Marching Band Madness

Hello Family,

Life is great in North Carolina. Oh, there's that job part. But other than that, everything is wonderful. Oh, and there's the interim report cards that aren't as high as the kids, or parents want, but life is great. And the reason is: It's marching band season. It's the time of the year Kent has been in love with since his freshman year, and now Peter is following in the same step. After weeks of band camp and practice after school it's time to put on the uniforms and march in competition form! We didn't know the environment could be more exciting than it's been in years past. But having the Drum Major and a 2nd family member in the band has ratcheted up the excitement. And now Kiana is talking about joining the high school marching band next year (as an 8th grader). She really wants to march!

This year's theme is Nocturum. It's supposed to be an "urban vampire" show. If you click on the link below you'll see the entire show. It's supposed to be a 'moon' in the middle of the field and the scaffoldings are to represent an urban setting. I don't get it.. but then again, I'm not as artsy as the instructor.

Of course, another event requires the right haircut.

Peter's head has become the billboard for 'all

that is cool.' Needless to say, he was the talk of the band (and probably the school) when he showed up on the friday before the first competition sporting this new cut. They are part of the Northwest Guilford Viking Band. This is the logo of the "Vikings." I couldn't get intricate enough to do the viking head that is supposed to

go in the middle of the "V." But it did the job!

The boys competed in their first competition last weekend. Even though they have a very young band they are gelled that day and they were able to walk away with 1st places trophies in each of the six individual categories, 1st in 4A, and Grand Champion of the entire competition! Here's a link to see their show . Kent is holding the Grand Champion trophy. It was a major accomplishment considering it was the first competition for half the band. And to see Kent walk out to receive the trophy for Drum Major and then for Grand Champion was almost more than his parents could handle. They have since had another home game (homecoming) to perform but their latest competitions got rained out. During the homecoming game we were able to get a little closer to the marchers than we can during a competition so I was able to do a little focusing on Kent's leading. You'll see his salute and some of the show.

I was able to get a few seconds of Peter. It's hard to pick him out during much of the show because they're all wearing matching uniforms (strange, I know!!!). But at the end he comes into frame as they're ending.

The marching band program is wonderful at their school. It is the one thing for which Kent has the most passion and this weekend, when the instructor announced that the two competitions were rained out, he was really bummed. I believe his exact quote was "That was going to be 17 hours straight of nothing but band. It was going to be awesome!" Now Peter has his sights on following in his brother's footsteps as drum major when he's a senior. And, as I mentioned, Kiana is thinking of jumping threw a little loophole in the whole "high school" definition of the marching band and joining next year as an 8th grader. And honestly, because of the quality of the kids, we would be excited for it.

Peter to NOAC

It's about time I share this story. One of the big events for our summer was Peter's first big "high adventure" experience. Ever since he was elected into the Order of the Arrow he's been wanting to do more and more within the brotherhood. At his tap out he heard about the National Order of the Arrow Conference and he came home and told us he wanted to go. His passion only increased over the next few months and he continued to get more and more active in the chapter. Many times he had a stronger desire to go to OA than to regular scout meetings

At the end of July his wait was over. He had gone up to summer came the weekend before so he could pass off his brotherhood test, so he could go to the national conference as a full-fledged brotherhood member.

Of course, a new adventure requires a new haircut.

We had started the "specialized" haircuts a few months ago with a diamond and then a star (for the Youth Trek). But if you're going to hang out with a few thousand Order of the Arrow brotheren, you must have an official "haircut." We had a good time giving him the haircut and I believe he had a great time at the conference.

He got to spend a week at Indiana University, going to events, taking part in activities, and just basically hanging out with a bunch of others who love the OA. The hair was a hit. In fact, he was included in one of videos they used each night to highlight the days activities. Peter even said that kids would come up to him and say "Hey.. you're the one with the haircut. I want to take my picture with you!!" He was a star! He learned about the fun of patch trading and came home with man OA flaps.. including one that lights up. Wow.. what differences from when I was a scout. He's now talking about patching trading at next year's Jamboree. And he's making plans to be part of NOAC in 2011.