Day three of band camp. I allotted some time to write a blog today. I can now give you my impressions of the new camp. It is great! The cabins are clean and well kept, the grounds are manicured and everything is close. The bugs are at a minimum. The walk from the cabin to the field and rehearsal areas is a matter of a few minutes. The parents have been great as usual. We had some great activities, steal the bacon the first night and crazy hats last night. We moved the curfew to 12 midnight this year and it is working out great. The kids all made it to breakfast and were perky! We do a lights out right away at 12.
We adjusted the schedule yesterday to try something different. We loaded up the night rehearsal and are now giving a larger break in the afternoon. This is a rehearsal schedule that a band director in the midwest told me works great. We tried it yesterday and the kids are responding great. We got through all rehearsals with no fatigue. Water breaks every hour to refresh.
7:30 - Wake Up
8:00 - Breakfast
9:00 to 11:30 - Rehearsal
12 noon - Lunch
1:00 to 3:30 - Rehearsal
3:30 - Pie Mafia activity
3:45 - Afternoon snack provided by Camp Taconic
4:00 to 6:00 - Pool time, break, shower, relax, do homework
6:00 - Dinner
7:00 to 9:00 - Rehearsal
9:15 - Ice Cream Snack provided by Camp Taconic
9:45 to 10:45 - Night Activity run by "Band Fans" parents group
10:45 to 12 midnight - Free time
12 midnight - curfew, lights out soon to follow
7 hours of rehearsing, breaks throughout all rehearsals.
This worked out great. The kids now have more time to go to the pool, shower, and change before dinner, while keeping out of the hot sun in the middle of the day.
We have some pressure to learn the drill due to the rain the first one and a half days. We are in no way passing that pressure onto the kids. The staff will figure out what we need to do as the week progresses to finish the drill with the primary goal being to keep the kids happy and loving band. We will be sticking to this schedule from today through Saturday and using Sunday exclusively as a run through day, running through the entire show. The kids have learned all of the music and we will be working outdoors all day today in an attempt to catch up on the drill.
