Odem Bands – State Marching Contest Week Information
This week is an exciting and packed week for the Odem Bands as The Spirit of OHS travels Tuesday to the Alamodome in San Antonio for their performance at the UIL State Marching Band Contest! There will be a send-off for the Band at 8:25am Tuesday morning. Additionally we have a Veteran’s Day ceremony on Friday morning we’ll be performing at, and that evening both Senior Band Parents Night and the final District game featuring the Odem Owls vs. Banquete. To make it easier to digest each of these events I’ve separated each into it’s own section below.
State Marching Band Contest Send-Off:
Tuesday morning the district is going to have a Send-Off for the Spirit of OHS. HS students will line the hallways and the cheerleaders will lead the band through and outside to the buses. Parents and community members are encouraged to join outside as we board the buses and depart. Please arrive by 8:20am and the buses should pull away at 8:30am. I plan for us to drive down past the pool if you wish to line the route as well.
State Marching Band Contest Itinerary for Students:
Students will need to arrive at the Odem Band Hall no later than 7:00am. Guard should be able to arrive at the same time. Band Students should have their non-state Dark River shirts on this day, and be wearing the shorts they wear under their uniforms. There will be a chance to change into bibbers and uniforms on site, but there is no designated changing area. Our goal is to arrive at the Alamodome and park before going across the street to Bill Millers for lunch. Following that we’re going to give the students a quick chance to use the restrooms inside the Dome and begin the process of getting ready.
Our warm-up time is at 3:05pm, and we perform at 4:15pm. Following the performance we will have our photos taken by Jolesch Photography and then pack all of the instruments back onto the trucks and change out of uniforms. We won’t have a lot of time before Lamar University performs in Exhibitionary Performance at 5:15pm, and the Drum Major Retreat/Announcement of Finalists at 5:30pm. We have dinner reservations for 6:15 a few blocks away that we will hurry over to. Regardless of advancement we will stay for the 3A finals that evening. Should we advance we will probably be doing some last minute scrambling and rearranging of plans. If your student is not on the Remind account I strongly recommend they join it! (Text 81010 with the message @thespiri )
The final band in finals performs at 9:30pm and Awards are at 10pm. We will head to the hotel at that time and check-in. Students will pretty much be in their rooms soon after. Wednesday morning we will wake students up for breakfast at 6:00am. We’ll depart the hotel by 8:00am to go watch the 5A State Contest. We’ll stay until around noon, stop for lunch at a CiCi’s on the way home, and then hopefully be home around 3:15-3:30pm.
Lunch, Dinner, Breakfast, and Lunch are being covered by the school district on this trip. Students should bring money for State Marching Band Contest memorabilia and souvenirs at the site. It is a new vendor so I’m not sure how much they will charge. In the past around $15-20 for a t-shirt and other items get more expensive on up to hoodies. Usually you can personalize items some as well like at Area Marching Contest.
All students will need to observe the clear bag policy that I am posting below for fans.
State Marching Band Contest Fan Information:
The Alamodome implemented a ‘Clear Bag’ policy this summer. For more details please see here: http://www.uiltexas.org/files/music/Clear_Bag_Flyer-060717.pdf It is similar to the NFL policy if you’ve been to any Pro games the last several years. It limits items to go inside the Alamodome significantly. Please keep this in mind as you plan.
Parking is available at the AlamoDome and has increased to $20 as of this year. Please bring Cash as no other form of payment is accepted. Please note that there are no ‘in/out’ privileges and you must pay again to re-enter the lot if you leave. Tuesday shouldn’t be terrible for parking spaces, but often it does get crowded in the lot with all of the fans traveling from the towns to see their bands perform. I recommend arriving at least an hour to two hours early to be safe there.
Please note that the UIL does not allow audience members to bring balloons into the stadium, expend silly string, throw confetti, etc. UIL rules do not allow the use of noise makers.
I highly recommend everyone from Odem try and find a set of seats to claim as ‘Odem’s’ so you can make the most noise together for these amazing students. We hope that you will join us and cheer them on loudly!
State Marching Band Contest Streaming:
I understand some people may not be able to make the trip up with us. If you are one of those individuals it will be streamed by Box5 Media, you can find more information http://uiltexas.org/music/marching-band/state/box5media .
Extra State Shirts:
Tomorrow I will go through and make sure we have all of the students and pre-orders taken care of for the State Shirts. From 8pm on the Boosters will sell the remaining shirts in front of the New HS for anyone who would like to get one. The quantities are limited, so if you’re interested please be sure to get there close to the start.
Additionally if you ordered a 3X size shirt I apologize if we did not have one to fill your order. When I went through and looked there was a problem with the way Excel was carrying columns for me. I’ll be ordering the others for those Monday. Hopefully we can get them in the next week/week-and-a-half.
Students Packing Guidelines for Overnight State Trip:
Students need to bring any medication and check it into us that morning. We would prefer before 7am so we are not scrambling at the last minute. I or a staff member will have the medication with us and will administer it as needed. Students should pack light since it’s only one night. The hotel is an Embassy Suites with two beds and a pull out couch. We need students to keep their bags down to a small duffle size as it will be most likely kept on the bus with them. There is a cold front arriving Wednesday that students will want to be prepared for the high to only be 60 degrees in San Antonio that day.
Please help us make sure that students have their long black socks/marching shoes and gloves with them! We would like students to wear their state shirts for the contest Wednesday, and their show shirt from this year on Tuesday. (If they have not paid their $5 that needs paid tomorrow please!)
Veteran’s Day Ceremony:
OEISD will host their annual Veteran’s Day Ceremony at Owl Stadium at 9am Tuesday morning. Our students will perform for this ceremony in their uniforms this year. Please join us to honor our communities Veterans!
Senior Band Parent Night:
Senior Band Parent Night will be this week before the game. Senior Band Parents should report to the side of the bleachers closest to the scoreboard by 6:30pm to get lined up. We will begin the ceremony at 6:45pm. We hope you are able to attend!
Odem vs. Banquete:
This week’s game is our final home game, and the last chance to work for the Spring Fee waiver. We need parents for both sides of the stadium’s concession stands. If you can help please sign-up here: Charms https://www.charmsoffice.com/charms/parents.asp?username=OdemHSBand Go to the top and hover over Volunteers, and then click on the drop down Volunteer Needs. You can also just show up that evening as well. Please keep in mind that the Spring Band Fee applies to all students Grade 7-12.
Recap:
Thank you to anyone who actually makes it to the bottom of this post! It’s going to be a great week for the Odem Bands. Please let me know if you have any questions/concerns that I can help with. I will do my best to help you out on this busy week! Your students have had an amazing season, and we hope you’ll be able to join us for an outstanding day at the Alamodome!