Neff Jacket Rep & Practices

NEFF JACKET REP: A reminder that Mike Faulkner, the Neff Jacket representative, will be in the Band Room on Tuesday August 18th from 3:30p-5p. If we should have to cancel practice because of weather, Mr. Faulkner will still be there during this time. You can purchase a letterman jacket or, if you already have a jacket, you can purchase patches/bars. Remember, you can only get a "C" letter for your jacket if you have marched for at least one school year. Also, if you already have a jacket, you can order patches or bars to go on it, but Neff will not take the jacket back and sew them on - you will have to get them sewn on yourself. Lastly, if you are ordering a jacket, Mr. Faulkner will let you pay 1/2 of the cost when ordering, with the other 1/2 due in 4-6 weeks when the jackets are delivered. You may get a jacket order form from Mr. Newsome, Mr. Fortner, or HERE. 

PRACTICES: Speaking of cancelling practice because of weather, we have had to do it multiple times over the last few weeks. I know you're all as frustrated by that as I am, but I am also committed to everyone's health & safety first, and the GMEA still currently recommends cancelling outdoor practice if there is a strong chance of rain. COVID numbers for Georgia and Cook County are still high, so we are still taking every precaution. If I have to cancel practice because of weather, I am going to make every effort to do that by 1p on practice day so it's not at the last minute and parents can make arrangements.

Brief Update...

Just a couple of updates about football season. First, I'm sure you're already aware, but the Georgia High School Association made the decision to push the start of the season back two weeks. We had two scrimmage games scheduled for this year, one against Valwood in Valdosta, and one against Lanier County at home. The one against Valwood was cancelled by us, and last week the GHSA also decided that there would be no scrimmage games at all this year, so that means we won't have a scrimmage game against Lanier County either. Our first game will now be against Ware County in Waycross on Friday September 4th. The Hornet Football page on the website has been updated to reflect the new schedule.

I have also decided that we're not going to start the season in band uniform coats, bibbers, and shoes. Instead we're going to wear jeans, tennis shoes, and a solid black t-shirt until we can get our yearly band t-shirts ready. All students need to have a solid black t-shirt with no logos or marks of any kind on it. If the season continues past the third game, we'll break out uniforms for Homecoming against Randolph-Clay on October 2nd and continue to wear them through the remainder of the season.

It's a drastically different year, but we're going to keep making the best of it!

Band Camp & Regular Practice Schedule

I'm still planning to go forward with Band Camp this week, but, because of in-person and virtual Open House on Tuesday & Wednesday at CHS, we're going to have to modify the schedule.

• Monday 8/3 will be as scheduled, with woodwinds/VU 5p-7p, and brass/percussion 7p-9p. 
• Tuesday 8/4 & Wednesday 8/5, VU will meet 7p-9p with Miss Donna, but band & percussion won't be able to meet because the Open House schedule has both Mr. Fortner and myself tied up all afternoon and evening.
• Thursday 8/6, we will meet with everyone again, with brass/percussion from 5p-7p and woodwinds/VU from 7p-9p. (The opposite of Monday)

Once school starts, we are going to practice every Tuesday and Thursday from 4p-6p on our practice field. If it should rain on any of our practice days, we will still be cancelling those practices. If we're forced to cancel a practice for weather, I will send out messages via Remind, Facebook, and Twitter, so please make sure you are connected to us in one of those ways. If you don't know how, the instructions for all three of those at the bottom of the main page of the website.

At all practices, please make sure to follow both the COVID-19 guidelines for masks and social distancing, as well as our normal three procedures for every practice: 1. EAT, 2. DRINK, and 3. DRESS. All of those guidelines and procedures can all be found on previous posts.

We will be playing our instruments at practice this week, so bring those with you when you come. I can't tell you how excited I am to hear us make some music again!!