Event Information for Band MembersClick the event name for information on staging time and location, uniform of the day, maps, etc.
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Date | Event |
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March 12, 2023 | |
June 17-18, 2023 | |
November 2023 | |
Long-Term Travel Plans | |
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to info for that event. |
Northeast Portland is throwing its 34th annual St Patrick's Day Parade (read the story of this quirky event here). It's a small but growing parade, we've enjoyed it, and they REALLY want us back. Besides, it's a good chance to practice our marching and warm up for the summer season.
Uniform: DRESS uniform: TBGO polo shirt, TBGO hat, black pants/belt, black socks, black shoes. You may augment or substitute appropriate St Patrick's headgear for the TBGO hat. The weather is likely to be unpredictable. Rainy? Warm? Cool? Who knows! It makes choosing the correct jacket tricky, so ... you can choose! Any of these is fine:
NOTE: If you wear a jacket, please wear your shirt TUCKED-IN.
Additional garb and decorations: This is a St Patrick's Day parade, so please do add green and shamrocks. You may augment or substitute appropriate St Patrick's headgear for the TBGO hat. Please don't alter other parts of the uniform (no kilts, bagpipes, sporrans, leprechaun shoes, etc).
Meet: At Noon at Beverly Cleary School, NE 33rd Ave and NE Hancock St. (See map; click here for printable PDF). (Click here for Google map and directions.) We will stage in the blacktop area behind the school.
Parking: Parking is primarily on-street and not difficult; see map for options. the CVS Pharmacy has also okayed the use of their parking lot. (Wouldn't hurt to throw them a little business ...)
Parade Route: Parade steps off at 1 PM heading west on Hancock St, turns north on 17th Ave, then returns to the school on Tillamook St. Parade route is about 1.6 mi long. Expect parts of the route to be narrow (kinda like Multnomah Village).
Parade Music:
June 17-18, 2023. Join us for a fun-filled trip to Marysville to be a part of the Marysville Strawberry Festival. A Marysville tradition since 1932, the Festival serves up a carnival, Market in the Park, Car Show, Musical Entertainment, and of course a Grand Parade. The parade takes place on Saturday June 17, stepping off at a new time of 5 pm. With a flotilla of more than 100 colorful floats, marching bands, bagpipers, drill teams, clowns, pirates and other entries, there will be plenty of merrymaking revelry. I hear there may be a few strawberries available too ... (grin!)
See below for itinerary details and signup survey.
Click any photo for larger version
For the first time, we'll be making a road trip by train! (We board Amtrak #500 on Saturday morning, departing at 8:20 am and arriving in Seattle at 11:45. (Just FYI, we are getting off in Seattle rather than Everett because the train that stops in Everett arrives too late for us to make the parade.) In Seattle we board our chartered motor coaches for the 40 minute transfer to Marysville. There's just time to grab lunch, drop our bags at our hotels, and then head for the parade staging area in mid-afternoon.
The parade steps off at 5 pm; I'm guessing we should finish up around 6:30 or 7:00. We're still scouting out a good spot to get together as a group for dinner after the parade. After dinner we can enjoy the fireworks and then return to our hotels.
Full hot breakfast at hotel (included).
On Sunday morning we reboard our motor coaches for the 10-minute ride to Everett (this time the timing works!). We board Amtrak #517, departing Everett at 11:30 am. We arrive back in Portland at 2:55 pm.
Sat Jun 17 | Portland - Seattle | Amtrak #500 | 820 am - 1145 am |
Sun Jun 18 | Everett - Portland | Amtrak #517 | 957 am - 255 pm |
Ride in comfort, take in the scenery, and enjoy visiting with your band buddies! The Marysville Travel Package includes coach seating, but don't be fooled - coach on the train has lots of legroom and is more like business class in the air. But if you'd like to upgrade to Amtrak Business Class, it's available for an additional $71.
Some people have asked about boarding in Vancouver rather than in Portland. Because we are booking group tickets, my understanding is that all passengers will be ticketed from Portland. However, I believe Tom said it will be possible to board in Vancouver; check with him later for details.
We will be staying in two hotels on this trip (divided about equally) because there weren't enough rooms available to get us all in one place. Evidently, this is a popular event! FYI, we need to let Tom decide how to allocate rooms and people across hotels -- we can't accommodate requests for a specific hotel or ask to be at the same hotel as other specific people. Think of it as an opportunity to meet people and make new band friends! Besides, we won't be hanging out at the hotel much anyway.
Our first hotel is the Holiday Inn Express (8606 36th Avenue NE, Marysville, WA 98270; phone 360-530-1234). It has a heated indoor pool and whirlpool, fitness center, and complimentary coffee in the lobby. Full breakfast is included.
Our second hotel is the Home2 Suites by Hilton (4070 116th St NE, Marysville, Washington, 98271; phone 360-772-3600). It has a heated indoor pool and whirlpool, fitness center, and on-site restaurant. Full breakfast is included.
It is in TBGO's best interests to field a large, balanced band at travel events. The Board also believes that being able to participate in travel events is an important positive part of the "TBGO experience". To enable us to field a large band, determine participation at an early date, and reduce the total cost of travel for band associates to more affordable levels, the Board is delighted to offer an Early Booking Discount of $75 to all TBGO Band Associates who reserve the Marysville Travel Package by end of day Friday March 24.
If you still have an unused $150 travel credit from the canceled 2019 Poulsbo trip, you may apply it to the cost of this trip.
Friends and family are welcome to join us on this trip but are not eligible for the EBD.
Single, Double, Triple, and Quad Rooms are available with the Marysville Travel Package. In accordance with TBGO Rooming Policy, Triples and Quads *MUST* supply a certified rooming list at signup. "Certified" means that all people involved already agree on the list; you don't get to just add names of random people! Doubles may supply the name of a preferred roommate at signup, but we will attempt to match you with a roommate if necessary.
Room Type | Full Package Price | Package Price with EBD |
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Single | $383.00 | $308.00 |
Double | $288.00 | $213.00 |
Triple | $256.00 | $181.00 |
Quad | $241.00 | $166.00 |
For Amtrak Business Class, add $71.00.
Marysville Travel Package includes:
Payment in full is due at time of signup.
ALL PAYMENTS ARE NON-REFUNDABLE
CLICK HERE FOR THE
MARYSVILLE SIGNUP SURVEY
Use this link to sign up for the trip, tell us you're making your own travel arrangements, or tell us you won't attend this event.
Meet: TBD
Uniform: TBD, most likely our INFORMAL uniform: TBGO polo shirt, black shorts/belt, white socks, white shoes. Because of the timing of the trip, you should plan to wear your uniform on the train.
Parade Music: TBD
Parade: Parade steps off at 5 pm. The Festival website seems to indicate that they are in the process of modifying the parade route. THe old route is shown at right.
The successful Phoenix trip leads the Board to believe that the band may be ready to travel again. With that in mind, we are looking ahead to November 2023 and planning for the long-delayed trip to Australia with optional extension to New Zealand.
Many things have changed since we originally took trip signups in February 2020: COVID of course but also increasing prices for travel (especially air prices) and changing life situations (we're all three years older). We also have band associates who weren't yet part of the band in 2020 but now have the opportunity to join the trip. Before going further with planning, we'd like to gauge how many of you have the interest, time, and available cash to make the trip, so we've created a short interest poll (see link below). The poll is only advisory and does NOT commit you to any travel plans. However, we would appreciate your best guess about your likelihood of signing up so that we can decide whether to proceed further with planning.
Below you'll find a brief overview of what the trip would entail. We don't have good estimates of cost yet, but you'll also find the cost estimates we did in 2020. However, you should realize that these are just APPROXIMATIONS and may change either up (more expensive everything) or down (New Zealand extension is shorter than the 2020 plans). You can also use these links to get more detailed information about original plans for the 2020 trip as an example of what 2023 might look like.
One final reminder: When deciding whether to book this trip it's important that you be in reasonably good health to handle the demands of this trip. You must be able to get on/off the motor coaches in reasonable fashion and there will be some walking. Those not in good health can cause delays each day on the tour and hold things up for the rest of the tour participants. Should you fall in this category you may need to strongly re-evaluate if a trip as such is for you. Alternatively, you may need to bring along someone with you (family or caregiver) to insure you have someone who can assist you each and every day to avoid becoming a burden to other travelers. Getting through airports is yet another area to consider since it entails getting through security and walking long distances to immigration and flight gates. Being aware of these expectations and your limitations, and then making thoughtful choices will ensure that we can provide a great experience for everyone.The National Pharmacies Christmas Pageant is the largest single-day parade in the southern hemisphere, the second biggest in the world (behind the famous Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City), and the largest Christmas Parade in the world. It is officially recognised as a "heritage icon" by the National Trust of Australia and a "state institution" by the Government of South Australia. The pageant takes place in the Adelaide city centre, along a 3.35 km (2 mi) route.
In 1896, Mr Edward Waterfield Hayward established the Christmas fantasy world of the 'Magic Cave' to provide a joyful community Christmas experience. Thirty-seven years later during the Great Depression in 1933 the first Christmas Pageant was held to escort Father Christmas to the Magic Cave. 200,000 spectators came to watch that first Pageant, which featured eight floats and four bands and ran for around 40 minutes. The event now thrills over 320,000 excited parade-goers and a television audience with 1,700 volunteers, including some 63 floats, 15 bands, 164 clowns, dancing groups, and walking performers, all culminating in the arrival of Father Christmas.
As noted above, the parade takes place in Adelaide. In addition to Adelaide we will visit/sightsee in Melbourne and Sydney. See the 2020 Detailed Australia Itinerary for examples of possible attractions.
An option "prequel extension" to New Zealand is available for those who want to explore a bit of that country. The New Zealand extension happens BEFORE the Australia part of the trip (this is reversed from the 2020 plan). Sightseeing in New Zealand may include some or all of Christchurch, Queenstown, Auckland, and the beautiful New Zealand countryside. See the 2020 Detailed New Zealand Itinerary for examples of possible attractions.
Dates: Depart U.S. November 1, 2023 for New Zealand, arriving NZ November 3 (International Dateline). 6 night tour of New Zealand. Fly to Adelaide on November 9 and follow AUSTRALIA ITINERARY.
Dates: Depart U.S. November 7, 2023 to Australia, arriving Adelaide November 9 (International Dateline). Follow AUSTRALIA ITINERARY.
Parade day is November 11. On November 12, fly to Melbourne for 2 night stay. On November 14 fly to Sydney for 3 night stay. On November 17 depart Australia for U.S., arriving same day (International Dateline).
Again I should emphasize: PRICING IS NOT SET, THESE APPROXIMATIONS ARE FROM 2020 PLANS. These estimates are for a performing Band Associate in Double Occupancy accommodations using Economy airfare.
Yes, you'll be able to do selected pre-or post-trip customization like always. Yes, you can use air travel miles if appropriate. Yes, there will be options for business class air travel. Just assume we'll do sensible things like we have on previous band trips.
The Board talks with members informally to get travel ideas, and there's no shortage of fun things to do. We've built a long-term travel plan using these criteria:
Besides our annual "big road trip", we make a conscious effort to broaden our reach in regional events. This will certainly include day trips, but we'd also love to add one or two "mini-trips" each year if the band can support it. In general, we'd try to space mini-trips so that they don't fall right on top of a major trip (i.e., we'll try to create "breathing room" between trips as much as we can.) A mini-trip would typically be closer to home, include a 1-2 night hotel stay, and have lower cost. Examples of mini-trips that we've done include the Autumn Leaf Festival in Leavenworth (WA), Wenatchee Appleblossom Festival, Pendleton Round-Up, Medford Pear Blossom Festival, White Rock (BC) Sea Festival, and Rogers Santa Claus Parade (Vancouver, BC).
In March 2023 the TBGO Board unveiled a new multi-year travel plan at a Zoom meeting, including both regional and major national/international trips through 2028. Here are several options for viewing the plan.
Many of you have worked with Tom Higham, who handles TBGO's overnight travel (and personal travel for many of us).
Mailing Address: |
Tom Higham |
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Cell: | (503) 484-8842 | |
Fax: |
(503) 336-0868 |
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EMail: |