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In July, the alumni band will be traveling to Michigan to honor former director Don Wilcox. The band will perform a concert ("A Tribute to Don Wilcox") in Northport, MI where Mr. Wilcox currently lives. This concert will tentatively feature the Northport Community Band (NCB) as well. Mr. Wilcox was the conductor of the NCB for several years. The tour will be 4 days/3 nights and include a stay in Detroit, a visit to the Henry Ford Museum, a 2-night stay in Traverse City and a full day to explore one of America's favorite tourist destinations... Mackinac Island (ferry ride included). This tour is open to all WVU Bands alumni whether you are a member of the alumni band or not. If you had Mr. Wilcox as a director, this is your chance to give back to a man who shaped many of our lives. If you did not have Mr. Wilcox as a director, this is an opportunity to honor him for setting the standard that the band has enjoyed for the past 53 years! Former director and current alumni band director John Hendricks will be coordinating and conducting the concert. We hope to have a marching band and concert band component to the concert. The marching band portion of the program is open to former marching band members, twirlers and flags/silks/color guard members as well. While the concert band portion is open to all musicians, this band will be playing some of Mr. Wilcox’s favorite concert pieces. Some of these will be challenging and may not be for everyone. The marching band portion of the program will feature the pre-game music and “Walk Him Up The Stairs/Old Man River”. Literature for the concert band component has yet to be determined.
Registration for the Michigan tour will open on Monday, January 8, 2024 (link below). The participation limit for this tour is 220. However, after one motorcoach has been filled, additional participants will be put on a waiting list until a second, third and fourth bus (hopefully) can be filled. Our maximum is 4 buses for this tour. We must fill each bus before opening up the next bus to make this tour viable. Spouses are welcome to participate in this tour.
In November, the alumni band will be traveling to New York City to support the "Pride of West Virginia" in their second Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade performance in 8 years! All About Destinations (group travel company owned by Jeff Caplinger - WVU Band 84-86) will be partnering with Performing Arts Consultants (tour company of The Pride) to make this tour possible. The tour will include:
- 9/11 Museum and Memorial,
- Empire State Building,
- Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island,
- Broadway musical,
- Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular (featuring the world-renowned Rockettes),
- Thanksgiving Dinner, and
- Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
In addition, there will be lots of time to explore NYC on your own and also do some early Christmas shopping. The venues for this tour were suggested from comments by band alumni on the social Facebook page following Thanksgiving. Registration for this tour is now open. This tour is open to all WVU Bands alumni whether you are a member of the alumni band or not. There is no participation limit for this tour. However, after one motorcoach has been filled, additional participants will be put on a waiting list until a second bus can be filled. Our minimum to make this trip viable is one bus of 50 people. There will be no performance by the alumni band on this tour. Spouses are welcome to participate in this tour.
Both tours have been designed to keep the cost down so that more band alumni can participate. However, it is difficult to put a price on honoring Mr. Wilcox or supporting the current "Pride" members in a performance-of-a-lifetime. You can participate in one or both of these wonderful opportunities!
Please share this information on your personal social media pages and spread the word! The WVU Alumni Band is hitting the road in 2024! Hopefully, you can join us. Questions should be addressed to Jeff Caplinger. He can be reached via Facebook Messenger or by email at allaboutdestinationstravel@gmail.com.
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Links for more information:
Michigan - July 9-13, 2024 - Registration opens on Monday, January 8th.
A Tribute to Don Wilcox Tour
Macy's (NYC) - November 27-30, 2024 - Registration for the Macy’s tour is now open.
Support The Pride at Macy's Tour
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WVU Alumni Band, Inc.
