Army Band Grand Concert Cancelled

[BVD Press]

I can understand feelings of disappointment but I most certainly understand the concert being cancelled. The Mrs. and I left much earlier than intended and I am glad we did. The 3 hour tour back to Virginia Beach was expanded to 6 hours. LOTS of cars off the road, bent around "Jersey" walls, etc. and I have wondered several times if all made it home safely and pray that is the case. As Ken said, as slick as it was, the driving was really a minor challenge with a little common sense, it was the "idiot factor" that kept it entertaining.

Great event all around and I can't wait until next year!

Totally agree with Phil here. It was the right decision to cancel the PM concert. Unless you are there, you would not know the magnitude of the conditions. Driving home to CT, I took an exit ramp only to find it not been plowed at all. 6+ inches of snow awaited. Not fun! It was slow going, but I made it back in 8 hours which left just enough time to grab a nap and the drive up to the UCONN Brass Day on Sunday...

__
Marty: Unless your job has an audience watching you, I can't see how your job has any correlation to the performances that would have happened on Saturday night? The cancellation sends the absolute correct message. I have no facts to back this up, but I feel the decision was made in the best interest of both the audience members and the performers. While at the conference, I did not see anyone miffed, pissed, wildly upset, etc. as you seem to be. They all understood what was going and it was expected as the day progressed. All you had to do was look outside, see the snow piling up and you knew it would be cancelled. The only question was when would the announcement come. I also applaud the decision makers for making a decision early on. This took out the temptation to stay and possibly risk the safety of ourselves and the other attendees.

MANY people who had not planned to stay until Sunday decided to stay an extra night as to not risk the drive home. Especially in today's times where people are watching their budgets much more closely than in the past, that should tell you something about the conditions.
__

Big thanks to Don for putting on another great show and Aaron for working with the dealers (we are a big pain...). A bigger thanks to anyone who happened to come by my booth, purchase a chart or just say hello. Putting names to faces is always nice and just having the opportunity to hang out with a few TubeNetters for a couple hours is a thrill! Maybe next year it will be sunny and 60 degrees!!

WIshing all well,

[Rick Denney]

1. The schools around here shut their facilities down in snow emergencies as a matter of policy. The concert facility for Saturday night would have been made unavailable without even consulting the Army Band folks. Our band--a few miles to the west of DC--has had concert venues pulled out from under us for similar reasons without the option.

2. There were already lots of people at the conference. We arrived just as the snow was starting to come down hard, so getting there in the morning was no real problem until we were on the city streets right around the base. But Fort Myer received a solid 8 inches of snow after that. We wiped off AT LEAST that much off the back of the car to fetch the tubas for the reading session in the afternoon, and there was another inch or two on the car after the session.

3. The drive from Fort Myer to our dinner location was not too bad, but Dr. Sloan's description is accurate enough. We had a good crowd at dinner.

4. The drive home from the restaurant was far worse. The west side of the Beltway was still snow-covered and was not de-iced, and the maximum safe speed was 20-30 mph. And lane lines were covered up, making for a chaotic situation. Once we left the Beltway for the Dulles Access Road, it got better, but down towards the District and in parts south it was difficult, and deep enough to prevent travel by vehicles that didn't have a high ground clearance and preferably all-wheel drive. Our normally 70-minute trip back to the house took a solid half hour longer, even though there was (thankfully) not too much traffic.

5. They did consider relocating the conference to Brucker Hall on base instead of the middle school, but apparently this did not solve all the problems to the satisfaction of the organizers. Note (to Marty) that most of the audience and conference attendees are not "The Army".

Rick "who enjoyed the longer reading session and the more leisurely dinner, in spite of mourning the cancellation of the concert and party" Denney