Whitehouse bands prepare for concerts

Whitehouse High bands put in extra hours of practice to prepare for their upcoming spring concert and their march down Main Street USA at Disney World in Orlando, Fla. this summer. The Wildcat Band is an enormous source of pride for Whitehouse.

The award winning Whitehouse High School Bands will present their Annual Spring Concert on Monday evening, May 14 in the Whitehouse High School Arena at 7 p.m. The Whitehouse Band Booster Club is also hosting an "Outback Hamburger Supper" that night from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. as a fund-raiser to help the band with their expenses to Orlando, Fla., the first week in June. The hamburger supper is being catered by Outback Steakhouse of Tyler. Tickets for the supper are $7.50 each and are currently on sale from band students and band booster parents.

The expenses for the trip are being raised by the students and parents with all expenses being paid before they leave for the trip. Each student is responsible for paying $400 with the band boosters picking up the balance. The $400 covers a 3 day park hopper to Disney attractions, a ticket to Universal Studios, hotel rooms and bus transportation and all meals. In all, the trip is costing about $650 per person. The Wildcat Band will be performing in the evening parade in the Magic Kingdom on Tuesday, June 5. This will be the fifth time the Wildcat Band has performed in the Magic Kingdom.

Come and join the band for good music and good food as they earn their way on the trip of a lifetime.

During the recent UIL Region 21 Concert and Sight Reading Contest the Whitehouse High School Concert and Symphonic bands performed. Both bands received a rating of Ex- cellent in concert and a Superior rating in sight reading. This marked the first time in 14 years that the band did not receive a Superior rating on the concert stage.

The Concert Band, directed by James Clifton, performed Columbian March by Karl King; A Walk with McCarley by Van Ragsdale; and Barbarossa by Himes. The Symphonic Band, directed by Denny Whitley, performed The Golden Bear by J. J. Richards; The Hounds of Spring by Alfred Reed; and Variations on a Danish Folk Song by James Sudduth. Both high school bands will present their annual Spring Band Concert on May 14 at 7 p.m. at the high school.

The Whitehouse Junior High seventh and eighth grade bands also performed at their UIL Region 21 Concert & Sight Reading Contest held at Chapel Hill High School. Both bands received a rating of Excellent in concert and Superior in sight reading.

The Junior High Band Concer t will be on Thursday night, May 17 at 7 p.m. in the Whitehouse High School auditorium.