Well we have made it home safely and are getting back into the swing of things at school... so it's time for thank-yous, and a few extra pictures!

So, a big THANK YOU from Mr. Anderson and I to...

... our students, for being awesome musicians and people and earning compliments everywhere we went

... our parent chaperones, for keeping everyone and everything running smoothly

... ALL the parents who supported their students musically and monetarily in preparation for the trip

.... the Dannos, for faithfully hauling our trailer up and down a LOT of hills

... Mrs. Bartolotta, for being our supportive administrator AND surviving her first band trip :)

... Ms. Swanson and all other MCHS administrators and board members who helped make the trip possible

... Dramamine, for making a ride on Bus #2 possible

... and last but certainly not least, Mrs. Kim Gordon for devoting the past year to coordinating every detail of our trip to Branson and making sure it was a success!

If not for everyone above, trip to Branson would not have been nearly as successful or enjoyable. Our students and parents are truly a fantastic group to travel with... I could not have picked 91 kids and 15 parents with whom I would have rather spent 18 hours on a bus. :) Keep scrolling for a few extra pictures that did not make it into previous posts (thanks to Jeff Gurley for the first four)! For even more pictures from the trip, check out Mrs. Geyer's Shutterfly album at http://mchsbransonbandtrip2012.shutterfly.com! Email Mrs. Geyer for password access.

Band entering Silver Dollar City

In the cave at Silver Dollar City! (Back row: Pat, Mark, Austin, Cory, Logan, Esmeralda; Middle row: Haley, Dani, Alex, Justine, Leah, Kalynn, Alyssa; Front row: Zach, Caleb, Ashley, Justin)

Being announced on the Branson Belle

Jazz Band performing on the Branson Belle!

Mr. Anderson accepting our giant trophy on the Branson Belle

Our kids dancing up at the stage at the Cat's Pajamas concert. :) (This was one of my favorite moments of the trip!)

Oh, and for anyone wondering who the super-taped door from the previous post belonged to... it was Mr. Anderson's room. Chaperones can have fun too! :)

Day #3

Though it may be hard to believe, today was our busiest day yet. The morning began with two groups heading to either the local go-kart track or the Titanic museum. Both were great experiences! The Titanic museum featured tons of amazing artifacts, including a watch that stopped at the moment it hit the water. There was also a chance to feel how cold the water was and see how long you could keep your hand submerged - it was FREEZING, and very few people lasted more than five or ten seconds. Those headed to the go-kart track enjoyed a beautiful, sunny morning of relaxing after a fast-paced couple of days. Bumper boats were also a big hit!

Zach and Caleb racing around the track

After lunch and a quick stop at the hotel to change, we headed to College of the Ozarks for our contest performance. College of the Ozarks is a unique school at which students work 15 hours per week in exchange for full tuition reimbursement. They also have a beautiful campus, complete with a prominently located cow pasture! We had a successful performance and mini-clinic, and received a high first division rating from all judges (including a "I+" from one judge!).

We quickly loaded the buses again after our performance, and headed to McFarlain's for dinner. This place has the right idea - they serve pie before the main course! Following dinner was our clinic and performance at the Andy Williams Theatre, home of the Cat's Pajamas show. Our clinician was very complimentary, and our pre-show performance was very well received!

After completing our last performance of the trip, we settled in to enjoy The Cat's Pajamas Vocal Band, a five-person a capella group. What an entertaining show!! They sang music from all decades and genres, and featured a bass/beatboxer who was absolutely fantastic. Shortly into the show, we all got a VERY good laugh when our own Kim Gordon was selected to come up on sage for a song and dance routine with the group. She was a great sport and went along with everything they asked her to do, including being tied to a chair!

 

By the second half of the show, you would have thought you were at a rock concert! Large groups of Minooka students were standing, clapping, and dancing in front of the stage, screaming every time one of the vocalists passed nearby. We were even approached by other show patrons saying that the amount of fun our students were having made the evening more fun for them! After the show, the Cats came onto our buses to joke around with the kids and thank us for coming. They were really a fantastic group on all counts, and highly recommended if you ever make it to Branson!

Cats entertaining us on the bus before we leave

When we finally returned to the hotel for good, the kids got to hang out for a bit and enjoy some pizza before bed. They had a LOT of energy to burn (to say the least) after a flurry of photos and signatures with the Cats after the show. Below is a group that gathered in the hall with Merlene, our wonderful tour guide!

 One of these things is not like the other... (an attempt to name everyone: Dani, Charles, Chris, Cory, Austin, Eric, Rebecca, Haley, Becky, Courtney, our tour guide Merlene, Jill, Natalie, Kayla, Peyton, Violet, Melissa, Abbie, Becca, Halie, Marisa, and Brittany)

Finally, everyone headed to bed. Below is an example of how dedicated our chaperones are to our students' safety - they take door taping to a TOTALLY new level. (Stay tuned... tomorrow we will reveal whose door this is...)

A definite highlight of the day was the number of compliments our students received regarding their musicianship, behavior, and enthusiasm. Both clinicians, employees everywhere we went, and fellow audience members all had SO many nice things to say about our students. We are so lucky to have such an awesome group of kids to work with every day!! They have really represented our school and community well while in Branson.

Overall, a great day! Tomorrow we head back to Minooka. We are hoping to leave Branson around 8:30 am, giving us an estimated arrival time of 6:30 pm. I think everyone is looking forward to the bus ride... we are exhausted!

Friday was another busy day for us here in Branson! The day began with a trip to Silver Dollar City, an 1800s-themed amusement park. In addition to the cave attraction that was the beginning of the park, there were plenty of rollercoasters, shops, shows, and food booths to keep everyone busy and well-fed.

The cave was VERY cool - the largest cavern is big enough to fit the Statue of Liberty inside! At the end of the tour, you rode out of the cave on a mining train.


The coasters were also big hits, and offered a great view of the surrounding hills and lakes. Several of us got to see a performance by Peruvian "scissor dancers," who perform increasingly difficult physical feats while dancing with scissor-like percussion instruments in their hands. Afterwards, Mrs. Millsaps had the chance to purchase a traditional Peruvian hat!


As we were exiting the park, I saw a large group of students in front of me veer to the right. Sure enough, there was a music vendor selling dulcimers, spoons, and other mountain music instruments. It took some coaxing to get some of them on the buses!

Happy band kids in front of the music booth.

After returning from the park, the jazz band students departed early for the Branson Belle to prepare for our performance. It was a fast-paced and exciting environment as light and sound checks were made and microphones were added. The band had a great performance, and the rest of our Minooka group was a fantastic audience. Pictures of the actual performance will be coming soon - below is the jazz band at the entrance to the boat.


After the jazz band's performance, we all enjoyed dinner and the main show. The show was very entertaining, including a comedian/magician, vocal quintet, and solo violinist/pianist/vocalist/acrobat. All the performers here in Branson seem to be so multi-talented! The violinist was well-received by our students from her first note, as she began her performance with music from "Fiddler on the Roof." Highlights of the show included the violinist playing electric violin while dangling upside down from fabric hanging from the ceiling, and a boy band medley performance which elicited a lot of screaming and singing along. :)

After dinner - Jake, Courtney, Sarah, Caleb, Justin, Ashley, Megan, and a few more in the shadows that I can't make out.

The violinist playing while dangling from the ceiling!

Needless to say, we were all ready for bed by the time we got back to the hotel last night. Today has been another busy day and it's only just started - more on that later!

Day #1

Our Branson trip is off to a great start! Amazingly, everyone arrived in a timely manner this morning and we were on the road by 5:30 - half an hour earlier than scheduled. With just a few quick stops along the way, we were in Branson by 3:30.

At McDonald's for lunch! (From L to R - Erich, Kalynn, Alex, Kyle, Logan, Leah, Esmeralda, Kyle, Hope, Mark, and Justine, with Chad in the background)


On the bus... apologies for the blurriness, but I actually was falling over, and it captures the incessant rocking of the bus once we hit hilly Missouri.
There was pretty scenery though! (This is Bus #1 ahead of us.)
We had time to check into the hotel and settle for just a short while before heading out to the Dixie Stampede. What an entertaining show! We arrived in time to see the pre-show, which consisted of a very entertaining comedian/juggler/banjo player. The main show is very much like Medieval Times, with a Civil War twist of North versus South. We saw a great deal of equestrian showmanship, singing, and dancing, with some fun twists like pig races and kids chasing chickens!

Pig race! (Photo by Mrs. Geyer)



The highlight for our group was two of our own students, Ryan P. and Anna G., being selected to head into the ring and participate in a "horse race" on behalf of the North (our side of the arena). It was hilarious, AND their team won!

Racing for the North! (photo by Mrs. Geyer)

Ryan taking a victory lap! (photo by Kyle S.)

Lastly, while most of us enjoyed the pre-show, the Dannos (our wonderful trailer drivers!) and a few chaperones dropped off the food and other supplies that our band students collected for the Branson tornado relief organization. We had an entire truck bed and a large portion of our band trailer filled with boxes! Big thanks to Mr. Alexander for suggesting the supply drive - our donations were GREATLY appreciated.

We actually passed several buildings on the way to the Dixie Stampede that sustained damage from the tornado.


Mrs. Homa, Mrs. Leonardy, Mrs. Gordon, and Mrs. Danno unloading donations (thank you also to Mrs. Simonich for bringing in a huge quantity of donations, including all the boxes in the picture!)

With Mr. Danno in front of the trailer

Right now, nearly everyone is spending their evening swimming or hanging out around the piano in the lobby. We will definitely all sleep well tonight - another long day tomorrow!

Made it!

We have made it safely to Branson, and are heading out now to Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede dinner theater show. It was a smooth ride with plenty of time to catch up on sleep! Pictures to come when I have more time tonight.

Practice Makes Perfect

Final rehearsal for Branson! Our 91-person band takes up almost the entire band room.

Welcome!

Welcome to the MCHS Band - Branson 2012 Blog! We will be updating this blog throughout our trip to Branson to let friends and family at home know what we're up to. Feel free to post comments!

If you're a junior or senior student/parent, you can also reminisce about our 2010 trip to San Antonio.

Thanks for stopping by - we're looking forward to a great trip!