The Spirit of Great Oak Band and Color Guard
General Parent/Washington, D.C. Meeting
March 2, 2009
The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Board President, John Rossi.
Pauma Granite/Cruise Raffle Drawing Tickets were drawn for both raffle events. Pauma Granite winners will be contacted via phone or e-mail. Cruise raffle winner: Heather Smith.
WGI/SCPA Events: March 28-29 Great Oak will host a 2-day drum line competition with over 50 drum lines from across the United States and Canada. Preliminary competition begins on Saturday at 10. Top groups will be invited to finals on Sunday beginning 10am.
SCPA Drum Line Championships are at GOHS on April 11th.
Both events have the potential to net a large profit. Volunteers are needed for both events in order to run them smoothly. Parents who have not already volunteered will be contacted to work one of the events.
Band Festival: Wednesday, March 18th from noon until 8:00 p.m. and Thursday, March 19th from 8:00 a.m to 5:00p.m. Great Oak will play at 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Hospitality is in need of food items for both days. Contact Teresa Kaita for more information.
Music in the Park Festival: Saturday, April 2, 2009 at Sea World, San Diego. Fees for this trip were included in Concert Band fees. Jazz band, drum line or color guard members who wish to go will have to pay an additional fee to be determined.
2009-2010 Budget Preparation A committee has met to begin working on the budget for next year. The goal is to keep band fees the same and not pass along an increase to students. More information will be available at the next meeting.
By-Laws Adoption A committee is working on this document and hopes to bring the completed by-laws to an upcoming meeting to be adopted by all parents.
Fundraising Anyone who hosted an Australian Exchange Student is invited to a wrap-up meeting on March 9 at 2:30. Community Service Hour paperwork will be signed off at this time.
Spirit wraps are still available for $45.
The next restaurant fundraiser will be on April 16th at Duke’s Broiler from 4-8.
Gardner Middle School Band is having a fundraiser on March 13th. The GOHS Jazz Band will be playing. Dinner is available for $8. More information will be available on the band website.
Great Oak earned over $1,300 at the Oak Mountain Winery Dinner. The event was such a success that another event may be planned for early next year.
Upcoming Student Responsibilities: Freshman-Junior students must complete a concert critique due shortly after Spring Break. They will have an opportunity during the Band Festival to sit and critique the ensembles here. They must critique the equivalent of a high school group. Seniors need to complete an end-of-year survey and need to submit photos ranging from infancy to senior pictures. They can be submitted digitally or by hard copy.
Student Accomplishments Many senior students have been accepted to schools such as Berkley School of Music, Michigan State, Chico State, Univeristy of Hawaii and BYU. Seth Lagrosa recently accepted his Eagle Scout award.
Washington, DC Parents need to pick up the first piece of music for the parade, as well as verify names for ticketing purposes and identify whether instruments will be checked or carried on. Small instruments, such as flutes and clarinets, and any instruments in soft cases need to be carry-ons. Uniforms will be boxed and shipped separately from the instruments.
School identification will be the students’ primary i.d. Special cards will be made for the trip.
The band website includes links to the National Memorial Day Parade (which includes information about the route), Visabuxx.com where a visa card can be loaded and reloaded for spending money on the trip, and inexpensive hotel options outside the city.
Travel insurance is still available for $15.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:15 p.m. with the next general parent/Washington DC meeting scheduled for Monday, April 6th at 7:00 p.m.
Michelle Truax
GOHS Booster Board Secretary