Petaluma Band Review rocks P-Town!
Oct 8th 2007JaimeyWBMusic & Community
8th Annual Petaluma Invitational Band Review a ROARING success!
Note: I posted this on my blog on 360, but in the interest of proliferation and getting the news out about music education in as many places as possible, here it is on Petaluma OPEN…
Another October weekend has come and gone and taken with it another annual Petaluma Invitational Band Review. It was another big success this year - our 8th - and if you made it down to 6th and B on Saturday I hope you had a good time. We had a smaller group of bands due to the SAT tests landing on the same weekend, but we heard all good things in spite of it. This has become a competition that band directors from all over the Bay Area say is one of their favorites because of how well they’re cared for by the PHS volunteers and by all of you in the community at large.
This year I was thrust into a much larger role than in years’ past. Ordinarily I’d be out before dawn helping to set up the judges’ stand - a lot of good sweat and manual labor building scaffolding, setting the platform and hanging horizontal stripes of red, white and blue that you can see from far up B Street. This year I was fortunate enough to act as Volunteer Coordinator for the whole shindig, shouldering some of the logistic and administrative work for Review co-chairs Mike and Theresa Haire and Janet Knudson. In years past I’d finish my volunteer task just as many others were just getting started, and already have my spot on the parade route set, video camera in hand.
This year I think I got to see 20-30 seconds of the PHS band (who were fantastic, by the way) and a good dose of the percussion unit from Hayward High School as I was in constant motion. What a treat, and the “why” is the message I’m ramping up to.
I’ve had such a deep amount of admiration for my fellow band parents in general (for supporting arts education), but especially those who put in hours upon hours to make all of our events possible during the school year - competitions, school concerts, band trips, etc.
For the casual observer, the Band Review just happens in spite of them - and it’s been our good fortune to steward this event into something that is fun, simple and accessible to the whole community every year. There’s literally dozens of people who lend their time and enthusiasm to make an event like this come together. From planning and logistics to an insane amount of food prep (for our BBQ and snack bars) to the small army it takes to get our kids into uniform and ready to step off and set the tone for the event…in a word, amazing.
So while I didn’t get my cush spot to watch the whole parade, I did find an even deeper feeling of appreciation for all of those who made the Band Review another great success this year.
So if you had a great time this year, send thanks to the band directors and kids from all over the Bay Area who come to showcase their talent. Give thanks to the City of Petaluma, our elected officials, City Staff and Petaluma Police Department for helping us set the stage for another fantastic event. And. . .give thanks to the many, MANY hands who volunteered to make the whole thing happen.
And…if you weren’t able to make it, good news. There’ll be another one next year. We plan to be around for a long time to come. We hope to see you next year at the 9th Annual Petaluma Invitational Band Review. I’m in the process of collecting photos and video of Saturday’s event that I’ll post soon. In the meantime - PHS music students, directors, and parents ROCK!
