Second String

Dave received a big surprise phone call last night around 10:20 pm.  RJ, the band director at Lincoln Southeast, was calling to ask Dave to quickly write a marching band drill for the Lincoln Southeast Marching Band.  They had been asked to provide pre-game music at the Holiday Bowl in San Diego at the very last minute, because the UNL Marching Band would NOT be going to the Holiday Bowl due to the fact that the members of the band were scattered all over the state and could not get back to Lincoln.  The UNL buses were due to leave late Saturday, and there was no way that everyone could get back to Lincoln, so UNL cancelled the band trip.

The people who run the Holiday Bowl knew that the Lincoln Southeast Marching Band was due to fly to San Diego early this morning (Sunday), so the Holiday Bowl people called RJ to request that he put together a simple pre-game show to represent Nebraska.  No problem. While I was watching Saturday Night Live, Dave designed a big letter N drill for the LSE Band. Meanwhile, RJ rounded up "Hail Varsity" for the band to play.  RJ was to be at Lincoln Southeast High School at 2:00 am to meet the first group of students who would be heading to Eppley Airfield in Omaha on a school bus at 3:00 am.  A second group would be leaving later.  One hundred marching band members plus parents would be taking 3 flights to San Diego early Sunday morning.  Dave emailed the pre-game design to RJ in time for him to get a couple of hours of sleep before heading for school at 2:00 am. (Dave decided months ago that he would not go on this trip.  However, it was still fun to be involved in the inevitable last minute panic.)

We assume everyone made it to Omaha for their flights.  I shudder to think of school buses driving on snow-packed I-80 at 3:00 am, but no news is good news. Now we are waiting to hear from RJ, who will call us after they get settled in at their hotel in San Diego.

The exciting news is that the LSE band will get to perform at pre-game and at half-time as part of a mass band extravaganza.  I hope some of it will be aired on TV.

Stay tuned for updates.

Jeannette