Northwood remains "Superior" @ Union PInes

Sorry about the delay in the blog. I am still recovering from a "whirlwind weekend" between UNC Concessions (Friday night and Sat) and the great trip to Union Pines on Saturday.

The blogging world doesn't contain the space for me to write all the great things I could say about our Marching Chargers. Please allow me to be selfish and speak as a parent, rather than a blogger.

I have never been more proud of our band than I was on Saturday. Our students looked great, they sounded great and the results were fantastic. The hard work and dedication has put our band in a position to compete with any band of any size. Proof of this is seen in the result of our score this past Saturday. Congratulations to the band and to Mr. C and his staff for this great accomplishment of maintaining a "Superior Rating" and for remaining at the top of Class AA, not to mention defeating Western Alamance and East Davidson High School, who has bands twice our size. "A job well done"!

Enjoy the photos and lets look forward to Saturday in Lee County.

Go Marching Chargers!!

Richardson

Northwood Defends its "AA Championship" @ Western Alamance Competition

The Northwood Marching Chargers took their business seriously today at the Central North Carolina Band Festival. In the Single A and Double A competition, Northwood was the only band to achieve the "Superior" status. With a rating of 90.5, Northwood received the 1st place award in every caption. In addition, the Chargers were named "Band of the Day" Class A/Class AA.

The crowd was very supportive of the young Northwood Marching Chargers as they took to the field. Northwood responded with a marvelous show. It was an amazing performance for a band who was only in their 2nd competition. Every one of our members should be very proud of their performance and achievements. It is exciting to see the chargers "do their thing".

Congratulations on a great day.

Several photos taken today are posted in this blog.

Our next competition will be next Saturday in Moore County. A detailed schedule of the competition will be announced early next week.

Go Chargers!!!

Richardson

Northwood Marching Chargers @ UNC Concessions

"Thank you" to the Marching Chargers who continue to support our UNC Concessions program. Fortunately we have had no problem in getting "student volunteers" for our 1st 4 games. This makes my life much easier!!

We only have 2 additional UNC football games to work. The dates are Nov. 11th and Nov. 22nd. Mark these dates on your calender. If you haven't worked any games, please sign up and plan on working these two.

The attached photos are from the past two weeks @ UNC Concessions. In addition, Marissa and Brenna have published a new "Rap Song" called "Where's Sabrina?" The video clip is just below this blog. It is worth watching. I hope Sabrina has been located. I apologize for the poor sound quality. We weren't planning a production on site, it just happened.

You will find "Sleeping Beauty" at the very top of this blog. Obviously, he didn't catch enough zzzzz's to help his looks any. If you were there, it was even more entertaining. Remember, If you do something funny, I will usually nap a photo.

Thanks to all for allowing me to have my fun!!

Enjoy!

Richardson

Marching Chargers "Band of the Day" in Danville

Congratulations to Mr. Cottrell, staff and the young Northwood Marching Charger Band. Our marching Chargers earned the only "Superior" rating presented at the Old Dominion Dixie Classic in Danville, Va. on Saturday. This honor is the result of hundreds of hours of work on the practice field, classroom and at home.

In addition to the superior rating, the Northwood High School Marching Chargers received 1st Place overall in Class AA and to top it all off, our Marching Chargers were named "Grand Champion Band" for receiving the highest "points" awarded in all classes, regardless of band size. "What a way to begin the competition season"!!!

One additional award must be mentioned. The Northwood Marching Charger "Pit Crew" won 1st place "Pit Crew Award" beating out all other pit crews from the competing schools. This is a "1st" for the Northwood pit crew. Congratulations to Liz and her team for winning this award.

The competition at Danville was not without its challenges. The weather conditions were not exactly what we had hoped for. The band endured a misty drizzle for the majority of the day. During the "Awards Ceremony" the mist turned to a steady light rain. Because of the rain and the wet field conditions, the officials at Danville decided to keep the competition off the football field. There were concerns of injuries to students while marching, not to mention the wet shoes, feet and possible mud everywhere. All bands and color guard teams performed on the track in front of the stadium. This brought the bands right up front and close to the spectators. This was a first for our band and they stood up to the challenge.

The next opportunity to see the "Marching Chargers" in competition will be Saturday, October 18th at the 35th annual "Central North Carolina Band Festival" to be held at Western Alamance High School in Elon, NC. The time and schedule for this event will be announced later. My desire is to have our 1st opportunity to preform mid-afternoon when the props will be displayed in a "sunny" environment. Leslie Burwell and her many volunteers deserve perfect conditions for the hours they spent designing and painting these fixtures.

My final comments are to the students. I know the guard and band members really enjoyed your trip to Danville. You deserve the many awards you carried home. But more importantly, you will carry the memories of the day much longer than the trophies and plaques. Take time to be thankful and proud for your hard work and accomplishments. Continue to have fun, but to work hard. The competitions will get tougher as the season matures. Other bands will be gunning for "Northwood". Your competitors will improve with each performance. You must do the same. I have no doubts that you will meet the challenge, just as you did on Saturday! You have earned the right to these precious memories.

As a Northwood parent, I want to congratulate each and every one of you for being members of one of the finest Northwood Bands that I have been exposed to. I am excited to see what the balance of the season will reveal.

Go Marching Chargers!!! Enjoy the photos. I wish I could have posted many more.

Thanks,
Richardson