AHS band travels to Colorado last week

By Donnie A. Lucas

About 30 members of the Albany High School Band traveled to West Cliff, Colorado last week to help prepare for the upcoming concert contest and to have some fun.

Unfortunately, the trip was cut short after several members of the group developed cases of the flu, according to director William Vaughan.

“Everything that we could control went well,” Vaughan said. “The kids behaved well, and all seemed to enjoy the trip, but the flu just hit, and we had to deal with it.”

The band participated in a special clinic by Bob Vetter on Friday to work on concert contest material. The clinic was conducted in a large meeting room at the Horn Creek Lodge where the band was staying.

“We got to do the train ride through the Royal Gorge and go up to the bridge,” he said. “There were even a couple of people who did the zipline across the gorge.”

The members of group started becoming ill on Friday, with students actually diagnosed on Saturday. This was the first trip in several years outside of the state.

“With more kids getting sick, we decided to come back Saturday night rather than waiting until Sunday morning,” Vaughan said. “But we had already completed most of the events scheduled, so getting back sooner made more sense.”

He added that quarantine rooms were set up and temperatures taken as part of the preventative measures used.

The band, which includes students in grades 8-12, will attend the UIL Concert and Sightreading contest in Abilene at Wylie High School on March 29.

The band earned a Division I rating in marching season and is hoping to repeat last year’s pair of Division I ratings in concert and sightreading to earn the Sweepstakes Award.

For their concert performance, the band will perform March Zingaro by Stanridge, Hope of Tomorrow by Wada, and Into the Arctic by Balmages.