednesday night's rehearsal was to teach and practice how to get on and off the field in a performance situation. No big deal, right? Au contraire, mon frere! It's actually quite a complicated ballet to get the drumline, guard, horns, and especially the pit on, set, picked up, and off in a timely and effective fashion. The pit rehearsal part always takes the longest, but the good news is that everyone now knows what to do and we're ready to go for Friday's performance! 

Thank you to all the parents who waited patiently for the kids to finish - especially the pit parents. That took a long time - whew! And we promise - such a late ending time will not happen again. 

Thanks again -it made all the difference.

Tuesday Night Special!

Hey folks - we've got our first public performance coming up this Friday! Whoo hoo! To make sure we're at our best, we're going to add that additional rehearsal this Tuesday evening. The band room will be open at 6:30 for the pit to start loading - please make sure you arrive early enough to be on the field and ready to rehearse by 7pm.

We'll be done on the field by 8:30. And Pit, remember that it always takes us an additional 20 minutes or so to get all your stuff put away.

See you Tuesday!