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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December 5, 2021 |
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| Long-Term Travel Plans | |
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Click event names to jump
to info for that event. |
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General Info:
- If you need MUSIC for an event, email the TBGO Librarian (currently Dan Dees) as soon as possible so that he can have parts ready for you. You can reach him as librarian@thebeatgoesonmb.org.
- If you can't find info on this page that was announced in email, try refreshing the page in your browser (Ctrl-R or Ctrl-Shift-R).
- If you want to print part of the information on this page but not the whole page, try selecting the stuff you want to print, then choose Print, then check "Selection" in the area that says Print Range or Page Range.
- Events that have already passed or for which we do not yet have staging info are not listed here. For the complete list of the year's events, see the Performances page.
Plan of the Day: We are CONFIRMED for December 5 AND December 19. Both events begin at Noon and are one hour long.
Meet: In Pioneer Courthouse Square at 11:30 PM on the day of the event.
CORONAVIRUS PRECAUTIONS: Since this is outdoors and everyone in the band is fully vaccinated, face coverings and bell covers are not required during this event.
Uniform: DRESS uniform: TBGO polo shirt, TBGO hat, black PANTS/belt, BLACK socks, BLACK shoes. TBGO Letterman Jacket encouraged if you own one. If you don't own a TBGO Letterman Jacket, the uniform shirt is fine, or add a black turtleneck beneath the shirt for additional warmth. Santa hats and other holiday decorating strongly encouraged!!!
Music: Music list is now FINAL. Be sure you have the NEW 2-page version of Jingle-Bell Rock with the singing section. See this link if you need the new JBR.
Confident
Venus
We Need a Little Christmas
Santa Baby
Dancing in the Street
Happy
Jingle Bell Jam
God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
Bang Bang
Build Me Up Buttercup
Santa Meets Sousa
Jingle-Bell Rock (NEW 2-pager with singing)
Uptown Funk
Overjoyed
Frosty the Snowman
Shut Up and Dance
We Like to Party
You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch
Sweet Caroline
Fireball
Nutcracker Christmas Parade
Santa Claus is Coming to Town
Introduction
As the pandemic begins to ease, the TBGO Board has begun thinking about options for travel events in 2022. The first and obvious question is: What shall we do about Australia? As you'll read below, the reality of travel to that part of the world requires us to defer that trip for one more year to November 2023.
The Board wants to get a better idea of whether the band is even ready to begin traveling again in 2022 and whether two specific proposed trips are of interest. Please read the material below and then use the survey link to give us your input.
*** CLICK HERE TO TAKE THE 2022 TRAVEL SURVEY ***
Australia Moves to November 2023 (sigh!)
It's certainly disappointing to defer Australia for one more year, but reality intrudes. Both Australia and New Zealand have kept their borders tightly controlled to contain the spread of Coronavirus. The two countries are just beginning to carefully/slowly open up. Qantas flights started flying out of LAX last week but only for a limited audience beginning with Australia citizens who are spread around the world and have been unable to return home because of the border closures. The next group will be college students and visa holders with work permits. USA/Canadian citizens may start to make their way back in early March, although re-opening dates are subject to change. In addition, airfares are still expensive at this time.
The other worrisome element is the parade itself. Both last year and this year the National Pharmacies Christmas Pageant has been reduced to a lap around the track at the Adelaide Oval. This is still pretty fun if you're a kid watching the floats etc from the stands, but not so much if you're a marching band who's trekked 8,261 miles to perform. Given that the speed of things reopening is unpredictable and Australia has been quite conservative so far, we can't predict what the Pageant will look like in 2022.
Overall, it's pretty clear that we should plan for 2023 rather than 2022. The good news is that our investment is still protected: all our deposits will be honored by those holding them. And if we reach 2023 and you decide NOT to make the trip, we should be able to transfer your deposit to newcomers in the band who want to go. In summary: Kind of a bummer, but we have to work with the world we've got rather than the world we wish we had.
Domestic Travel Idea #1: Medford Pear Blossom Festival
TBGO last marched in the Medford Pear Blossom Festival Parade in 2012; after a decade it may be time for a return engagement. The parade has been going strong since 1954 and is now Southern Oregon's largest with 150 entries, 4000 participants, and 25,000-30,000 spectators lining the route. The 2021 parade went off as scheduled and the 2022 parade steps off at 11 am on Saturday April 9th. The parade route is about one mile long, which is a nice "getting our act back together" length.
We would hire motor coaches for travel to this event, with a one-night hotel stay. Coach companies are ensuring that buses are kept clean/disinfected and drivers are vaccinated. Cost for the trip would be about $275 per person for double rooms; we didn't work out single/triple/quad pricing but you can estimate appropriately. If you still have a $150 travel credit from the canceled Poulsbo trip, it could be applied here.
As always, you are welcome to make your own travel arrangements instead of using the band travel package.
Domestic Travel Idea #2: Gatlinburg "First in the Nation" Fourth of July Midnight Parade
Located in the heart of the Great Smoky Mountains, Gatlinburg, Tennessee has long been a tourist draw and has a unique approach to celebrating the Fourth. Since 1975, the town has kicked off the holiday with the Fourth of July Midnight Parade. A spectacular fireworks display begins at 11:00 pm on July 3, followed by the parade stepping off at 12:01 a.m. on July 4. The parade has been named by National Geographic Traveler Magazine as a "Top Ten Parade to see in the US" and recognized by Livability.com as one of the "Five Best Fourth of July Celebrations in Smaller Cities." Additionally, the event has earned multiple Grand Pinnacle Awards by the International Festivals and Events Association and was named a Top 20 Event by the Southeast Tourism Society. The parade was held as scheduled in 2021. It's about 1.2 miles in length and travels through the main street of downtown Gatlinburg.
We would fly to Knoxville (TYS), the nearest airport to Gatlinburg. TYS is a tier-3 airport, so incoming flights are somewhat limited; we'll use multiple airlines. Departing via late evening flights on July 1 saves at least $100 per person, so that's the plan. There are lots of hotels in Gatlinburg, but they're not really suitable for our needs so we plan to stay at the Drury Inn in Knoxville for 4 nights. Nice property and includes a buffet breakfast each morning in their restaurant (not just a few tables in the lobby) plus daily happy hour each day at 530 pm with drinks and food.
As always, you are welcome to make your own travel arrangements instead of using the band travel package.
Naturally, we would take advantage of the local attractions as we usually do. Here's a brief description of the itinerary:
July 1 - Late evening flights from PDX to TYS
July 2 - Flights arrive between 8:30 am and 10:00 am. Meet and greet with our motor coaches and transfer to our hotel. We'll be too early to check in, so we're planning a short tour/overview of Knoxville and then a nice Southern group lunch (included in travel package). Remainder of day is free to recover from the late-night flight; maybe hit the happy hour???
July 3 - Right after breakfast we motor coach to Pigeon Forge (about 1 hour) for full day at Dollywood which opens at 1000 am. Of COURSE we'll check for a possible performance opportunity! Return to our hotel by 600 pm. Depart our hotel near 845 pm in time for fireworks at Gatlinburg (1 hr 15 min drive) then move to the staging area for the 4th of July parade. Return to our hotel by 230 am.
July 4 - Breakfast at our hotel stays open till about 930 am. No rush to leave our hotel for full day of visiting Gatlinburg. We begin with the Ober Gatlinburg Aerial Tramway, soaring 2.1 miles from downtown Gatlinburgwith a 1472 foot rise in elevation, starting at 1341 feet and reaching a high point of 2813 feet above sea level Two 120-passenger counter-balanced cars provides an amazing aerial experience. We'll have lunch at the top (included). We continue on visiting some of the scenic sights of the area including the Gatlinburg Skybridge, the longest pedestrian cable skybridge in North America. It's your call on whether to brave this one! Our final stop is at Great Smoky Mountains National Park Visitor Center to take in the scenic views. We return to Gatlinburg for shopping and dinner on your own before heading back to our hotel.
July 5 - We take breakfast at our hotel before leaving at 845 am for full day to Ashville, NC for the Biltmore Estate, the largest privately owned house in the United States at 178,926 sq ft. Our route is the scenic and famous Blue Ridge Parkway for about a 2-hour trip. Lunch is included at the fanciest McDonald's in America at the Biltmore Village across from the main entrance of the Biltmore Estate. The luxurious location features a baby grand piano, red oak tables, wrought iron railings, and a gold-leafed fireplace. Even the employees are required to dress with black vests and bow ties to add to the classy atmosphere. Of course we will make time to shop before we head in for our set time to tour the Biltmore Estate. We should return to our hotel in plenty of time for Happy Hour. BTW, we have tons of great restaurants all walkable from our hotel, too.
July 6 - No real big rush to get up early, but you will want have breakfast at a decent time as we will depart our hotel near 1130 am. From here we head into town and have a leisurely lunch. After lunch we transfer to the Knoxville Airport for our return flights home.
Downtown Gatlinburg
Preliminary Pricing
| Double Occupancy | Triple Occupancy | Quad Occupancy | Single Occupancy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Round trip airfare* | $585.00 | $585.00 | $585.00 | $585.00 |
| Land costs (per person) | $1132.00 | $904.00 | $890.00 | $1455.00 |
| Total (per person) | $1717.00 | $1489.00 | $1475.00 | $2040.00 |
- *Airfare price shown at time of publication, subject to change, exploring group airfares.
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Land Package Includes:
- Drury Hotel – 4 Nights with tax, including daily buffet breakfast and happy hour.
- Admission to Dollywood, Ober Gatlinburg Tram, Skybridge Gatlinburg, Biltmore Estate.
- All motor coach transportation with gratuity to the driver.
- 4 lunches included.
Long-Term Travel Plans
Major Road 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:
- Take account of the "recurring themes" we hear when talking to band associates about travel opportunities.
- Target events with "cool factor". If we only get to do one a year, it oughta count!
- Emphasize trips that center around existing events with large, enthusiastic crowds. It's more fun to play for lots of people, and it's a lot easier to draw a crowd when someone else has already done all the work.
- Have a reasonable belief that it's a trip/event we can successfully execute.
- Target locations that are likely to have broad appeal to members as "destinations" - there should be fun, exciting touristy things we can do while we are in the area.
- Try to keep major events 9-15 months apart.
- Work to keep each trip affordable to the best of our ability.
- "Start spreading the news" - work on bringing the band to each major area of the country (and beyond).
- In general, avoid duplicating major trips that we've done previously - we ain't gettin' any younger and there are LOTS of places to go!
- Look beyond one year to put a multi-year plan in place. We think that a roadmap makes it easier for both the band staff and band associates to plan ahead, and it can also act as a recruiting tool.
Regional Trips and Mini-Trips
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).
Active Travel Plan
In October 2018 the TBGO Board unveiled a new multi-year travel plan at the annual TBGO Birthday Party, including both regional and major national/international trips through 2024.
UPDATE: Based on interest poll results, we have decided that we will NOT travel to Yakima Sunfair in September 2019. We are keeping this event on the list for possible travel in the future.
| Click the grid at right for a one-page summary of the plan. |
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| If you are on PC or Mac, click the cover slide at right to launch a self-running slide show with details of the plan and its trips. It may take a bit for the presentation to start running since it's large (48 MB). Once it launches, you can advance through it using mouse, space bar, enter key, arrow keys, etc. |  |
| If you are on a phone, tablet, or other such device, click on the PDF version at right. It loses the lovely animations and transitions, but at least you can see all the text! |  |
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: |
