Homecomings Meeting 2009

The 2009 CMBAA Homecomings Weekend — and the most ambitious multi-component event that the CMBAA has *ever* planned — has come and gone in a rush of success.

More details from the weekend will be appearing on the blog over the coming week or two, but here are the highlights:

1. Great 4th year turnout at the Baja Bean!
2. Elected a new Board (see below).
3. Tailgated
4. Stuffed ourselves at the Italian Villa

A HUGE congratulations to all of the Alumni who worked on the weekend!

Also, Congratulations to the newly elected board:

• President: David Knight
• Vice President: Rachael Beaton
• Secretary: Katherine McClelland
• Treasurer: Chris Jones
• Member at Large: Sam Gardner
• Member at Large: Matt Funston
• Member at Large: Sarah Arnold

We’re off for another great year with the CMBAA!

2009-2010 Alumni Shirt

All dues paying members of the CMBAA receive a t-shirt as part of their dues. While being overtly stylish and satisfying that need to look like everyone else from time to time, these t-shirts are a great way to advertise our organization to parents and to fellow and current alumni. T-shirts will be distributed at the General Meeting at the 2009 Homecomings Festivities.

For the ultra-savy cmbaa blog follower, here is a preview of this year’s design!

Front

CMBAA Member Shirt 2009-2010: Front Logo

Back

CMBAA Member Shirt 2009-2010: Back Logo

Special Thanks to Image Designers, Inc of Richmond, Va for speedy and excellent work!

And the nomminees are …

In anticipation of our General Meeting next weekend — 10 Oct 2009 in Charlottesville — here is the Cast of Characters currently nominated for roles in the CMBAA for 2010!

2010 President:

1. David Knight (CLAS 2006, Trumpet, Drum Major)

2010 Vice-President:

1. Rachael Beaton (CLAS 2007, Horn)
2. Samantha Gardner (PVCC 2008, Trombone)

2010 Treasurer:

1. Taylor Burrow (CLAS 2009, Tenors)
2. Paul De (SARC 2008, Trombone)
3. Chris Jones (CLAS 2007, Clarinet, Drum Major)

2010 Secretary:

1. Katherine McClelland (Curry 2008, Trumpet)

2010-2012 Members at Large:

1. Sarah Arnold (CLAS 2009, Trombone)
2. Paul De (SARC 2008, Trombone)
3. Matt Funston (SARC 2008, Trombone)
4. Samantha Gardner (PVCC 2008, Trombone)
5. Marequiz Johnson (PVCC, Cymbols, Trombone)
6. Rodney Jones (Curry 2010, Saxophone)
7. Katherine McClelland (Curry 2008, Trumpet)
8. Jimmy Royston (COMM 2009, Trombone, Drum Major)

WOW! Either the Trombones are crazy go-getters … or they really stick together! Lots of nominations to bring the leadership down and back into the Low Brass section! :-p!

Check out the DOCUMENTS page to see the Constitution and By Laws to read up on the official position responsibilities!

Seeeeeeeee ya’ll Friday at Baja!
– Rachael

Homecomings Annoucement

Hello CMB faithful,

By now everyone should have read and re-read and RSVPed to Dave’s Homecoming Informational Email (Available Here as PDF 2009 CMBAA Homecomings Information).
If not you can RSVP here.

The CMBAA Board is really super excited about the weekend – its by far our biggest coordinated activity to date! Its also a big weekend for the election of officers and for getting new members — all very vital events for our fledgling organization. So you, as the CMBAA blog reader, have some homework to do.

1. Encourage your fellow section-mates, band-mates, class-mates, room-mates, etc … to join the CMBAA!

Its easy and a grrrreat way to keep in touch with each other and the CMB. Annnnd with the new “Lifetime Membership” option, staying connected is only a one time fee — the benefits roll in without any work!

2. If you are already active with the CMBAA or definitely want to join, then consider running for office.

Terms for the standard offices are yearly and the “Member at Large” positions are for three years. There is no location requirement (Skype is powerfully awesome), age requirement or experience requirement. The Board meets roughly every six months, usually in the NoVa area, and stays in contact in between meetings via email and the power of Google Documents. Additional offices are appointed by the Board, but are non-voting. Check out the Board Page to see the details of the offices. Volunteering is encouraged!

We all look forward to seeing you in Charlottesville on October 10!!

Family Fiesta!

Hello again CMB Alums!

For this Fall Semester, the CMBAA has taken on a new responsibility — Organizing the CMB Parents. Primarily through the leadership of, CMBAA President Dave Knight, the CMBAA has begun serving as a liaison between the CMB Staff and the Parents. By communicating the structure of Game Days to the parents, the CMBAA hopes to bring the parents more into the spirit of Wahoo Football and CMB Pride.

Band Parents at the PreGame Rehearsal. Nice Rugbies!

Our kick-off event was scheduled for this past weekend — The Family Fiesta. The aim of the event was for parents and CMBAA members to pack a picnic dinner and eat together while the CMB dressed and warmed up at Observatory Hill Dining Hall. Well, that isn’t exactly what happened, but Dave Knight and Chris Jones did a great job meeting and greeting parents, advertising the CMBAA and, hopefully, taking the first steps to making the CMB Parents group, a force to be reckoned with.

The next stage of this project is to set up a weekly mass email to advertise the events of the upcoming game weekend. Be on the look out at the next game for a strong battalion of CMB Parents!

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And now for some parental feedback …

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Hi David,

It was a pleasure meeting you this past weekend.  And thank you for taking on this job of helping to keep us informed!

I had a thought of a possible activity after talking with you about the French Marching Band  film that is coming out.  Once the movie is out, how about a screening in conjunction with a parent’s weekend or football weekend?

I look forward to other activities as well.  Thanks for your help.

Valerie Lamont

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Mr. Knight,

Thank you so much for sending this e-mail.  We found your advice invaluable when attending the game yesterday.  It also helps us remain connected to our daughter to be able to see her practicing on Carr’s Hill, and we wouldn’t have known about that if we hadn’t had your e-mail.

The Band was absolutely amazing.  We are thrilled that Emily is a part of something so very wonderful.

Helen Graham

Band Camp in Review

The 2009 Band Camp has come and gone. This marks the start of the 6th season of the CMB, with the largest Band to date. There have been a lot of changes since we first walked into the English Inn in August 2004, but what hasn’t changed is the strength of spirit of the CMB member. While the names and faces are different, the drive to perform at the highest level is the same, and that’s something we can all relate to!

New to Band Camp this year was the Alumni Night, a more organized time for the Alumni to view the Band. Instead of having Alumni wander into practices, the CMB would like to be seen in its finest t-shirts and shorts, e.g. the Stadium Rehearsal. So, mark your calendars for next August and here are some photos from CMB Staff Member, Kearby Chen, to keep your heart content for the next 11 months.

Pregame HOOS.

Play Loud & Proud	The agony of a missed step-off.
A New Drum Major Takes the Field.	The Guard in Motion!
Guide the Lines	Well, that’s all for tonight! Look for a post on the first game as soon as the photos are done! Signing out from Kitt Peak, Arizona, — Rachael

NBC29 Media Coverage

The CMB made the nightly news, in part due to the coverage of CMB Alumnus TJ Clemons (CLAS 2007), now a reporter for Charlottesville’s NBC 29 news.

The article and associated footage can be found here .

All press is positive press!

And don’t forget that on this VERY day, Galileo turns 400.003 years old!

-Rachael

The CMB is a Star!

Take a listen to the NPR Story on the 2009 CMB!

Featuring:

Director Bill Pease

Eric McQuillen (COMM 2010)

And a pixel-ated response from Trevor Perrier (now of South Africa but expected back in 2011):

Congratulations to the Drumline! 2009 Winners of the CMBAA Band Camp Challenge!

2008 Drumline

And, if we haven’t gone sentimental enough, here is an excerpt from the Band Camp 2009 Alumni Game from Dan Martin (Curry 2009).

Now after that, if you’ll excuse me, I have a few years worth of CMB CDs to listen to … and no that’s not a tear, my eyes are watery … allergies you know.
– Rachael

… stay tuned for …

… important announcements from the CMBAA!

1. Alums Bryan Myers (COMM 09) and Matt Funston (SARC 08) dutifully served as MCs for the 6th Annual Band Camp Skit Night! Highlights include: Bry’once?
2. The first Alumni profile will be … drumroll please … the fast paced story of Tim Ciesco (CLAS 07), TV News Reporter and former Clarinet section leader. Look for a post in a few days describing some of Tim’s more … other worldly … assignments!
3. The First Annual Family Fiesta will be on Sept. 5th, 2009. This is an organized picnic for CMB families and friends to meet and greet. So, pack a cooler, bring a blanket and help the CMBAA start building the CMB Parents network!
4. Coming Soon … Photos from the National’s Baseball Game from July 19!
5. Lastly, but not leastly, don’t forget to Save the Date!

Making an Impression on the 09 Camp

Despite being absent from this year’s camp, we CMBAA members are having some effect on the camp’s progress and its members.

Band Camp Alumni Game
The CMBAA Board organized an Alumni Game as part of the annual Sectional Olympics. The objective is for each section to email as many Alumni as possible and get real responses from them (for instance: what they are doing). The students will then compile their responses and send them to Kearby Chen, who will then compile those responses and do something awesome.

The game was initiated with an epic poetic competition by Mr. David Knight, now at State College. I recommend reading it (pdf). He very well might qualify for a full BS degree in Competitive Rhyming (puns intended!).

Soooo, when you get those emails from those band members, respond seriously and kindly, you never know where those responses may end up (e.g. in the Band Banquet video??) :-p!

Letter to Band Members
The Board put together a letter that was displayed at the beginning of camp. We pooled our thoughts on undergraduate life and on post-graduate life to provide some insights as well as pulling up as many humorous memories as possible.

Read your advice to the CMB (pdf).

CMBAA HOOs News Debut!
The Board also put together a letter to parents to introduce our planned activities for the Fall and to let them know that we are here to help. This will be sent out in a Special Band Camp HOOs News edition, that will mark our first official publication in this … very very very important and well respected publication.

Read your comments to the CMB Parents (pdf).

Lastly, let’s have a shout out to UVA being nationally ranked as the No. 2 Public University (tied with UCLA — you think we would get bonus points because our air is breathable 365.24 days a year! (no offense Kyle))! Check out the UVAToday Article which references other ranked programs at our beloved school.

AND let’s not forget that for several long hours today, our very own Matt Pelias was on the front page of the U.S. News website! Yes, a photo of the 2009 Beta Chi graduating class was chosen as the title image for this publication. This has prompted publicity across the Nation for our Band and for our KKPsi chapter. Congratulations Matt!

And now, I should get to work! I’m starting my first night of observation at the Keck 10 meter telescope!

Signing out on location in Waimea, HI!
– Rachael