HHS Band Weekly newsletter March 20-24 2023

Things We Like

This amazing group of seniors got to celebrate all their accomplishments in NYC last week!! What a fantastic group of ambassadors for the HHS Band. Looks like a fun time was had by all!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Huntsville Band Room (@huntsville_band_room)

Schedule for the Week

Monday - Symphonic Band 4-5:30. 
Tuesday - Wind Ensemble 4:00-5:30 pm.   Winter Guard 4-6.
Wednesday - Off.  Full Band meeting during Panther hour (11:30-12:00)
Thursday - Chamber Music Trip to Montgomery (brass quintet, woodwind quintet, saxophone quarter).  No wind ensemble rehearsal.
Friday  -  Off
Saturday - Winter Guard Competition at Spain Park!

Final Fundraiser of the Year 
Our other fundraiser this semester, the 2nd Boston Butt sale, fell through because of supplier issues. Since we are going to London next year, we wanted to make sure you have as many opportunities to fundraise for your account as possible.  We are inviting our current 8th grade students to participate as well.  There will be a 60/40 split on this fundraiser with 60% going towards your individual account and 40% going to the band.  As always, we appreciate your help to raise money for your account and the band!  We will kick this off Wednesday in a full meeting with the band with Charlie Colwell (also known as "the mattress guy").

We will be selling crazy and fun socks in pairs of 3 for $25 each. One of the best parts of this fundraiser is that this company wants to give back to our community.  For every pack purchased, 1 additional pair will be donated to the Huntsville Rescue Mission.  All of this fundraiser can be done through social media. Socks are shipped DIRECTLY to the purchaser!

You will see more information coming out this week.  It will run for 2+ weeks - starting Wednesday, March 22 and ending Friday, April 7th.  

BAND BANQUET!  Mark your calendars for the best Band Banquet ever!  See you Friday Night, May 12 at StoveHouse!  Many more details soon to come! 

BAND CONTRACTS!!!
Now is the time to make your commitment for band next year.  The contract is due by March 31 and the latest marching band numbers can be adjusted is audition week (first week of May).  You can fill out and email back or turn into the band box at school.   Remember, even if you plan to do concert only, if you are planning to march the parade in London, you need to attend week 1 of band camp!

Band Contracts can be accessed here.  Hard copies are available at school.  

Winter Guard Information
Competition this Saturday at Spain Park (Hoover area)!!!  Information can be found on the website - HuntsvilleHSBand.com

PERFORMANCE AT BOB JONES, MONDAY MARCH 27TH!  INFORMATION IN NEXT NEWSLETTER!

IMPORTANT The tentative schedule for SCGC Finals at Western Kentucky on Saturday, April 1st in Bowling Green, Kentucky has us performing around 10:30 am with check in at 9!  This is early especially for a location that is 3 hours away from us.  We are planning to meet there as we always do.  If you want to leave that morning, you are probably looking at a 5:30 am departure.    However, I wanted to give you a heads up in case some of you may want to split hotel the night before either in Bowling Green or somewhere like Nashville that's about 75 minutes away.  I believe there are some very reasonably priced hotel rooms in the Bowling Green area.  Awards for our classification at Finals is around 3:15 pm.  Food options can be found here:  https://www.scgconline.org/resources/1951.pdf


Color Guard Auditions for 23-24 
 April 24-28 in the Freshman Academy from 4-6 each day.  We encourage every member to find one current HHS student that you know to come audition.  

Competition and Rehearsal Schedule 
*Every Tuesday from 4-6 pm Winter Guard has rehearsal.  The final after school rehearsal will be Tuesday, March 28th!
March 27th - Goodies with the Guard at Bob Jones HS (Madison)
April 1 - Championships at Western Kentucky University. (Bowling Green)

Please contact Mrs. Jeffress if you have any questions regarding the schedule or transportation.  [email protected]

Chamber Music Trip - Performance Thursday
Congratulations to the members of our Brass Quintet, Woodwind Quintet, and Saxophone Quartet for being selected to perform at the Alabama State Capitol in Montgomery on Thursday.  They will be performing for our state legislature as they depart for lunch as well as a performance nearby.

Equipment:
We are taking all instruments on the school bus.  We also must take any stands and chairs we need.

Dress:
We will perform in tuxedos and dresses, but you will have an opportunity to change in and out of them.  

Parents 
We could use some parents to go to help move stands/chairs/instruments!  Please email me if you can join us.  I have Mrs. Starnes and Mr. Pleva joining us so far.  

Schedule
6:45 am - Meet in band room
7:00 am - Depart on a school bus.  We will stop at a rest stop to change into tuxes/dresses.  Bring a snack for a late lunch.  
10:30 am - Arrive at the state Capital
11:10 am - Performance #1 (Gordon Pearsons Building)
After performance walk to Alabama Capitol (2 blocks approximately).  If weather is bad we would                ride the bus.
12:00 pm - Performance #2 (Alabama Capitol Rotunda)
1:00 pm - Depart for Lunch - Bring $$ for fast food.  Most likely stopping at the Prattville exit.  
5:00 pm - Back at Huntsville High School.

London Connection!
Remember, even if you plan to do concert only, if you are planning to march the parade in London, you need to attend week 1 of band camp!

Next Payment
Friday, March 31st is the next Payment- $400 per traveler. 

What do I need to do right now?
 1.  Get your passport now!  It should be valid 6 months past our return date!
 2.  Investigate your best option for overseas phone possibilities.  Each phone company has different options.  You will need to have access to phone communication while you are in London!
  3.  Research and investigate your credit card and financial options.  Each bank and card is different.  Make sure your card won't lock you out when you get to London  

FAQ: 
 Can I still sign up?  
Yes - but you must pay for all missed deposits on your first payment or else you can't be locked into the trip.  At some point, there will be price increases, room assignments done, airline flights arranged, and other logistical things related to the trip completed.  After we do those things, anyone added will just be accommodated the best we can.  Our contract is for 150 people so we must be atleast at this number of travelers.  If you have not signed up, the sooner you can do this the better for us because numbers dictate many things!

When do you have to declare if you are doing land only or full trip?  
I don't have an exact date, but my best estimate is early Fall 2023.

London information can be found in our google drive. Click here to access google drive

Upcoming Events
March 27 - Winter Guard - "Goodies with the Guard" performance at Bob Jones
March 31st -  Volunteer Pep Band to Blossomwood in the afternooon.
April 1 - Winter Guard - SCGC FINALS at Western Kentucky University

Band Camp / Summer Schedule 2023
April 24 - 28 Color Guard Auditions 4-6  Freshman Academy.
Tuesday, May 30 - Friday, June 2  Rookie Camp (new members only), Marching Percussion Placement Camp from 1-4, and Guard Camp (percussion times edited 2/24)
July 6-8 - Leadership Camp (leadership team only)
July 12-14 Make up rookie camp (new members only) and Marching Percussion Camp (8-12).  (percussion times edited 2/24)
July 17 - 21 Band Camp Week 1 - All Marching Band Students + any concert only students going to London that want to march in the parade.
July 24-28  Band Camp Week 2 - All Marching Band Students
July 31 and August 1 - Rehearsals before school starts.
August 2 - 1st day of school

Student involved with marching band are required to attend these dates in full!  Students who miss because of summer activities may be removed from the halftime show.  We have worked hard over the past few years to improve our summer schedule to give a full break and options for camps and vacations.  Our dead time this coming summer is June 3 - July 5 although some students have much longer than this!