Instead of castanets, the Live Oak High Emerald Regime Band will
be packing snorkels and swim wear for their annual trip. The 40
students were scheduled to go to Spain in April to perform in
several cities around the country, a trip that was originally
planned for last spring but was postponed because of the 9/11
terrorist attack.
Instead of castanets, the Live Oak High Emerald Regime Band will be packing snorkels and swim wear for their annual trip.
The 40 students were scheduled to go to Spain in April to perform in several cities around the country, a trip that was originally planned for last spring but was postponed because of the 9/11 terrorist attack.
The band performed in the nation’s Fourth of July parade in Washington, D.C., instead, hoping to reschedule the trip for this year.
The School Board approved the trip to Spain earlier in the school year, but with concerns about the situation overseas once again in the forefront, the trip has been canceled.
“With the precarious international position, it just didn’t make sense to send our students there now,” said Live Oak Co-Principal Nancy Serigstad. “Jeff (band director Wilson) and the other teachers in the music program met with Rich (Co-Principal Knapp) and I to discuss the situation. He then went back to the Booster Club, and we made a decision.”
Serigstad said the band parents thought the students being in a group posed a problem.
“The parents said they could support their children individually, but felt as a group it could be more dangerous,” she said.
Instead, the Emerald Regime will perform in the Caribbean in April. The band and color guard members will leave for a cruise April 20 and return the following week.
“I don’t think the details have been worked out yet, about whether they will perform in port or on the cruise ship itself,” Serigstad said.
Every other year, the band takes what Wilson calls their “journey of a lifetime.” In years past, the Emerald Regime has visited the Great Wall of China, Germany, France and Switzerland.
The plan for the trip to Spain was to start in Madrid, head south to the coast and then back up north again.
Fortunately, the boosters had not yet purchased airline tickets for the students and chaperones.
“That was one of the reasons this came up when it did,” Serigstad said. “We were reaching the point where we would have to make a commitment.”
