Our last day in the United States was significantly less hectic. We ate breakfast and said goodbye to our host families and met at Roland-Story High School early in the morning. There, we gave our families our traditional farewell blessing by singing The Lord Bless You and Keep You and Wartburg’s Loyalty song. Then, we were off to Owatonna, Minnesota!

Our first stop in Owatonna was the Wenger factory, which we were able to tour. This was really neat considering Wenger makes so many products we use in our very own band room including chairs, lockers, and even the auditorium sound system.

First, we were taken through the production facility to see how the products we use daily are made. We then got to tour the showroom, where they keep samples of their finished products. The highlight for me was getting to try out the acoustic systems in the practice rooms that make the room sound like you’re playing anywhere from a chapel to an empty 10,000 seat stadium! We finished off the tour in the acoustics lab, where they demonstrated how they test how all of their products affect the acoustics of a room.

After the amazing tour, we took a break for lunch and last-minute shopping at Wal-mart, since our flight is tomorrow!! After our break, we were headed to St. John’s Lutheran Church to unload and rehearse.

Before our concert, we were fortunate enough to share a dinner with students from Owatonna High School, who we were sharing our concert with. It was really great to interact with the students– namely when I got to talk with the students about the song Riften Wed that they were performing, since I have played it in the past. It was really great to share similarities in how the piece was performed, and to hear their excitement about the piccolo player playing from the balcony, which my band had also done in the past.

The concert went on splendidly and the seats were packed! The crowd was very excited to hear us play, which always makes the performances feel even more special. This was the perfect end to our “Pre-Tour Tour” and last night in the United States and I could not be more excited to fly to Japan tomorrow with my WCCB family!