Parents, please contact Mr. Burn immediately by email if your student is missing any practice or performance, regardless of the reason. Your student's grade can be affected by absences.
Parents, come watch the final run thru's beginning around 8:15 pm both nights.
WAY TOO MUCH INFORMATION TODAY, BUT NECESSARY. WE WILL ALSO HAVE IMPORTANT INFO IN A SEPARATE BLAST REGARDING FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS PARADE AND P.E.!! FIVE WORDS – GET YOUR P.E. UNIFORMS NOW!!
1) BRING YOUR INSTRUMENT/EQUIPMENT, INCLUDING EXTRA REEDS, OIL, GREASE, whatever you need to keep your instrument playable for the entire weekend.
2) BRING YOUR SHOE BAG WITH 2 PAIRS CLEAN BLACK SOCKS, 2 COLLARLESS SHIRTS to wear under your uniform jacket, 2 pair boxer shorts since you will be changing outside before your performance.
3) Check your socks… by the end of the season they turn grey from multiple washings. If they are no longer BLACK, get new ones. We are marching CHAMPIONSHIPS!
4) Bring toiletries for TWO nights in a hotel. Bring enough clothing for two days.
5) Bring money for fast food lunch in Gilroy on the way back home on Monday.
NOTE – All students and parents signed a behavior agreement at the beginning of the school year acknowledging compliance with rules of conduct, or suffer the consequences. Anyone caught smoking, drinking, in the possession of illegal drugs, or demonstrating inappropriate behavior will be sent home immediately, at the expense of the student's parents, in addition to possible suspension from school and expulsion from marching band.
8) Bring a jacket or field show sweatshirt. It can be chilly in the evening.
9) You and 3 other individuals will be sharing two queen sized beds.
10) No radios or boom boxes allowed (mp3, ipods, etc with headphones are acceptable).
11) Everyone is expected to respect others and their belongings.
12) Bring your suitcases and leave them in the band room in the area near the piano, within the area marked with blue tape. We need to keep the entry way clear for pit equipment to move in and out. We are not responsible for anything crushed when you don't follow instructions and leave your belongings in the path of the two ton speakers and marimbas being rolled out. Guard members can hang their costumes on the garment rack provided. Guard, please do NOT stash your bags near the instrument locker door. It always overflows and gets in the way when we move equipment.
13) Pack your section shirts for Sunday practice.
14) Students MUST stay in groups of 3 or more when going to bathrooms at competition, during free time, and in the hotel. This is for safety reasons. If anything should happen to anyone, one person can go get help while one stays behind with the injured party.
16) We HIGHLY RECOMMEND that all medication, inhalers, epipens, and emergency type paraphernalia be handed to Vicki Feltman Thursday evening between 3:30 and 6 pm, unless students need them during the school day. We want medications available on the bus in case of emergencies, and with us when we are away from the hotel. It won't do your student any good to have inhalers sitting in their suitcase when we are an hour away at competition. Make sure your student has their medications. You can make our lives easier by bagging and writing student names and dosage on the bags).
Tuba players and percussion, BEFORE HEADING TO THE STADIUM FOR PRACTICE, please leave your instrument cases on the grass in front of the band room, so the truck can pick them up to take to stadium.
9 am – 12:45pm Practice at Homestead.
area and line up in order of band appearance.
PLEASE BE CONSIDERATE OF OTHER HOTEL PATRONS.
KEEP YOUR VOICES AT PIANO, NOT TRIPLE FORTE.
ROOM RULES – when visiting, there must be three or more in the room, with the door left ajar. Keep voices low since there are other people staying in rooms next to you who are not part of our group.
Bring everything with you – we will NOT return to the hotel!!
roommates are not in your room and ready to go.
1) Please contact Vicki Feltman at Vicki.feltman@gmail.com if your student will NOT be on the bus going to Fresno, or if your student will NOT be coming back on the bus on Monday. We don't want to waste time waiting for someone who won't show up at bus departure.
2) If you are picking up your student, we want to make eye contact with both parent and student before you leave, so that we make sure everyone has hooked up; we would hate to have a student THINK their parent was picking them up, only to have them end up stranded in Fresno after everyone else left. Please check out with your bus chaperone. If you cannot find your bus chaperone, then check out with Deborah Smith or Vicki Feltman. Parents, if you do not show up by the time the buses are ready to leave, your student will be going home on the bus. We will not hold up the buses waiting for your arrival.
I NEED - I know, I am a very needy person. But this is WBA CHAMPIONSHIPS!! So allow me this extra plea for help, to make this a grand finale to the year.
Chaperones will be assigned specific rooms to check at the end of the evening, to count noses, to relay announcements, e.g. reminders of what to wear the next day, what time to meet for breakfast, etc. Chaperones will check their rooms out on the final day. Students are required to be in their rooms all packed up and ready to go, along with all their room mates. Bed Check Chaperones will enter the room and excuse the students ONLY if all suit cases are packed and all room mates are present. If students are still packing when the chaperone enters the room, the chaperone will leave the room and go on to the next, then come back to the tardy room later. The reason we want all suitcases packed and not in the process of being packed is to ensure nothing is left behind. There are too many times when students say they've got it all packed, and they inadvertently leave something in a drawer or under a bed.
· I have noticed the last few times we've stayed in hotels ( and I keep reminding myself to do something about it) that students gush out of the elevators in a roiling mass of luggage and loud laughter, shouting, running, and screaming. This will not do, especially when there are so many non-Homestead patrons. And because I keep forgetting to implement a fix, all I can do is stare and listen helplessly on the ground floor while I watch this happen in the upper floors. Sure, I could yell at them, but I don't want my voice echoing off of every room in the hotel. I would really appreciate it if one or two adults can be stationed on each floor where our students are staying, near the elevators, to remind students to keep their voices down and to keep them at a walk.
Please contact me at vicki.feltman@gmail.com if you have questions, but especially if you can be there to help!
Come support the Mighty Mustang Marching Band and Color Guard!
Homestead performs at 7:50 p.m.
GENERAL ADMISSION: $20.00 for both Saturday and Sunday; $15.00 for Senior Citizens & Children under 12. Children 5 and younger are admitted free. (1 wristband good for both sites and both days). No Checks, No Credit Cards, No Refunds.
Note: Outside food and beverage cannot be brought into the stadium. No ice chests are permitted in the stadium.
· WBA Prelims does it right. They have all senior marchers (band and guard) go out to the field with drum majors and guard captains. This is the one time where seniors are recognized by everyone in the audience. Come watch your students being honored.
· WBA Finals honors everyone in the bands who make it to finals. Picture 15-20 full marching bands lined up on the field. An impressive sight. Come see for yourself!
VIDEO TAPING: No Tripods, monopods or any other apparatus in the stands.
5. Spectators park near stadium on Nees Ave.
Only registered vehicles & buses will be allowed to park in designated areas. Additional vehicles will be sent to spectator parking or you may park on the surrounding streets. Please check for parking restriction signs on the streets to see if parking is permissible or not.
DVD of individual bands and the Championship contest can be purchased on site shortly following their appearance. You can pre-order on site or order online later.