Walk for the Way

For your listening pleasure, the Gulf Coast drumline performed at the United Way walk-a-thon yesterday at North Collier Regional Park.



What is a cadence?



It is a rhythmic flow of a sequence of sounds or words.



What is a drumline cadence?



It is a drumline piece played in a parading marching band between or in place of full-band pieces.

Mighty Nice Italian Ice

For his 11th birthday Mason requested a party at Rita's Italian Ice.  We rounded up some of his friends and headed over to Rita's on Saturday afternoon. We were taken behind the counter and told we would be making a batch of coffee flavored ice that would be sold in their store.
 


The boys took turns measuring the ingredients which included



water



cream

 

and sugar.



All ingredients were added to the italian ice machine and the timer was set.



Ten minutes later the ice was ready. However, before serving it had to be mashed.



Mackenzie opted against trying the coffee and ordered pumpkin instead.

 

After all that hard work the kids were able to cool off with some mighty nice Rita's Italian Ice. Happy Birthday Mason!

Main Street Electrical Parade

At age two we took Mackenzie to the Magic Kingdom for the first time. Twelve years later she marched in their evening Main Street Electrical Parade. I think about all the kids that will never get the opportunity to visit Disney World much less get the chance to march in one of their parades. I hope Mackenzie and the entire Gulf Coast High School band realized how significant of an event it was.





On Saturday morning we dropped Mackenzie off at the high school at 5:00am so she could jump on one of the six chartered buses that would take her to Disney. The band was allowed to roam the park until 5:45 pm.  Once they were taken backstage to dress in uniform all cameras and cell phones had to be turned off due to strict Disney policy. Mackenzie said the parade was mostly a blur to her.  Since this was her first parade she had to focus on the steps and notes rather than getting to enjoy the crowd. She did mention that families were lined up along Main Street three hours prior to the start of the parade.







By midnight Mackenzie was back in Naples and totally exhausted. However, there is no rest for the weary. The Gulf Coast Band already has another parade scheduled, the Macy's Holiday parade at Universal Studios in December.

9/11 Rememberence

Friday night during halftime, the GCH and PRH marching bands took the field together with over 600 members. As recognition of the 9/11 anniversary, the bands played America the Beautiful followed by a trumpet solo of Taps.

Naples to Venice

There is a reason that Venice, Florida is known as the Shark Tooth Capital of the World. It is one of the best places in the world to search for fossilized sharks' teeth. Sharks actually shed their teeth and grow new ones, and may shed thousands of teeth in their lifetime. Thousands of these specimens wash up onto the Venice Beaches. Since we had Labor day off we decided to take a day trip to Venice.







We were not as lucky as we had hoped. Because we lacked the proper tools we only came home with a few teeth.  Next time we plan to purchase a "Florida Snow Shovel" in advance of arriving at the beach. This device will help us scoop, shake and sift the sand.



The day was not a total loss.  The kids got to experience an old-fashioned soda fountain with old style decor, marble counters, music and memorabilia from the 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's. The flavored sodas were amazing.  Darin's favorite was marshmallow coke.

Opening Night

After weeks of anticipation Mackenzie's high school hosted their first home football game.



The Gulf Coast band looked so much larger in their uniforms.  They took up almost the entire field.







This year the school is trying some new by placing the band in the end zone in order to alleviate overcrowding in the stands. Mackenzie didn't get to sit down much at all. The drumline seemed to play the entire time.  



The members of the band are given the 3rd quarter off to grab a bite to eat from the concession stand and are allowed to mingle with their friends in the stands. But once the quarter ends they are back to work. 

Opening night ended on a high note (pardon the pun), Gulf Coast's new head coach (a former Gulf Coast player) won his first home game and was given the game ball.