Marching Band Update

Jumble left on Thursday, November 5th, for marching band tour in St. George. Thanks to various family members who watched our other kids, Niles and I were able to leave Friday morning to join her. Friday was the UMEA Red Rocks competition at Dixie State College. American Fork hosts this competition every year, with help from Davis and Mountain Crest bands. (Have I ever told you that American Fork has an INCREDIBLE group of band booster parents? Well, they do!) So Niles and I were signed up to help all day. We basically sat at the volunteer sign-in table all day. We were across from the warm-up fields so it was fun to see all the bands march by on their way to compete. We cheered them all on and wished them good luck as they marched by. Other than that, it was pretty boring. But we were glad to help. And the weather was gorgeous for our entire stay! This is the new logo on one of our trailers:

(The flip flops in the lower right corner are to remember Heather--she loved flip-flops and wore them all the time.)

We were done with our duties by evening so I was able to go see all the bigger bands compete. Niles was busy, as usual, helping the pit get on and off the field. A few photos I snapped of our show:

American Fork took first place in the competition, which was wonderful.

Niles, Jumble, and I after the show. Tired but happy

This is Jumble with her friend, Liz. They were sitting together on the bus when it crashed. They were both thrown forward five seats and Liz was pinned under the seat and had to wait to be cut out. She banged up her knee, but miraculously didn't break anything. They discovered the next week that she had a concussion as well.

The next day was the Bands of America Western Regional Competition. Dan Adams, our amazing band dad leader, convinced BOA to hold this competition in St. George this year (UNLV Stadium in Las Vegas wasn't available) and offered our band parents to help as volunteers. Niles spent the morning in the stands making sure that no one sat in the area reserved for band directors. I worked at the entrance gate for the bands, making sure only band members and staff came through that gate. Niles had another shift as a shuttle driver but it was cancelled so he was free for a while and then helped our band on and off the field for their performance. In mid-morning I moved to a hostess shift, which meant that I got to drive a golf cart around to various places delivering drinks to staff and volunteers. That was really fun! I made sure that it was time to check on the judges' drink cooler when American Fork was performing so I could watch their show from the press box! I was done with my shift in time to sit in the stands for the awards ceremony, where American Fork took first place in their division!

The kids in white are the AF drum majors and the kids in blue behind them are our color guard captains:

Ten bands were announced for finals. Four Utah schools made it to finals: American Fork, Davis, Mountain Crest, and our alma mater--Orem High. Niles was helping the band on and off the field again for finals, but I got to sit in the stands and watch the entire finals competition. All of the bands were amazing--it was fun to see the shows of the top ten bands in the region, one after the other. Here's a photo taken during AF's finals performance:

All of the finalists bands take the field for the awards ceremony. It looks really cool:

And best of all, American Fork took first place in finals! They are the regional champions for the second year in a row. The tradition is that the band that wins finals does an encore performance. I don't think there was a dry eye in the place as American Fork finished their show for (we thought!) the last time. Afterwards, Mr. Miller motioned all the kids over to the poster of Heather's photo, as we made our way down to the field. They have a tradition (started last year) of lying down on their backs to look up at the stars after winning region. This is the ONLY time they are ever allowed to do something like that in their uniforms!!


Jumble with Liz, again--this time wearing their champion medals. Smiling through the tears:

Everyone posed for photos with Heather. Jumble is in the top row that you can actually see faces, with just one person to the right of her:


This is Jumble, whose patience with photos is wearing thin, when Niles asked her to pose with her medal. That look says, "Enough of the photos, Dad!":

The next day we made it home from St. George ahead of the band and so we were at the school to see them arrive, escorted by the American Fork Fire Department with sirens blaring. It was really cool! We were exhausted and happy with the end of an amazing season. But that's when we found out that maybe the season wasn't over!

The BOA staff felt that our show should be seen at Grand Nationals (in Indianapolis, Indiana.) "We really wish you could be there next weekend," they said. Then someone (with resources) said they would donate $25,000 to get us there if we could come up with the rest. And suddenly everyone started talking and thinking that maybe this crazy idea could really happen. The kids really wanted to go to share their show honoring veterans to a much larger audience. It would also give them a chance to share their story and honor Heather. They would also be able to thank many of the bands in person that have showered our band with cards, e-mails, flowers, and plants following the accident. Of course, as parents we would love for our kids to have such a wonderful opportunity. And we hoped that it could help them heal their grieving hearts. But it would take about $250,000 to get the band and all the directors and support staff there. And these are hard times, after all. We don't really need such an extravagant thing, especially when so many people are struggling so much. Of course the Regional win is a wonderful end to an extraordinary season. But we have also been lamenting all season that this wasn't a Grand Nationals year (the band tries to go about every third year) because the show is one with an important message that we felt would be great to share with more people. It became even more significant after the accident and Heather's death. Even if we could somehow scrape up that much money in 2 days, could we get flights and accommodations for 250 people? Would BOA even let us participate? The deadlines are long-past and the schedule is set, after all. So our director called BOA on Monday and they told him another band had cancelled just last week, so they did have an opening and would be happy to let us fill it. Then he called Horizons Tour and Travel, the company that does all our tours, and they said they could get the flights, accommodations, and transportation even with that short notice. The media was alerted to the story and a crazy, two-day fundraising marathon began. We also had to get approval from the school district. We all kept shaking our heads and saying, "This is crazy!" but by Tuesday afternoon thousands of wonderful people from all over the country had sent in donations large and small, and that combined with what the band families could scrape together was enough to go. The district met that evening and unanimously approved the trip. Even more incredible, Niles checked and discovered that he could use his frequent flyer miles with only 2 days' notice, that they expired in December (we didn't realize so soon), and that there was room on a flight to Indianapolis leaving this morning. So he could fly out to help with the band for $10. Everything fell into place, and despite the fact that it still seems totally crazy and unreal, it feels like it is right. It was meant to be. We feel so blessed. Who knows what an impact this show will have upon people's hearts? Our band kids feel so grateful and honored to have a chance to tell the nation about their love for their country and for the heroes of the past who have sacrificed so much, many of them their lives, for our freedom. And they are honored to share with all who will listen, the love that they have for their woodwinds instructor and guardian angel, Heather Christensen.

Yesterday morning at 6:00 a.m. our semi-truck and trailers pulled out for the 22-hour drive to Indiana. And this morning I took Jumble to the school at 4:30 a.m. and off they all went to Indianapolis. Niles left shortly after to catch his own flight to Indianapolis. They will be playing at Grand Nationals tomorrow afternoon at 1:00 p.m. (Eastern time.) We still can't believe this is really happening!