Bands Of America (BOA)
Grand National Championship
Overview
The band boarded the buses at Webster High School at 6am and departed on time at 6:30. The in-route practice for this trip was was courtesy of Edgewood Jr. High School in Ashtabula, Ohio with a very nice practice field. The band arrived there about 10:30am and practiced for an hour and a half. The students had lunch before getting back on the bus and departing at 12:30pm. Dinner was at the Salem Mall Food Court in Dayton, Ohio at 6pm before heading to the hotel in Indianapolis where they arrived at 9:15pm.
The traveling weather was great. Temperatures in the mid-thirties upon departure from Webster and hit a high around 55. The sun shown most of the trip.
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| Webster setting up for prelim performance | Leaving the RCA Dome after prelims |
The band was up at 5am this morning to energize with a breakfast of bagels and fruit before leaving the hotel. After a light practice they trekked to the RCA Dome for their 10:30am preliminary performance. Then it was back to the hotel for a buffet lunch followed by an afternoon of practicing. At 4pm everyone headed back to the Dome. Some students participated in a Dr. Tim Leadership seminar while the rest watched the other bands perform. They all returned to the hotel at 7pm for a buffet dinner. Finally a relaxing period tonight as they are in the halls visiting with friends.
The weather here was cloudy most of the day. No rain, snow, or wind (this year) so the day went well!
After the final performances at 10:30pm, the semi-finalists were announced and Webster was among them! They received a Division I rating!! Webster performs tomorrow (Saturday) at 1pm.
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| Webster performing in semi-finals | |
The day was a beautiful here in Indianapolis. The temperature made it to 70 and the sun was shining all day. The students were up at 6:30am, had breakfast and spent the morning practicing. They performed in the semi-finals at 1:00pm at the RCA Dome. Afterwards, they returned to the hotel for a late lunch/dinner and then relaxed until the semi-final results were announced around 5:00pm. Webster did not make the top 12 bands this year. At 7:00pm the band, followers, chaperones, and staff all went back to the Dome for the finals. It was heartening to see the caliber of the bands that beat us. Some of them such as Plymouth-Canton and Center Grove were truly awesome. The awards presentation was spectacular and all had fun. Everyone returned to the hotel at 12:30am and wrapped up with a pizza party.
Following a 6:30 wakeup the buses pulled out at about 10:30. It is a beautiful day here. Temperature in the low 50's and the sun is shining again. The trip consisted of a few rest stops, lunch in Cleveland, dinner in an Erie mall food court, and arriving back in Webster at 8:15pm.