National Night Out is a loose organization of many different "outings" across America's neighborhoods, advertised as "an annual community-building campaign that promotes police-community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie to make our neighborhoods safer, more caring places to live". We've become a neighborhood tradition at Bridlemile -- this will be our ninth year at the picnic. We've had pretty good luck meeting Senator Ron Wyden or his staff at this event - let's see if we get lucky again!

Uniform:   INFORMAL uniform: TBGO polo shirt, TBGO hat, black SHORTS/belt, WHITE socks, WHITE shoes.

COVID Notes: Masks are not required during our parade and performance; consider having a mask available for pre- and post-parade use depending on the crowd and situation.

Meet:   At 6:00 PM at Hamilton Park, along SW Hamilton St between SW Shattuck Rd and SW Dosch Rd. See map and/or click here for directions. The event takes place in the part of Hamilton Park behind Bridlemile Elementary School, 4300 SW 47th Dr (see satellite detail). We should play around 6:15 or 6:30, depending on when the crowd arrives.

Parking:  Plenty of on-street parking available near the event.

Food:   Feel free to bring dinner and picnic in the park if you like. Otherwise, there's generally a sizable cadre of band folk heading off to find dinner somewhere - ask around!

Show Music:

Star Trek: TNG

Confident

Build Me Up, Buttercup

Venus

We Like to Party

Sweet Caroline

Bang Bang

Happy

Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go

One Mint Julep

Shut Up and Dance

Uptown Funk

Call Me

We Got the Beat

The roots of this event go all the way back to 1894 beginning with the Gladstone Chautauqua, an Iroquois word meaning "a bag tied in the middle" or "two moccasins tied together" or possibly "that caramel corn looks pretty good" (and no, I'm not making that up, except for maybe that last part). The annual summer assembly offered lectures, concerts and theatrical performances and the park grew to be the third-largest permanent Chautauqua assembly area in the United States. Because of Chautauqua, Gladstone became a cultural and social center. Railroad and street cars brought people from Portland and other towns and communities for concerts, ball games and other events. Speakers and performers included the evangelist, Billy Sunday; band master, John Phillip Sousa; presidential candidate Theodore Roosevelt; and the most popular speaker of all, William Jennings Bryan. Let's bask in the nostalgia (both ours and theirs) and have some fun!

Uniform:   INFORMAL uniform: TBGO polo shirt, TBGO hat, black SHORTS/belt, WHITE socks, WHITE shoes.

COVID Notes: Masks are not required during our parade and performance; consider having a mask available for pre- and post-parade use depending on the crowd and situation.

Parking:  You can choose to park near the parade staging area and walk back to your car AFTER the parade and standstill; or park near the standstill in Max Patterson Park and walk to the parade staging area BEFORE the parade -- your choice. The distance from standstill to parade staging area is about 0.6 mi. Those with large instruments might consider setting up a shuttle or just dropping off your gear in the staging area then parking down at Max Patterson. Please note that you cannot park in the Gladstone High School parking lot since that's the parade staging area.

Meet:   At 9 AM at Gladstone High School, 18800 Portland Ave, Gladstone. (Map and Directions)

Parade: Parade steps off at 10 AM and follows the snaky route shown on the map, ending at our standstill location in Max Patterson Park. Parade route is about 1.25 mi in length.

Standstill:   We will perform a 30-35 minute standstill in Max Patterson Park immediately after the parade ends (11:00 AM). If you parked near the parade staging area, be sure to bring your standstill music with you in the parade since you won't have time to fetch it!

Parade Music:

1. Dancing in the Street
2. Fireball
3. Uptown Funk
4. Venus

Show Music:

Confident

Venus

Build Me Up, Buttercup

We Like to Party

Sweet Caroline

Bang Bang

Happy

One Mint Julep

Shut Up and Dance

Uptown Funk

We Got the Beat

Food:   An assortment of tasty treats will be available at the Festival for purchase; click here for the Bill of Fare, including Burgers for Band which helps support the Gladstone High School band program. The Kiwanis Pancake Breakfast is available at the Gladstone Senior Center (right near the staging area) from 7 to 11 a.m. Saturday, before the parade begins. Proceeds benefit scholarships for Gladstone high school students.

Other Activities:   There's other entertainment scheduled throughout the weekend - maybe stick around for the pickleball tournament.

Plan of the Day:   Multnomah days is back for 2022 in modified form. No parade this year, but we still have a 30-minute show to do! Our performance venue will be in the street outside the Lucky Labrador Brew Pub.

CORONAVIRUS PRECAUTIONS:   Since this is outdoors and everyone in the band is fully vaccinated, face coverings and bell covers are not required during our performance. We'll stay as separated as we can from the street crowd, but we strongly recommend face coverings when you're not performing.

Uniform:   INFORMAL uniform: TBGO polo shirt, TBGO hat, black shorts/belt, white socks, white shoes.

Meet:   At 2:15 pm in Multnomah Village at the Community Stage outside the Lucky Labrador Brew Pub, 7675 SW Capitol Hwy (SW Capitol Hwy at SW 32nd Ave). (Map and directions) We'll begin playing at 3:00.

Road Construction:   For those coming from the west side who would normally travel via OR-217 and SW Allen Blvd, be aware of important traffic changes. No left turns are permitted from the southbound SW Allen Blvd off-ramp. There has also been other roadwork along Allen Blvd between 217 and SW 92nd Ave creating backups and traffic headaches. Plan your route accordingly and save plenty of time for surprises!

Multnomah Village Area Map.

Parking:   Generally, parking is a mess and it'll be worse this year since we're arriving later in the day. Carpooling is a very good idea. If you're lucky, you may find a spot in the Multnomah Arts Center parking lot. Otherwise, it's on-street. Be aware than Capitol Hwy will be closed to traffic and generally traffic is restricted throughout the Village. Recommend that you leave plenty of time!

MUSIC:

Star Trek: TNG

Confident

We Like to Party

Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go

Sweet Caroline

Bang Bang

Happy

One Mint Julep OR Bridge Over Troubled Water (depends on rehearsals)

Shut Up and Dance

Call Me

We Got the Beat

Multnomah Village Standstill Map.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR YOUR DAYS AT THE STATE FAIR

Based on your enthusiastic response, we're headed back to perform at the 2022 Oregon State Fair in Salem. Now it's time to get our act together! Dates are Friday August 26 through Monday September 5. This includes two weekends (plus a preceding Friday), the weekdays in between, and finishes up on Labor Day. You can use the link in the red box above to sign up for your days at the Fair, or read the details and THEN sign up!

Performance Information

We are signed up for two "mini-parades" each day for all 11 days of the Fair, with a third mini-parade on weekends and Labor Day. Each mini-parade lasts about 30 minutes and includes a parade through the Fairgrounds (roughly 1/2 mile) plus stops along the way for a few standstill tunes. Mini-parades are scheduled for 6:00 pm and 9:10 pm each day, with an early parade at 4:30 pm on weekends and Labor Day. (On-the-fly changes are possible as in prior years.) Lights are encouraged for the 9:10 parade.

We've found that "the hardest part of the gig" is waiting around between parades, so we are again scheduled for a 30 minute stage show each day except Sundays on the Spirit of Oregon Stage from 7:45-8:15 pm.

Summarizing:

• Mondays through Fridays:  Parade at 6:00, show at 7:45, parade at 9:10
• Saturdays, Labor Day:  Parades at 4:30 and 6:00, show at 7:45, parade at 9:10
• Sundays:  Parades at 4:30, 6:00, and 9:10

Note that Exposition Center Map is oriented with North toward the upper left.

Call Time

Call time varies depending on whether you have already performed at the Fair. This helps take into account whether you are familiar with the drive, our meeting area, etc:

• On YOUR FIRST DAY AT THE FAIR, call time is 1 HOUR before the first performance of the day. That gives you enough extra time to guess wrong about traffic, park in the wrong place, have a hard time finding the meet-up point, etc, etc.
• On YOUR SECOND AND SUBSEQUENT days, call time is 40 MINUTES before the first performance of the day. Do be aware that traffic each day will vary (even near the Fairgrounds), so don't cut things too close!

Uniform

Informal Uniform: TBGO collared polo shirt, black shorts/belt, white socks/shoes, TBGO cap.

For the evening show (9:10 pm) they would like us to decorate with .

Performances and Music Lists

Beginning from just inside the Red Gate, we will follow a parade route within the Fairgrounds (see Parade Route map at right or below for a sample route). The route as shown is approximately 1/2 mile. We will stop periodically for a standstill tune or two. Likely "stop and play" locations are at the Tap House and near the LB Day Amphitheater, but we've played pretty much everywhere. At the 6:00 parade we may finish by parading through the LB Day Amphitheater concourse at about 6:30.

On every performance day except Sundays, we are playing a 30-minute show at the Spirit of Oregon stage beginning at 7:45 pm. Please be at the stage ready to play no later than 7:30 pm.

If you are staying in Salem during the week: Please take ALL your music with you to Salem in case we need to switch tunes along the way!

Sample Parade Route

MUSIC FOR MINI-PARADES
(recommend memorizing as much as you can to make your life easier!):

TENTATIVE - UPDATED 7/28/2022

1. Dancing in the Street
2. Fireball
3. Uptown Funk
4. Venus

Parade Standstill Music: (for using during parade stops)

TENTATIVE - UPDATED 7/28/2022

Bang Bang

Build Me Up, Buttercup

Confident

Happy

I'm Shipping Up to Boston

Shut Up and Dance

We Like to Party

For Labor Day (Mon Sept 6) please ADD:

Veterans Salute

Tribute to America

MUSIC FOR STAGE SHOW

TENTATIVE - UPDATED 7/28/2022

Star Trek: The Next Generation

Confident

We Like to Party

Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go

Sweet Caroline

Bang Bang

Happy

Bridge Over Troubled Water or Fireball

Shut Up and Dance

Call Me

We Got the Beat

Directions and Parking

Click any map or picture to enlarge

We will park in the OAK GROVE LOT (directions below and on map at right). Your uniform is your parking pass. If you like, you can print a copy of the 2018 parking pass (black-and-white is fine) just in case you get the stink-eye from the parking attendant.

FOLLOW THESE DIRECTIONS since there are one-way streets around the Fairgrounds that may cause you problems otherwise.

From I-5 South, take Exit 258 (North Salem / Fairgrounds / Amphitheater); turn right at end of ramp onto Portland Rd NE. In about 1.9 miles, continue straight ahead as Portland Rd NE becomes Fairgrounds Rd NE. In 800 ft, use left turn lane to turn left onto Woodrow St NE. (Note that Woodrow St is NOT at a traffic light; it's opposite a car lot and comes immediately after a donut shop on your left.) Cross the railroad tracks and continue ahead to T at 17th St NE. Turn left on 17th St NE.

On your right, you will see the sign for the Jackman Long Building (also called Oregon State Fair Exposition Center Office). If you need to drop off large gear like drums or a tuba, you can pull in here and drop off gear at the end of the parking lot near the Red Gate, then continue on 17th to the Oak Grove lot.

Shortly beyond the Red Gate, you will see a Green Gate on your right (although it's labeled something like Garden, Animals, etc) and directly opposite the Green Gate on your left is a break in the white fence. Turn left here into the Oak Grove parking lot, park your car, and head across the street to the Red Gate. Please PARK SENSIBLY to help maximize the number of vehicles in this lot.

Please leave your case in the car since our storage space is limited (more on that below).

We have parking available for up to 40 vehicles. This should be ample parking for us most days. To make SURE of that, we need to carpool as much as we can (this will also help keep costs to a minimum). There's an open post on the TBGO Tripboard that you can use to seek or offer carpool opportunities via Comments.

Entry

Enter the Fairgrounds at the Red Gate. The Fair will have a list of all TBGO performers and will check that you are on the list. If you have guests who need to purchase tickets, the box office is in the buildings to the right of the Red Gate (see Exposition Center Map above); they can purchase tickets and enter there.

The meet-up area for the band is just inside the Red Gate between the Jackman Long Building on your right and Columbia Hall on your left. Head straight ahead for 20 yards and hang out with the purple shirts. This is where we'll begin our parades.

Storage Space

We hope to have the same storage space that we had in prior years.

We have a modest amount of locked storage space available in the Jackman Long Building. This space can be used for storage of drum cases and flag/banner tubes and will be available for overnight storage of banners and flags as well as drums and tubas if you will be performing on subsequent days. We can also use this space to drop off instruments immediately after a performance and pick them up just before the next one. This includes smaller instruments as long as we have enough space.

Steve has the key to this room but will bestow it on a gatekeeper each day. The room is locked shortly after each performance and unlocked about 20 minutes before the next one. The room is located on the east side of the Jackman Long Building just around the corner from the accessibility elevator, behind an orange door labeled "Farm and Garden Office".

Green Room

We do not have a specific place to "hang out" between shows. There are places all around the grounds to hang out (and you're encouraged to use any of them).

Other Things to Bring

"Fair experts" suggest that you may want to bring some wet wipes, hand gel, or other way to clean up and avoid ingesting whatever is floating around that you don't want to have with dinner. You may also want to bring a small flashlight to make it easier to return to your car at night.

Signup for the Fair

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR YOUR DAYS AT THE STATE FAIR

Parking and fair admission are included in our contract, so your only expense is transportation and any food/drink you choose to consume at the Fair. We will arrange carpool opportunities to help keep costs down (for example, by having people meet at the Park 'n' Ride near Bridgeport Village).

Our standard collection of parade and standstill tunes will be just fine, so little additional prep work required on our end. Auxiliary units and support staff (for flags and banners) are both included and desirable.

The Fair is a big commitment for the band, but the rewards are substantial and those who played in prior years said it was a lot of fun. Besides excellent exposure, the Fair almost doubles our performance income for the year. We don't necessarily need 60 in the block for every performance, but we DO need to be sure we have 30+ in the block plus auxiliaries, including enough of everything to make a balanced band. Biggest worries will likely be lead trumpets, lead bones, drum line (same as always!). There's no upper limit on how many attendees we can have each day, so sign up on as many days as you can. The more, the merrier! Now we need to nail down your COMMITMENTS so that we can ensure we have a SOLID BAND EVERY DAY.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR YOUR DAYS AT THE STATE FAIR

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.