Good morning! It’s that time again. We are gearing up for another successful year. Here are a few dates to remember.
 
July 29th 6:30pm Band Camp Parent meeting in the band room. This is just informational for Chaperones and parents who might have questions. If you have a sophomore or higher, you probably don’t need to attend but are always welcome. Chaperones, you should’ve already been contacted by Diane Brabec regarding costs and finger printing.
 
Band camp is Aug 1st –  4th. You can learn all there is to know on the band camp page on our site. A new itinerary will posted shortly.
 
Payment for band camp can be made at the school office. Make sure you ask the office staff to place it in Mr. H’s mailbox. Also you will be able to pay at any of the ‘if your in town’ practices starting at the end of this month.
 
The ‘yellow’ permission form can be located on the downloads page, There’s a map on how to get to band camp if you are coming up for the parent performance on the last day as well.  Also there are other very helpful forms here such as the glove and shoe order form. There’s also a bandaides membership form. It’s only $10 to join and you get a cool sticker for your car (Change this year…every new member gets one, regardless if you have gotten one before) You’ll also get discounts later in the year on CD’s and DVD’s!

Welcome to band! We will have a Freshman/New Parent meeting on May 8th at 6:30pm in the bandroom,to give you information about the program. We will cover key dates for the year, the costs involved as well as general information that will be very helpful to parents. We will also be approving next years budget, so all returning parents are incouraged to attend. For more information, you can click on the parent info button at the top of the page.

Also a big thanks to everyone who attended last months meeting to elect our new officers. Congratulations to Katherine Brooks, our new Vice President and Elise Fay, our new Secretary

We have been asked to contribute to a school wide fundraiser to help purchase a new PA system for the football field. There will be a rummage sale on Saturday May 16th from 7am to 11am. The band will be running a small concession stand as well as helping with the sale. Everyone is encouraged to bring items that you would like to donate for the sale. Now would be a great time to clean out the garage!......Charlie

Good morning, Have to make this quick. The kids got up at 4am and have eaten breakfast and are packing things into the truck. Logistics are tough since we are split on 3 different planes. The kids are in uniform and have their ID’s (we have been triple checking, I think they are getting tired of every time we pass, we ask to see them) We are heading to DC in about 10 minutes. Gotta run. Take care and watch them on TV. They are in the 4th division and the first civilian band!.....Charlie

Hello, how was everyone’s day? We had another incredible day. We started out bright and early for breakfast and then headed into D.C. for another jam packed day of sight seeing. We started off with tours of the WWII, Korean and Vietnam memorials. We also walked in front of the Lincoln Memorial, but couldn’t go up into it due to the concert that was held there the day before Again, it was very cold and our Arizona bodies where bundled up pretty well. We all had tour guides that pointed out a lot of different facts that most of us never knew about these places. I think the trade off of missing school for a live history lesson was well worth it. Seeing this stuff and learning first hand about what and why these memorials were built will stick with the kids forever.

After lunch at a mall that was extremely crowded (that’s the norm here this weekend, not sure why all these people are here! Ha ha) We went to Arlington National Cemetery. We were able to watch the changing of the Guard Ceremony as well as a wreath ceremony. But were very emotional, especially when they played taps. We then were given a tour of the graves of some of our more prominent American heroes/leaders. Our final stop was the grave site of JFK. When the kids get home, ask them some questions about the history of the cemetery, they learned a lot. WE ate dinner in Leesburg then drove home where the preparation for the next day began. Trucks were unloaded and the kids paraded around the hotel parking lot. You should have seen the people in the windows looking out. We all thought we would get complaints, but all we have heard was how beautiful and moving it was and they all wished there was more. Everyone was given instructions for the next day and went to bed around 12. They were all very busy and I didn’t get a chance to have anyone else blog tonight.Thru out the day we did several interviews on many different news stations and papers, including NBC from Kansas City. The band is pretty famous around the country! OK, time to hit the sack, it's now about 1:30am…I will try to get something up in the morning. Take care….Charlie

What another great day! We started the day bright and early for breakfast then into DC. Went were able to drive the actual parade route up Pennsylvania Ave That alone was a great experience, but then we parked and walked up to the presidential review stand in front of the White House. After that we went on a tour of the ‘other’ DC. We drove out past all the embassies then up past the National Cathedral and back down into downtown. After lunch we went to the Museum of National History and The Museum of American History. The original Stars and Stripes were on display after being restored for over 2 years. It was pretty moving to everyone. I watched kids come through and stop and just stare in awe. Something else that is pretty moving is the atmosphere everywhere you go. People come up to you and just start talking and want to know all about the origination and about the kids feelings about being here. They are from everywhere and they all want to share in the experience of this historic event. There is no Race, religion or ethnic differences that have seemed to pull everyone apart. We are all just people here celebrating America together. OK, sorry forgetting all serious there. There was also a huge concert right at the Lincoln Memorial that we were only up the street from and could hear as well as see on big screens placed everywhere. You can tell it’s getting closer to the big day by the amount of people here today. Trying to get home was a bit of a chore As I type this, just about every student in the band is up dancing to some weird techno song. We have had a few guest ‘dancers’ Ken, also known as Special K or Zipper showed us his 80’s break dancing skills, Elvis made a guest appearance BREAKING NEWS: Mr. H has been pulled into the middle of them all to dance. The kids are going completely wild right now. They deserve to let off some steam!

OK, we have Lauren Rice (Home Slice) Here to tell us about her day:
Today we went to the Smithsonian and looked through the American History and National History Museums. It was really interesting to see all of the changes we have gone through in history. Before going to the Smithsonian we had to take the long two hour bus ride. It was really early our time so everyone was asleep. On our way to the museum we went and saw the back of the white house and drove along part of the parade route that we will be marching on Tuesday. It was really interesting to see how small the white house is. It really isn’t that interesting to look at because it is just a white house with a bunch of grass but to know who has and is going to live there is really cool. After going to the Smithsonian and looking at the back of the White House, we went back on the buses to come back to the hotel for a pizza dinner and dancing. The pizza was interesting, it wasn’t just normal pizza it had mushrooms on it. But it was still good. People and dancing was weird I danced it was really fun. That was about all we did today. This trip has been very exciting, interesting and fun. Bye

And Next up, Our very own Mr. H!
Another great day in DC with the Ridge Band. Highlights for me included the morning tour of the parade route with a stop on Pennsylvania Ave. in front of the Presidential reviewing stand. This brought the reality of our trip home real quick! Kids have been great, they have listened and heeded directions and excitement is mounting for Tuesday. Dinner and in particular the “disco” dance was visited by Elvis himself and I witnessed dance moves by some of the parents that were worthy of a spot on “Dancing with the Stars”! More television coverage today and tomorrow and the biggie was finding out that we, Ridge, made it into the Sunday New York Times! I can’t wait for Tuesday and the opportunity to represent AZ and play for millions. More tomorrow – GO CARDINALS!

Alright, That’s it for the evening. If you want to see some pictures and read another view, Mr. Duplanty has also setup a real blog. Go here to check it out. http://mrhsdc.blogspot.com. Time for me to finish Bed check and then hit the sack myself. Go Steelers…..and Cards!!! Does it get any better than that????? Talk to you tomorrow…Charlie

Hey everyone we made it and had an incredible day already. The early flight started off great with many parents coming in to send us off at the airport. We had a great surprise when we learned Brian Carters Dad would be our pilot. I’ll refrain from embarrassing Brian, but his dad did mention something about butterflies while on the plane. Everyone pretty much slept the entire flight. We took off and landed about 15 minutes early and had breakfast at the airport. It was a bit of a shock when we stepped off the plane and realized it was only 1 degree out. Needless to say, we are all very cold. Our day started with an amazing tour of the Capitol building then lunch and an afternoon tour of the National Air and Space Museum. I was in contact with the other flights most of the day. Our Flight that stopped in Chicago had a little extra layover do to the extremely cold temps there, but they eventually made it. Our Atlanta stop over group made it right on time and met up with us at the museum. We all met at the Old Country Buffet for dinner. I think we scared the heck out of the locals as we filled almost every seat in the place. After dinner we headed for the hotel here in Richmond. After a brief meeting, we handed out rooms as the Dads unloaded Suitcases from the Walmart truck. Then it was the mad rush to the elevators. It has started to calm down now as everyone is settling in for the night. Some playing video games or watching TV while others are enjoying the indoor pool/spa or just hanging out here in the lobby. Everyone of you should be very proud of your kids as we have had nothing but compliments on how well behaved they have been. We are having a quick chaperone meeting then bed check around 11pm. Dwayne, Art and Phil are sitting here looking extremely tired while Ruth hands out nightly meds.

I’m going to add some new features to our blog by having guest writers help out to share their experiences.

First up is Alex Guyton:
After the red-eye flight, we landed in BWI and ate lunch. We then got our luggage, and got on the tour buses. I found that the scarves we received could be used as a blindfold against the sun if you wanted to sleep, as the curtains are basically transparent. I think we all underestimated the frigid temperature, as I found that it hurt to smile my face was so cold. There were no new surprises at the Capitol Building as it was my second time there, but the architecture and statues are still as ornate and impressive as ever. The highlight of the day occurred at the Air and Space Museum, when Patrick Charles and I discovered the Interactive Flight Simulator. You crawl into a little box of sorts, and there is one gunner and one pilot. The goal is to shoot down enemy planes, but the twist is that the box turns based on the actions of the pilot. We found ourselves upside-down and laughing most of the time. My feet were on the ceiling most of the time. All in all, the first day of D.C. was great.

Next up, We have our fearless leader, Mr. H!!!
Day 1 – WOW! Kids were great with all of the traveling – many compliments and recognition of our impending Inaugural Parade performance. The two words that I did not want to hear from the kids, came from my mouth – it’s cold! Weather should improve over the next couple of days. Tomorrow we will trace the parade route on the buses and hopefully we will be able to walk in front of the White House in preparation of the “moment”. MSNBC experience was the real deal. Rob Phillips and I had to go through make-up and the whole nine yards. Ironically Samantha Guthrie is a Zonie! Graduated from U of A and she made Rob and I feel very comfortable on camera in front of the whole world. Time for bed and much needed rest.

Alright, It’s about 10:30 and time for bed check before lights out. Breakfast is at 7am and we leave for DC again at 8am. Talk to everyone tomorrow evening…Charlie

Well we are less than 3 hours before we leave for the airport. The day was extremely busy. The kids were on Channel 15 and Channel 5 today. 15 covered them live on air. We will be doing some live phone interviews with 15 on Monday at 5:45 and 6:45 am Az time.  As we handed out the travel shirts in class today, you could really tell the kids were excited. Even the ones that are shy and haven’t spoken all year where smiling from ear to ear as I handed them a shirt and told them this is the one we were on the planes. Before the started warming up, we had a very unexpected surprise. Jacob Schlink and Lauren Tomlinson from the Sandra Day O’Conner band made a presentation to the kids. On their own, their band decided to help us out and collected money. This was the definition of a class act! All the kids were commenting on how cool that was and couldn’t wait to figure out how they could help them in their next Endeavour! GREAT JOB SDOHS BAND and THANK YOU!!!!! It was great to sit in on rehearsal and listen to the kids play. Everyone seemed on edge and paid very close attention to everything Mr. H said. Mr. H. has to have a million things on his mind right now, but runs the show with the precision of surgeon. He had time for every question asked to him, even the ones that must have been asked already a million times. Ruth has been running around making deposits and getting everything in order. We had several parents come in to work on the drawing and collect tickets, Which, by the way is still going strong and more prizes are being added! We received a weather report from D.C.. Alise, Katherine and Mary Ann are already there and said it was just 10 degree’s. They said they are dressed like Eskimo’s! Looks like we have a 30% chance on getting some snow Monday. If all goes right, the kids will begin showing up around midnight, with the other groups showing up at around 4am. We have a plan all worked out to make sure everyone is checked in and get’s on the planes. The first group (that I’m in) will hit the ground running tomorrow with a tour of the Capitol and the National Air and Space Museum. We’ll meet up with groups 3 and 4 for dinner and head to the hotels. I don’t think I’ll have access to my laptop during the day, but I will try to update this section as soon as we get to the hotel tomorrow evening. Until then, Take care and this is probably the only time I will say…please don’t email or call, cause I won’t get them…although I did get a new phone today with TV so I can get the Cards and Steelers games!!! Real quick, speaking of the Cards. If anyone reads this and has any connections with the players, Let them know that on Wednesday, Steve Smith from the Panthers heard about a band from North Carolina that hadn’t made enough money to get to the parade so he wrote a check and covered the balance. I think that is a direct Challenge to our home town team who actually beat those guys to make it to the championship game.  I’m sure one of them wants to step it up and be a hero and save the day.  Arizona is supporting them, how about a little in return. YEP, IT”S A CHALLENGE CARDS!!!!! Thanks again to everyone and talk with you tomorrow evening or sooner if possible……Charlie

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