Recovery Week After Camp with the Ferndale Marching Band... And A Home Game Friday!

Well, last week we tried our best to get back into the swing of our regular scheduled marching band rehearsals. Monday we arrived back from camp, so we spent that evening sleeping… but Wednesday we had regular rehearsal. Well, it was far from regular. 

Of course the entire day looked fine, no rain, no storms, nothing. In fact, it looked fine once rehearsal started too. We were able to get through our music block and start reviewing drill, until there it was. Thunder… and lightening. I thought I had heard the thunder, but wasn’t quite sure. I took a look at the radar on my phone, but it seemed the storms weren’t anywhere near us. I kept looking, and low and behold a system was forming just to our west and heading right toward us. Just at that point I looked in the sky and saw lightening, which is our cue to leave.

Activities must cease as soon as lightening is seen, according to school rules. So off we went for some more music rehearsal.

This is the point where the focus of a rehearsal goes way downhill. Anytime something changes from the original schedule, time is lost and concentration is lost. There was confusion about where people should go, tension about getting away from the storm, and frustration that we couldn’t finish our much-needed camp review.

The rest of the nigh was spent in music. At first the woodwinds and brass were separated, but reconvened in the auditorium for the last hour. Kids were a little shaken up about the nasty weather, but we got through it. Hopefully we won’t have another unfocused rehearsal like that this season!

On Friday we had our annual post-camp mini camp. It’s hit or miss on a given year whether this rehearsal goes well or not. Thankfully the weather was great, and we even got some clouds (that’s always helpful in warm weather). By the end of the day we had learned up to 13 pages from movement 4. This is going to be really cool once it gets going since both the brass and woodwinds will have musical and visual features. The brass make a huge expanding block while the woodwinds play a feature, and the woodwinds will have a “dance” feature while the brass play their feature. This “dance” feature hasn’t been choreographed yet, but it will be very cool. The kids will enjoy doing it, and it will look great during the performance.

Saturday and Sunday the kids went out at local businesses in attempt to raise money for the season. We have to do this every year, as it is a big part of our budget. Every single student in the band will spend at least two hours in front of a store asking for donations to the band. I know it’s not the most glorious way to raise money, but it’s necessary. We have a huge budget every year. Thankfully the school district pays for transportation (thank you, thank you, thank you), but we also have to pay for band camp, staff, equipment, uniform cleaning, instruments, mallets, drum heads, and the list goes on and on. It’s amazing that we have the amazing staff we do, considering the pay we receive. None of us do it for the money – it’s all for the love of the activity and for this band specifically.

Thankfully we all like being around each other and love what we’re doing, so we all have a good time. Plus we also enjoy the process and the product along with the kids. I’ve never watched a show at camp, or a show at finals, without beaming with pride.

So this week we’re be on our Monday/Wednesday schedule with a home football game on Friday. We will be playing during halftime, so come out and see our show! You won’t see a few things yet, including our formal uniform and our “attachments,” but you’re watch a great show and remind yourself why you’re also so proud of our kids and community.