Important Forms and Info for Muscle Shoals 8/19/2016

Game Week!!! And it's already been a busy one.

Before we get to the information, I want to thank everyone for an awesome yesterday. We bused the band to the stadium at Leeds Middle School to perform for ABC 33/40's High School Football Preview Show. Our students were absolutely wonderful. Thank you to everyone involved for a great outing.

The show will air Wednesday (tomorrow!) on ABC 33/40 at 7PM. Leeds High School and Thompson High School also brought their bands and they sounded fabulous. Check out the show. Share any pictures you take/see. #HailtheDale.

Now business...

Forms:

Below you will find some very important forms we need to get signed and turned in. Your students received the Authorization to Record form last week and we only have a few still not turned in. The permission to travel form for Muscle Shoals is also below and your child will not be able to travel with us without it.

Both of these forms are due Friday. You will also find our game plan for Friday below.

Authorization to Record 2016

Travel Form - 8/19/2016 - FB @ Muscle Shoals

Game Plan - 8/19/2016 - FB @ Muscle Shoals

For food on Friday, your student will need to bring money. We will be eating at the Florence Mall (301 Cox Creek Parkway, Florence, Alabama 35630).

If you want a of the map of our path Friday, follow this link: Map for FB @ Muscle Shoals - 8/19/2016

Would LOVE to have a huge band family showing for this game!!! We plan to leave at 2:00PM.

Fundraiser:

Our Dreamland and Poinsettia fundraiser ends THIS FRIDAY! Remember that a portion of the money raised will go directly into your student's account to help pay for band dues and Spring Trip. You can find the order forms below. Again, they are due THIS FRIDAY!

Dreamland Order Form

Poinsettia Order Form

Buffalo Wild Wings Pep Rally

As mentioned last week, we have been asked to perform at a pep rally for the community next Monday, August 22nd. As of now, the pep rally is set to start at 7PM, but that time has moved a little bit so we might need to move it again. Call time is set for 6:15PM meeting AT BWW (not the high school). Band room will be open until 6:05PM for people to get equipment. If any changes to the schedule happen, we will post on the social medias (@GDaleBand).

Can't wait to take this show on the road and (finally) show off all the amazing work your students have done and get the first show under our belt.

Go Rockets and #HailtheDale,
JT

August Performance Update

The start of school is inching ever closer. First football game is less than 2 weeks away! Lots of things going on with the GDale Band.

Fundraiser

Our Dreamland and Poinsettia fundraisers are still going on. Make sure your students are asking around as a portion of the sales goes to their account to help pay for dues and spring trip. You can find the order forms by clicking the links below.

Poinsettia Order Form

Dreamland Order Form

Remember that order forms and money are due Friday, August 19th.

Rehearsal Schedule this week

Monday 8/8/2016: 3:15PM - 4:45PM

Tuesday 8/9/2016: 3:15PM - 4:45PM

Thursday 8/11/2016 (FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!): 3:15PM - 4:45PM

Note: More than likely, we will move our rehearsals after school back to start at 3:30 and end at 5:00 once school starts. It is tough to ask the students to change, get to the field, apply sunscreen, get their music and drill together, AND be out where ever we are starting in 9 minutes. I would rather the students to not have to rush around and stressed before rehearsal even begins.

Update to the performance schedule

• DATE CHANGE: Christmas Concert changed to Monday, December 5th
• Additional Event: HS Football Preview Show - Monday, August 15th - Leeds High School (Bus to event after rehearsal)
• Additional Event: Pep Rally - Monday, August 22nd - Buffalo Wild Wings (Student/Parent Responsibility)

The Christmas Concert is being moved to Monday, Decemeber 5th. There were some last minute changes to the school calendar with events involving other schools and it was easiest for us to move up a little bit. Bragg will start at 6:30PM and the High School Band will start after that around 7PM.

We have been asked to participate in a High School Football Preview Show at Leeds High School this coming Monday, August 15th. This event will be recorded and shown on ABC 33/40 during the week! We will shorten our regularly scheduled rehearsal that day, load buses and head to Leeds. The taping will be from 7-8:15PM. We plan on being back home by 9:30PM at the latest. We will need chaperones for this trip. If you are interested, please email me. Parents and fans are encouraged to join us at Leeds to be a part of this event. 

Uniform for this will be Maroon Band Jersey and Khakis for instrumentalist and Pep Outfits for Auxiliaries.

The following Monday, August 22nd we have been asked to perform at a pep rally style event in front of Buffalo Wild Wings in Gardendale. We will end rehearsal at 4:45PM.  We will meet at BWWs at 5:15PM to warm up. The pep rally will start at 6:00PM. Our performance should be over by 7PM at the latest.

Unifrom for this event TBA.

One other change from the first released performance schedule: the Spring Trip will be April 19th - April 23rd. More info on the Spring Trip in a future update.

You can find an updated performance schedule for the year here. The updated events are in Bold.

Thank you to parents, staff, and students for your flexibility on Saturday with getting here early to get some final things tuned up for Meet the Rockets. I hate we didn't get to perform but given the continued delays, I didn't want to keep the students at the high school past 9. The was not a waste! We got great work done and even got a (loud) run through in the lobby. Shout out to the parents that were able to catch the lobby run. 

Even though we didn't perform at Meet the Rockets officially, these additional events give us more opportunities to show off before the first football game on the 19th.

As always, my door is open. Feel free to email me with any questions or comments (jetaylor@jefcoed.com). Thank you for all you do for our students and our band here at Gardendale!

Go Rockets. #HailtheDale,
Mr. Taylor

Summer Update - 7/14/2016

Hello Rockets!

Lots of information in this update.

Band Camp

We just finished a great week of wind sectionals yesterday and the drum line is in the band room right now wrapping up percussion camp. Earlier in the summer, our Rockettes and Color Guard had great weeks of camp in Panama City and UAB, respectively. Our students are already working hard, and we are only in (official) week one of the new marching season!

Full Band pictures are set for Friday, July 14th (tomorrow) at 8AM. We will meet in the band room, full uniform at 8. I will be up here at 7AM to unlock the band room and get things ready. BE PREPARED... the group picture will be outside in the stands this year as the gym is off limits due to the floor being redone. We will try to start these as close to 8AM as possible. Section and individual pictures will be inside the lobby like normal afterwards, barring any weather problems.

Band Camp proper starts Monday, July 18th. 8AM. Attached you will find the Summer Schedule.

2016 Summer Schedule


Fundraisers!!!

We are already starting some of our annual fundraisers. Below you will find order forms for both our Dreamland and Poinsettia sales. All sales will credit your child's band booster account.

For the poinsettias, students will receive $2 per plant. 20% of your child's Dreamland sales will go to their account.

Both of these forms are due by AUGUST 19th.

Dreamland Order Form

Poinsettia Order Form

If you have any questions about anything, please email me at jetaylor@jefcoed.com. Over the next few weeks, I will update this page with the full band schedule for the year, Honor Band dates, competition dates and places, and spring trip information.

CANNOT WAIT to get the entire Rocket Marching Band together next week!!!

Thank you for all that you do,

Mr. Taylor

Senior Wind Screen Order Form

If your child will be a senior in the fall 2016 school year and you would like to purchase a wind screen with their band picture on it, use the link below to print a form.  The screens will be displayed at the stadium during football season

http://gardendaleathleticclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/2016-SENIOR-WINDSCREEN-ORDER-FORM.pdf

Mail the form to the athletic booster address on the form.  They are due JULY 1, 2016!!!!!!  Wind screens are $50.00 each and must be paid by July 1st or it will not be ordered.

Student Information Update Link

Use the link below to update your information for the band boosters for the 2016-2017 school year.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1GNPetxiPU8-MdMQQVqtfPtM9wJ3fswsFJdJ3KiLiEhk/edit?usp=drive_web

Banquet Music Suggestion Link

The website to request music for the banquet is below. You will need to put in the date (April 9, 2016) in the drop down menus and the password is tyyyx

http://jamm.net/guest-requests/

MPA 2016

The band will be playing at the State Music Performance Assessment on Wednesday, March 16 at 12:15 pm at Homewood High School. Everyone is invited to listen to our stage performance. There is no admission charged.We plan to leave Gardendale around 9:30 am and go to the Brookwood Mall for an early lunch. We will leave there at 11:00 to go to Homewood High School. After the stage performance we will go to the sightreading room. We should be finished and leaving by 1:00 pm which will put us back to Gardendale by 1:30-1:40 that afternoon.

Band Banquet Invitation 2016

If you need the banquet invitation, follow the link below.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B15UcZMGFUvaMnBlNVVlQVM3ODg/view?usp=sharing

Pre MPA Concert and MPA

Our Pre-MPA concert will be this Thursday, February 18 at 6:30pm in the auditorium at GHS. Call time for the students will be 6:00pm. The high school band will be the only group playing because of the fire in Bragg's band room. We should finish before 7:00pm. The time was adjusted so that the boys who play soccer will be able to play at the concert and in their home game at 7:00 that evening.

I have received the MPA schedule. We will be playing on Wednesday, March 16 at 12:15 at Homewood High School. We will leave school that morning and eat lunch at the Brookwood Mall before we go to play.

Swamp John's Fundraiser

Follow the link below for information on our current fundraiser.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B15UcZMGFUvadElJMzBxMFBCQ1E/view?usp=sharing

Pre-MPA Concert and MPA

Our Pre-MPA Concert will be on February 18 at 7:15 p.m. in the auditorium at G.H.S.

We will play at MPA at Homewood High School on March 16th or 17th. I will send an update as soon as the schedule is released.