RVHS students are Disney bound
WARSAW – River View High School marching band and choir members hit the road Monday, June 9, for a week-long trip to Florida to perform at Walt Disney World.
“We get to end our marching band career with a bang,” said Shane Flanery, who was one of several recent graduates who was able to make the trip.
Tana Wahl, a graduate who was in choir also was excited to go to Florida.
“It’s a last hurrah with everybody I was close with,” she said.
Thirty-nine band members and 37 choir students made the trip to Florida.
“It gives them the chance to travel a little, perform in a different state and see different parts of our country’s culture along the way,” said Keith Watson, who is director of the marching band. “This is my third trip down there with the band, but I think the first time we went was in 1979 when Alan English took them.”
Watson prepared the band to play a melody of patriotic music at a pre-parade in the Magic Kingdom and said the choir was set to perform a show in Downtown Disney. Both groups had to apply for these opportunities.
“We had to do a video and send a photograph and the uniforms we had in them are the ones we were required to wear there,” said Dawn Anglin, choir director. “We’ve been told that not everyone who applies gets to go so we are really pleased.”
She took her choir students on the trip the last time the band went, which was four years ago.
“I think it’s great for them to have the opportunity to be on the stage with people watching them in this momentous venue,” Anglin said. “They also can say, ‘I sang at Disney,’ which is a big deal.”
The choir learned a whole new set of songs just for this trip.
“They are fun, up-tempo songs that I thought would have a lot of audience appeal,” Anglin said. “When picking songs I also tried to get as many as possible for kids to do solos with.”
Graduate Clay Mercer was excited to sing at Disney, see the Star Wars exhibit there and be with his friends one last time.
“It’s nice to be able to do this before we all go our separate ways,” he said.
Corlee Hall didn’t join band until her senior year, but is glad she did and was able to take part in this trip.
“The best part about band is the friends you make,” she said. “The experiences you have with them will stick with you.”
josie@coshoctoncountybeacon.com
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