Orange Bowl!

As a band director, I know how totally unrealistic it is to expect to break into what is considered the top 5 events in the nation. For bands, it is the equivalent of getting into Harvard – something you might dream about, but the reality of achieving such an honor, even with tremendous hard work and dedication, is extraordinarily difficult. Bands have to be "Nationally Acclaimed." They usually have to be over 100 members, around 150 members, super precise, as well as famous and musically captivating to get into one of these events. These events are the; Rose Parade, Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, Orange Bowl Parade and Game, Sugar Bowl Parade and Game, and Fiesta Bowl Parade. Although there are many other events, these are the "Big Boys." In addition, once a band has one of these on its resume, it is considered as having “made it” and can be accepted to any of them, thus becoming one of the top bands in the Nation!

So how shocked and excited I was to receive this invitation on March 16^th. An invitation to one of the oldest and most prestigious Bowl games and parades in the world, the Orange Bowl! I couldn't believe it! Wow, we've made it. Someone at "Bowl Games of America" saw us at Disneyworld, did some research through our website, blog, and youtube sites, and decided that with our growth over the past 8 years, that we are going to be one of these "Nationally Acclaimed Bands." By sending us this invitation, they have put us into another category, a whole different echelon, we have now "made it."

I immediately called the "Bowl Games of America" Group to find out the date of the game and learned it was on January 3rd, a Monday night. Of course, Monday night football, a huge viewing audience night. But it was definitely a problem for us since it would mean we would miss the first two days of school in January 2011. After talking to administration, we all felt that this was such a huge honor that it would justify the two days of missing school. I know our kids, and to be honest with you, a lot of studying takes place on the busses – I have seen it firsthand. I am sure everyone will keep up with their work. In addition, our band members will have the opportunity to earn a fine arts credit from taking part in this event, (see the last page of the packet which is on the main website.) The administration and myself felt that the notoriety of this big event being a part of our band members' high school accomplishments would distinguish them and be another feather in their cap, thus justifying the missed school days.

The other thing was the price. Things are more expensive in Miami that week, for obvious reasons. I was able to get the price down to $1300 total, a feat that took the past week to achieve. We cut a day off, modified the itinerary to fit into a price range that I thought we could work with. I am very mindful of the economic pressures we are all under. This trip was running around $1600 with the first few drafts, but after a lot of work researching and negotiating, we got it down to this final price.

Marching Band is an incredible activity. It is similar to athletics in that to colleges, it demonstrates our kids’ commitment to an activity. It sets our students apart from other north shore schools that do not have competitive marching bands and are not participating in these high profile venues.

So here we are, the packet was handed out tonight, and we will wait to see if we can get enough interest to go on this prestigious event. As always, we have to go through the process. First, we will see if we have enough band members going on the trip. Second, if we hit that number we will present it to the Board of Education for approval. Then we will be on our way to a whole new level! Hopefully we can do this. I really want to give it our all. If it doesn't work out, at least we tried our best. Getting invited is an incredible feat in itself! Let's see if we can generate enough excitement and enthusiasm to bring us to this milestone, an event that everyone will remember forever!