January 23, 2002
Band going to Disney World
Musicians play at MusicFest in Florida this April
Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Watch out Disney World, here they come!
Come April, members of the Traverse City Central High School Marching Band will marching down the Main Street in Disney World, delighting the crowd with their award-winning show.
The four-day stay in Orlando will be anchored by appearances at Musicfest by the East Junior High Symphony Band and Central's Concert, Jazz and Marching bands. There they will compete with other bands from around the nation.
For Bonnie Moore, Central High School's band director, the trip is a great way for her to reward her students for their hard work and dedication - and to challenge them to new levels of performance.
"The reason I decided I wanted to take them on the trip was to challenge them at more than the state level of competition, where they have consistently brought home 1 ratings," said Moore, who has been band director at Central for five years. "The marching band has won awards for outstanding music and percussion and performed around the state. They have consistently been wonderful and I wanted to reward that by challenging them at the national level."
For the 92 students who will be traveling a total of four days round trip on a bus for the four-day stay in Orlando, the effort will be worth it.
"I definitely want the experience of going down there and playing," said Traci Tarr, a senior clarinet player at Central.
Some seniors in the program see this trip as an exciting way to wind up their high school musical career.
"It is great that the last thing my senior year is to go to Florida with my friends and perform," said Melissa Rice, a flute player. "It is a good way to end the year."
The bands auditioned for Musicfest via video and audiotapes. They were invited to attend this national music festival in September and received approval from the Traverse City Area Public Schools to attend in November.
Fundraising has been the name of the game ever since, as Moore set a goal of raising $75,000 for the trip. Each student's cost of $700 can be met by their fundraising efforts. A submarine sandwich sale, car wash and two 'tag' days where the bands performed at area stores and banks have helped defray both individual and group costs. An upcoming spaghetti dinner is their final group fundraising effort.
Another fund-raiser has been sales of a compact disc of the marching band repertoire, recorded this fall at the Lars Hockstad Auditorium. This disc contains a collection of all the pregame and halftime tunes, plus the Trojan fight song and marching cadences. Moore had 500 copies of the disc made and distributed them to Borders, Mr. Gig's Music Shop, Marshall Music and Shelby Music.
The disc's cover includes photos of the marching band in action, taken by members' parents. Other parent volunteers designed the cover. Moore said that their professional assistance made the compact disc an excellent fundraising tool.
Beyond their help on the compact disc, she believes that the extensive parental involvement and support over the years has been crucial to their many successes. This trip is just a more visible chance for these parents to help out.
"I've never dealt with such wonderful parents in my life," Moore noted. "Right now, if I needed something, I could make one phone call to one parent and she could have 20 parents here within an hour."
The Fourth Annual All You Can Eat Spaghetti Dinner to benefit the band programs at Central High School and East Junior High will be held on Friday from 5 to 8 p.m. at Central High School's cafeteria. Tickets are $7 and proceeds will help cover costs of travel and meals for band students traveling to Orlando in April. For more information, call 933-3661.