Good music, good times on school band trip

The Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School's enormous array of bands and choruses traveled to the Virginia Beach area last week to take part in a music festival and competition.

The choirs performed Friday morning (April 16) at a church in Newport News, the bands played that afternoon at a high school in Virginia Beach and the color guard performed Saturday morning at the high school.

Then the 200-some students spent the rest of Saturday at Busch Gardens, enjoying the roller coasters and other attractions. An awards ceremony was held at Bush Garden's Royal Palace Theater late Saturday afternoon. Among the awards for SPF were first-place showings for the Concert Band, in which Christine plays flute, and the school's top-notch jazz group, the Moonglowers.

That night the crowd took over a bowling alley for a bowling/pizza/DJ-music party where the kids wore wacky outfits and had a great time. Even the long bus rides down and back weren't bad, Christine said - the buses were not the standard yellow school vehicles, but big coaches with comfortable seats and TV sets.