We have an excellent show to prepare this season, but it's going to take a lot of hard work to bring it to the level of preparation that it deserves.  Although marching band is quite a time commitment, most bands of our caliber have around three times the rehearsal time that we do.  It is vital that we use every second of our rehearsals to our advantage.  No time can be wasted by a lack of preparation, a lack of focus, or absences.  Remember to bring all necessary materials to practice and remember to practice on your days off.  I know that with the determination of everyone, we will have an outstanding final product that we can all be proud of in a few short months.  We have to potential to be great, but we're not there yet. 

 

This week:   We will be continuing our focus on movement 1 this week.  We will also keep working on the National Anthem.  The first half of movement 1 is quite strong, so I look forward to watching the rest of the opener reach the same level.  Practices are Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 5:00-8:30pm.  When school starts next week, they will change to 3:15-6:00.  Please minimize conflicts with any portion of rehearsal.

 

Lazy Daze:   We will meet in downtown Cary on Saturday, August 22 at 7:30am to warm-up and prepare for our Lazy Daze performance.  We will meet at the statue at the Chamber of Commerce parking lot, across the street from the Cary Town Hall.  Parents who are dropping students off can look for the equipment truck.  Students driving themselves should park in the deck behind the Town Hall.  We will perform the National Anthem with Cary High School Band for the opening ceremonies, then we will play our show.  Students should wear show t-shirts, black shorts, and sneakers (same uniform as the informance).  Sunglasses are also permitted, and recommended. 

 

Home Football Game:  Our first home football game is less than two weeks away on Friday, August 28.  We will be in uniform for the game (guard stay tuned for more details).  Our schedule for all home football games is as follows:

 

4:00  Practice on field

5:00  Dinner (pizza is provided)

5:30  Begin dressing

6:45  Warm-up behind band room

7:10  Line up for Pregame

7:25  Pregame show

7:30  Kickoff

~8:30  Halftime

~10:00  Game ends, students are dismissed to change.

 

We perform our field show for halftime, and we play stands tunes in the stands for all four quarters.  We also perform a brief pregame show prior to kickoff, consisting of the school's fight song and the National Anthem.  We will learn this next week.  Students are only allowed to drink water and eat "hands clean snacks" provided by the parent chaperones while in uniform.  The band section is reserved for band students only, and all students must remain in the section for the entire game. 

 

This is our last week of rehearsal before the start of school.  Please keep working hard in and out of practice, as our practice time decreases once classes begin and we will have many distractions.  Our first football game is less than two weeks away!!