Welcome to the first full week of our competitive marching season! This week The Spirit of OHS will travel to Beeville to compete in the Beeville ISD Marching contest. This will be our first chance to have judges begin offering us feedback for this season, and we look forward to the students getting to start their season off right! Tickets for spectators at this event will be $5 per person, with children 3 and under entering free of charge. We are scheduled to perform at 4pm now (slight change from what we had been told at first), and the awards will be held at 7pm. When the ceremony completes we will board the buses to return home with the students. (We request students not be picked up until after awards)

Please help us make sure that students arrive on time that day with their Water Jug, Long Black Socks (Tube Length at shin or higher), their Black Marching Shoes, Band Shorts, and Show Shirt. They should also bring some money for something to eat at the concession stand following their performance. We will provide lunch prior to departure though for them. 

This week is also going to be our longest regular season away game of the season going to Santa Rosa HS. We will be feeding the students along the way to the stadium. We will return sometime around midnight we believe from that game. Due to the contest the next day we will not need to unload anything that evening, so we will be able to send students home as soon as they hang up their uniforms. 

At both the contest and the game we need parents to help with setting up props and loading/unloading vehicles. This year in particular if we can have parents able to help stage props prior to our arrival from warm-up at those contests, we will be able to do a better job of being set to go onto the field on time. 

We are looking forward to this next phase of our season beginning! Next weekend, on October 2^nd, we will be traveling to Katy for the Bands of America Regional Competition at Legacy Stadium. Parents who help us with props will be able to get in with us for free. If you wish to attend to watch you will need to purchase tickets for the event. They offer a pass for just prelims ($23), or prelims and finals ($36). Children 10 and under are admitted free of charge. They are also offering a live stream through Box5tv. More information may be found here at that contest’s site: https://marching.musicforall.org/event/westhouston21/  We plan to stay for Finals with the band no matter if we are fortunate to have a second performance that day or not! Students will be able to watch some amazing large school bands at this event, and we look forward to getting feedback from some nationally recognized judges! Since Finals are scheduled to go late into the night it will be a very early Sunday morning return for us. 

Finally we would like to make sure that everyone is also keeping October 9^th clear for our annual Marching Clinic Rehearsal. We will be bringing in recently retired band director Mr. Eddie Benitez. He has had a very successful teaching career with bands at the 3A and 4A level competing at the UIL State Marching Contest numerous times! He will work with our students at Owl Stadium from 3pm-6pm that day. 

Odem vs. Santa Rosa (Friday)

Students should arrive at the Band Hall by 1:15pm this day. A band shirt (not this year’s show shirt) and either last year’s pair of marching shorts or another pair of equivalent athletic shorts should be worn. We understand that laundry will probably not be an option when we return late Friday! We will be feeding students on the way to the game. I do not anticipate stopping anywhere else for food on the way back. 

1:15pm Students at Band Hall
2:15pm Load Buses
2:30pm Depart Odem
5:00pm Arrive at CiCi’s Pizza
5:45pm Depart CiCi’s Pizza
6:15pm Arrive and Unload
7:30pm Game Begins
10:00pm Game Ends
12:30am Arrive at Odem HS

Beeville ISD Marching Festival

Tickets for fans will be available at the gates as mentioned above for $5 for each admission, Children 3 and under are free. We perform at 4pm for this contest in the second block of 3A Bands. I recommend arriving early to ensure that you are able to enter the stands. Once a performance begins the stands are closed to entry. There is a break right before us, and then another break following Lyford at 4:45pm. The 4A’s will begin performance at 5:45pm, and Awards will begin at 7pm. Students should stay through awards for all contests we perform at. (For BOA on the 2nd they need to stay until we depart from Finals if you want to pick them up early) This contest will be close to an Area Contest format with 3 Music Judges, 2 Marching Judges, and then Caption awards offered. 
Students MUST arrive with their LONG BLACK socks, Gray Band Shorts, Show Shirt, Water Jug, and Marching Shoes. Guard needs to arrive with their specific items as well. (Ms. Wicks will set their arrival time and it may be earlier)

10:00am Warm-up/Walkthrough 
11:00am Load Anything Needed
11:30am Lunch
12:15pm Bibbers/Uniform Check
12:45pm Board Buses/Depart
1:45pm Arrive at Stadium
3:15pm Warm-Up Begins
3:40pm Leave Warm-Up Area
3:55pm Enter Field
4:00pm Perform
7:00pm Awards
7:20pm Depart Beeville
8:30pm Students Picked Up after Unloading Truck

This Week’s Schedule:

Day:	Event:	Time
Monday:	Evening Marching Rehearsal	6:30pm-8:30pm
Tuesday:	Band Hall Open for Sectionals Drumline Head Changing/Skins (Tentative depending on Shipment Arrival of Drum Heads Tuesday)	3:30pm-6:00pm
Wednesday:	After School Marching Rehearsal	4:00pm-6:00pm
Thursday:	Evening Marching Rehearsal	6:30pm-8:30pm
Friday:	Odem vs. Santa Rosa (Santa Rosa) 1:15pm Students at Band Hall 2:15pm Load Buses 2:30pm Depart Odem 5:00pm Arrive at CiCi’s Pizza 5:45pm Depart CiCi’s Pizza 6:15pm Arrive and Unload 7:30pm Game Begins 10:00pm Game Ends 12:30am Arrive at Odem HS
Saturday:	Beeville ISD Marching Contest 10:00am Warm-up/Walkthrough  11:00am Load Anything Needed 11:30am Lunch 12:15pm Bibbers/Uniform Check 12:45pm Board Buses/Depart 1:45pm Arrive at Stadium 3:15pm Warm-Up Begins 3:40pm Leave Warm-Up Area  3:55pm Enter Field 4:00pm Perform 7:00pm Awards 7:20pm Depart Beeville 8:30pm Students Picked Up after Unloading Truck

 

Upcoming Events:

Day	Event	Time
September 24th	Odem vs. Santa Rosa (Santa Rosa)	7:30pm
September 25th	Beeville Marching Contest See Above Schedule	4pm Performance
October 1st	Odem vs Taft (Odem)	7:30pm
October 2nd	Bands of America West Houston Regional Marching Contest (Katy – Legacy Stadium)	2:45pm Performance
October 8th	Odem vs. Banquete (Banquete)	7:30pm
October 9th	Annual Marching Band Clinic at Owl Stadium	3pm-6pm
October 14th	Homecoming Parade and Burning of the O	Dusk
October 15th	Odem vs. Monte Alto (Homecoming)	7:30pm
October 16th	UIL Region Marching Contest (Beeville)	5:30pm Perform
October 22nd	Odem vs. Skidmore (Skidmore)	7:30pm
October 23rd	UIL Area Marching Contest (Beeville)	TBD
October 29th	Senior Band Night (Odem vs. Hebbronville)	6:40pm
October 30th	Host UIL 2A Area E Marching Contest at Owl Stadium	11am-7pm

Please note this is the last week of the six-weeks for grades. Students should be checking with their teachers regularly this week, and we encourage students/parents to login via the portal daily to check their grades. It’s imperative that we have no failures this fall!

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