My opening disclaimer. None of this is final. I will take input and comments from anyone but will have the final decision as to what the schedule will be. E-mail me at your leisure. This is a working schedule which will be honed and adjusted until we finalize it, usually at the end of March.
I have been thinking about next year's schedule since mid October. I feel we need to compete on all the weekends except for Columbus Day so I added the one show back which was cancelled last year. We are a competitive band and taking two weeks off in the short season hurts us in terms of continuity, judging, and camaraderie. I am leaning towards going back to this schedule which we did for the first 6 years when I worked here at Roslyn, where we topped out at 130 members. Our schedule, as listed is the same as last year's before the Manhasset show was canceled.
I will be plugging in the home games when we get them, usually in early March. If we have a home game on the Rosh Hashanah or Columbus Day weekend we will not do it, since those are our weekends off, one for the holiday and one for our traditional Columbus day weekend off. In addition, we do the Friday night lights Soccer tournament each year so that will be added as soon as I have a date as well, as long as that is not on one of those two weekends. I have already been told by several that due to the Rosh Hashanah holiday falling right after a weekend, many of our people will be out of town with family so we will keep off of that weekend of September 15th through the 18th.
The Dome. I feel that we need to stay and see the finals at the dome. We haven't done this for two years and it is time to see these top bands again, which are among the best in the country. I strongly believe our band members need to see these bands to know what we are aiming for. We would miss a day of school which I feel is worth the trade off. Since we are missing no school for the trip I feel this is acceptable. A field trip for a day for this reason is educationally sound and worth it. Ask any of the band members who went in past years and they will agree.
I am leaning towards doing the Peach Bowl trip which is called the Chick Fil-A Bowl next December. Of course, this will depend upon if I can get 60 kids to commit by June 1st with an initial deposit of $50. Of course, the economy will play a large part in determining the feasibility of a trip. We did the trip in 2006 and it was amazing. The company that runs it totally has their act together, the group is child centered, the venues are amazing, and it is great for families to come to Atlanta. You can fly in, stay downtown, and get to everything without a rental car. The CNN building, amazing aquarium, parade and stadium (where an great pep rally is held in the building adjacent to it) is all within blocks of great hotels, restaurants, etc. This is one of the best trips I have ever been involved with and although the date is not yet set, we would probably be leaving on December 26th and returning the night of January 1st. As usual, this takes tons of planning and BOE approval.
Keep checking out this blog for explanations about updates to the schedule.
