Friday, May 9, 2008

Greetings from the Great State of Texas!!

My recruiting adventure is coming to a close and I will return to the land of brats and beer tomorrow morning. It’s been a fun week, and I have heard lots of great high school bands, met many new people and driven LOTS of miles. Mostly, I have driven LOTS of miles. Texas is the only place I know of that takes 2.5 hours to drive 50 miles. The high point of the week was going to visit Justin (soprano player) the other night. I was driving down one of several dirt roads and had to bring the car to an abrupt stop because there was a large COW standing in the middle of the road. I had to honk at it several times before it would move. Last evening I attended a Jazz Festival in Emory, at Rains High School. Joel Salinas, a member of our front ensemble, did a great job on the drum set as a member of the Rains Jazz Band. All in all, I have seen some really great band programs and with any luck, we will be adding several new members to our corps family.

On Tuesday, I met with two new horn players. Jesus Castro is the newest addition to the trumpet section, and Kenny Hauser will be joining the contra section. We may have picked up two additional contra players as well.

Some new faces will be joining the corps for the Memorial Day Weekend camp in Racine. John Bratton is a baritone player from Rome, Georgia, and Connor Heinle is a baritone player from Farmington, Michigan. Other brass additions include Brian Black, a baritone player from Phoenix, Arizona. The drum line will be welcoming two more players; both joining the tenor section- Orlando Roman is returning from last year, and Monique Williams is from Joshua, Texas. Several new faces will be joining the color guard as well.

I am still trying to find a location for a camp in Texas for the weekend of May 30 and June 1. As soon as I have something for sure, I will post it on the website.

As of now, we are still in need of lower baritone parts, mellophones, 1 more mallet player, a bass drum person, and 1 lead soprano. (Cayman, you might want to go out and buy that box of tissues soon!!)

BINGO workers are still in very short supply. This is the time of year when we need to have as many workers as possible so that we can continue to make money for important items like drum carriers, flags, uniforms.. mallets.. sticks…BUS and TRUCK fuel.. If you are over the age of 18 and live within a 150 mile radius of Racine, you need to be working a minimum of TWO Bingo sessions a month.

Before I forget.. I am still in need of applications and medical forms from many people. I hate to keep harping on this, but it’s well past time to get this taken care of. The same goes for CORPS FEES. Treasurer Randy is sending out financial statements this week. Please take care of this responsibility as soon as possible. Diesel fuel is at an all time high and it’s just about travel season. May and June are two of our biggest spending months, and necessary purchases cannot be made until fees are paid.

SHOES!!! This is the very LAST time I will remind members of the horn line, battery and front ensemble about performance footwear. You MUST have a pair of WHITE MTX shoes. Depending on your size, you may have to wait a week or so for them. BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO THOSE WHO PROCRASTINATE!!!!

This is all the news for now.. Keep checking the website for more music and rehearsal updates.

Andrea