AFM Newsletter
Copies of the AFM Newsletter mailings just in case you've misplaced yours.

December 13, 2006

In This Issue:
:: Student Accounts
:: Campana Jazz Festival News
:: Winterguard News
:: Uniform Return
:: Nutcracker - 20% Discount Tickets for AFM Families & Friends
:: Marching Band DVD – Does Not Exist...Yet
:: Volunteers Desperately Needed: Uniform Check-in Day – January 13th

Jon Grantham

Upcoming concert information:
All concert bands and Jazz B students are required to attend and perform in the winter concert on Tuesday December 19.

Report Times (on stage with instrument seated and ready to warm-up):
Jazz B 5:30
Symphonic Band 6:00
Wind Symphony 6:15
Wind Ensemble 6:30

The concert begins at 7:00 p.m. with the theater doors opening at 6:45. There is no charge and all are welcome to attend. It will be a great program and I hope our fine students will play to a full house. Cheering on our kids is not just for marching band! If you thought they sounded good moving around the field, wait until you hear them sitting down.

Concert dress reminders:
Symphonic Band- Ladies are to wear all black dress clothing. Skirts must be knee length or longer. Pants must be dress pants (no jeans or cords). No tank tops or t-shirts. Black dress shoes and black hosiery. No sandals allowed. Gentlemen are to wear a white long-sleeve collared dress shirt with a black neck tie, black dress pants, black dress shoes and black socks. Failure to follow these guidelines will result in a deduction of points and the student may not be allowed to perform at the concert.

Wind Symphony-
Ladies are to wear all black dress clothing. Skirts must be knee length or longer. Pants must be dress pants (no jeans or cords). No tank tops or t-shirts. Black dress shoes and black hosiery. No sandals allowed. Gentlemen NEW! are to wear a black long-sleeve collared dress shirt with a black neck tie, black dress pants, black dress shoes and black socks. Failure to follow these guidelines will result in a deduction of points and the student may not be allowed to perform at the concert.

Wind Ensemble-
Ladies are to wear concert dresses, pearl necklace, black closed toed dress shoes and black hosiery. Gentlemen are to wear tuxes with black socks and black dress shoes. Failure to follow these guidelines will result in a deduction of points and the student may not be allowed to perform at the concert.

CONGRATULATIONS!
Several Amador students earn county and national honors! Band member John Palowitch was notified last week that he earned a spot in the national 2007 Gibson/Baldwin Grammy Jazz Band. This is a highly prestigious and competitive group pulling the top high school jazz talent from across the country. Congratulations to John for this honor.

The following students also earned placement in the 1st Annual Alameda County Honors Band: Alexene Farol-flute, Devin Maguire-clarinet, Karl Schmidt-trombone. Congratulations!
Student Accounts
Pam Sangiacomo

We are closing our books on our successful 2006 Marching Band Season! As you know, student fees are the primary way we can afford to support this outstanding music program. If your student is still carrying a balance, please contact me at sangiacomo@comcast.net or our AFM President, Thom Kato, at thom.kato@comcast.net. We are happy to discuss with you how to coordinate satisfying any outstanding balance. Thank you, Pam Sangiacomo
Winterguard News
Mari Terhune

Thanks to Kate for organizing this week's Secret Santa ~ a guard tradition for many years. Please remember to keep the 3 gifts simple! Friday is Caroling at 6:00! Contact Taylor at 989-6865 for more information. Last but certainly not least, don't forget Winterguard Camp is December 28 - 30 from 9 to 3 at Amador.
Nutcracker - 20% Discount Tickets for AFM Families & Friends
Roz Perazzo

Ronn Guidi's Nutcracker
Paramount Theatre, Oakland
Oakland East Bay Symphony
www.rgfpa.org

Dec 22 8pm - Friday
Dec 23 2pm - Saturday
Dec 23 8pm - Saturday
Dec 24 11am - Sunday

Order online via :
1. Search for Ronn Guidi's Nutcracker - Paramount Theatre
2. Select performance date & time
3. Skip the regular order section just past to the Special Offers & Promotions
4. Enter quantity, ticket price (type of seat), and "CORP20" in the promotion code
5. 20% will be deducted from the total purchase, there is a $6.95 per ticket ticketmaster fee.

For groups of 20 or more, order all at once via the Paramount Box Office for 20% discount, no fees.

Any questions? Contact Roz Perazzo at pperazzo@comcast.net Happy Holidays!
Marching Band DVD – Does Not Exist...Yet
Steve Ethier

Band parents, in some years past, a DVD was created of the band’s performances for that year. This DVD was sold at some point later during the year. Unfortunately a DVD was not created last year nor is it looking like a DVD is getting created for this year. I am not committing to creating such a DVD but I am willing to try creating one. If I can successfully create one, then I am willing to research how I could create a 100+ copies of it.

However, to do this I need to move some footage recorded on an analog Sony Hi8 video camera into my Macintosh. My research on the Internet indicates that I may be able to do this with certain types of digital video cameras. Specifically, I need to borrow a digital video camera that supports something called “analog pass through mode” or a video camera that would allow you to record from a VCR or a non-digital TV.

Please contact Steve Ethier at slethier@pacbell.net if you have such a camera that you are willing to let me borrow. If you are not sure if your digital video camera supports this but would like to help me, send me the name and model number of the video camera and I’ll do some research to determine if I can use the camera or not.
Volunteers Desperately Needed: Uniform Check-in Day – January 13th
Kimberly Ansell

Volunteers are needed to help check-in Marching Band uniforms. Uniforms are to be returned by the students to the lobby of the band room between the weeks of December 4 and December 22, 2006. I am looking for a team of between 6 and 8 volunteers on Saturday, January 13, 2007 from 9 am to 2 pm to check-in the uniforms on the Master Check-in sheet, check for uniform quality and finally separate by sizes on uniform carts – to get ready for distribution next August.

Should be an easy and fun day!

Please contact Kimberly Ansell, Uniform Coordinator 2006-2007 at KimberlyAnsell@Comcast.net or 484-2847 if you are available to help.

Campana Jazz Festival News
Marilyn Palowitch

The 32nd Annual Campana Jazz Festival (CJF32) will be held on Saturday, February 10th! This is an all day affair, hosted by the AVHS Music Department, and is conveniently held at Amador Valley High School. Please save the date on your calendars now.

Planning is well under way with 16 bands already registered and $3000+ in summer music camp scholarships in place. We are returning to a two-venue format with 8 well-known and respected jazz adjudicators from across the bay area. A 32-page program is filling up with festival information and ad sales.

We need your help! The long-running success of the Campana Jazz Festival (CJF) is due to the generous support from many dedicated parent and student volunteers. There are volunteer needs from now through the day of the Festival. If you haven’t already done so, please send me an email (marilynpalowitch@comcast.net) with your contact information and area(s) of interest – just some of which are listed below.

Before the festival:
Signs and Labels
Program and Ad Sales Assistant
Volunteer Organization
Preparing Packets for Directors and Adjudicators

At the festival:
Hospitality (for Adjudicators, Directors, Volunteers)
Judges’ Support: transportation via cart, etc.
Concessions Crew
Volunteer Check-in
Performance Venue Assistance (2 venues this year!)
Band/Director Check-in

Sub-in! We need some parents who are NOT Jazz Band parents to sub-in for short periods of time during the festival (an hour or less), so Jazz Band parents can leave their posts to go watch the performance of the band in which their student plays. Won’t you sub-in?

We look forward to hearing from you. Additional volunteer needs will be listed in the weeks to come. Stay tuned!

The Campana webpage is http://www.amadorband.org/campana2007.html, where you can find the latest news and up-to-date information about Campana.

Carl and Marilyn Palowitch
Chairpersons, Campana Jazz Festival
marilynpalowitch@comcast.net
426-7223
Uniform Return
Kimberly Ansell
don't forget logo

The Marching season is drawing to a close and it's time to return the uniforms to the band room. On December 4, 2006, several carts will be placed in the lobby of the music department for students to drop off their “CLEANED” uniforms. These carts will remain in the lobby until Friday, December 22, 2006. A committee will be checking in, inspecting, and sorting the uniforms in preparation for next fall.

Thank you so much for your cooperation. The marching students have shown great responsibility and care for these uniforms this year! Your help and cooperation has been greatly appreciated! Please follow the instructions below very carefully for the return of all of the components of the marching band uniform. If you should have any questions regarding care and maintenance of the uniform, please feel free to contact me at 484-2847 or by email at KimberlyAnsell@Comcast.net.

Please follow these instructions carefully!

1. Shoes: Keep these at home until our uniform fitting day in the fall.
2. Gauntlets and gloves: Return the gauntlets only in the labeled large zip loc bag with your uniform. Gloves can be thrown away. If the gauntlets are dirty, they can be wiped off with a damp cloth and air dried.
3. Carefully take the hem out of the pants. It should be as easy as pulling one thread and the rest should fall out. For some pants that were hand hemmed, you may need to use scissors to take out the hem. Please pull out all remaining loose threads so the pants will be ready for hemming next fall.

Washing instructions:

The jacket and pants can be machine washed and dried on a GENTLE cycle. PLEASE follow the instructions carefully:

1. Take the sequins drop off the jacket before washing!!!! The sequins drop can not be washed. Gently unsnap the sequins drop from the jacket. Put the sequins drop aside. DO NOT WASH THE SEQUIN DROP.
2. Turn the jacket inside out securing the Velcro to wash and dry. Make sure the Velcro is not exposed. This will prevent the Velcro from pulling and picking the material during the cleaning process.
3. Wash the jacket and pants on a Gentle cycle with a NON-chlorine detergent.
4. Dry the pants and jacket on a permanent press or cool cycle.
5. Once the jacket has been washed and dried; snap the sequins drop back onto the jacket.
6. If you take the pants out of the dryer immediately after the cycle is completed they should be wrinkle free and ready to go.
7. If the pants have wrinkles or the hem line is still visible, please touch them up with an iron, very carefully, using a cool setting. This will prepare the pants for the pinning and hemming process next marching season.
8. Once the jacket and pants have been cleaned, hang the pants on a sturdy hanger and the jacket on the wooden pants hanger with the locking bar. This requires two separate hangers. Be sure the wings on the jacket are folded up and the jacket is closed.
9. Put the jacket, pants, and the Ziploc bag containing gauntlets all back into the garment bag. This is the only way we have to identify the uniforms.
10. Finally, please make note of any damage to the uniform, missing buttons, worn areas, etc. and attach the note to the uniform. This will allow us to make any repairs during our off-season.

Updated: December 13, 2006