We’ve made it through our first week and a half of school, first football game, and now we’re on the road for the rest of the semester here with the bands! This week we have several big things to keep in mind. First, we will have two trip meetings for our 2024 Cleveland trip that is open to Freshmen through Seniors, and any JH Front Ensemble members. It is not too late to sign up for the trip, and we really would iove 5-10 more students to travel with us. We need all participants with the trip to attend one of the meetings with their parent preferably – but at least a parent to come to one of these meetings. We’ll provide an update on the itinerary, estimated costs, and information on our preparations we’ll take for our performance! Those meetings will be on Wednesday at 6pm, and Thursday at 6pm, and should last about 30 minutes.

For JH Beginning Band Members we need them to have their instruments at school by Wednesday if they have not been ordered through Hillje Music, who will deliver drive instruments this week. If you’re having any issues with an instrument purchase, please contact Mr. Williams and we will help in every way we can! 

JH Concert Band and Symphonic Winds members need to have their $25 band fees turned in this week. Checks/Money Orders should be made out to OEISD for those.

Friday is an early release day, and we’ll be traveling to Tidehaven HS with the HS Band for the game. Students need to be at the Band Hall ready to go by 1:30pm. We will provide dinner on the way, and I am guessing we should return between 12:30am and 1am. (This is the first time we’ve traveled there for a game, so this may vary from those times. Please visit Owl Band Boosters Facebook group about 10:30pm and I should have a better estimate)

Next, we do have order forms available to order a second set of our show shirts through the boosters. We need those order forms and money turned in no later than Wednesday please! We do have to hit a minimum order to get these printed due to the higher grade printing this company does. The second order shirts are being printed on 50/50 blend shirts since we usually hear that parents prefer that. You may find order forms here: https://tinyurl.com/56y8vb93 Checks/Money Orders should be made out to Owl Band Boosters for these shirts.

Finally, just a reminder the HS Band DOES rehearse on this coming Monday, Labor Day, from 6:30pm-8:30pm still. It’s imperative that students be back in town and at that rehearsal!

Owl Marching Invitational:

We want to make sure we have this on everyone’s radar as an important day coming up on Saturday, September 23rd! Last year we began hosting the Owl Marching Invitational in Odem. This was a VERY successful fundraising opportunity for us, and we hope it continues to grow through the years. We currently have fifteen bands signed up, and will need volunteers from just before noon until about 11:30pm when we conclude the contest/clean-up. With over 1,000 participants coming for this event, we need every student to have at least one volunteer from their family to help out! Please mark this day on your calendar! I will have a Sign-Up Genius link in next week’s email to begin organizing those volunteers!

This Week’s Schedule:

Day:	Event:
Monday:	6:30pm-8:30pm – Marching Rehearsal
Tuesday:	No Afternoon Rehearsal
Wednesday:	4:15pm-5:30pm – Rehearsal 6:00pm – Cleveland Trip Meeting
Thursday:	6:30pm-8:30pm – Rehearsal 6:00pm – Cleveland Trip Meeting
Friday:	Odem vs. Tidehaven 1:30pm at Band Hall 7:30pm – Game Begins ~1am – Return Home

Upcoming Events:

Day:	Event:	Time:
September 1st	Odem vs. Tidehaven (El Maton (Tidehaven HS))
September 4th	Evening Rehearsal (Labor Day)	6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
September 8th	Odem vs. Mathis (Mathis)
September 14th	Homecoming Parade/Burning of the O
September 15th	Odem vs. San Diego (Homecoming)
September 16th	All-Region Jazz Auditions (Robstown)
September 22nd	Odem vs. Taft (Taft)
September 23rd	2nd Annual Owl Marching Invitational
September 29th	Odem vs. Santa Rosa (Home)
September 30th	US Bands Victoria Marching Contest	~12:30pm Performance
October 6th	Odem vs. Monte Alto (Monte Alto)
October 7th	Annual Marching Clinic	3pm-6pm

Thank you for your help and support of these amazing students! Please contact us if you have any questions!