The Wind Ensemble departed from Charles City at 8 A.M. this morning. Our destination? Eleanor Roosevelt Middle School in Dubuque, Iowa. We eentered the school for a joint rehearsal later that morning.

The rehearsal started with the Roosevelt middle schoolers warming up and playing “March to Nowhere” by Vaclav Nelhybel. We were amazed that the confidence from the seventh and eighth graders matched ours even when playing independently. Once we combined the band, we spanned six rows of wind players with the percussion, in the words of Dr. Hancock, “eight miles back.” Their confidence didn’t change when they were sight reading our music, either. The middle school tenor sax blended near perfectly with Natalie and me, and he played most of the piece accurately despite sharing three people to a copy. HIs smile matched my own as we complimented each other’s playing, fixed each other’s mistakes, and joked around a bit when we could talk freely.

Our first concert of the day was at 1:00 this afternoon after a hasty yet tasty Domino’s Pizza lunch. Garrett, a former student of this middle school was honored to play “Fantasie and Variations,” which is based on the “Carnival of Venice,” whichis turn is based on the German song “Mein Hut, der hat drei Ecken.” However,the highlight of the concert was Garrett sight reading the piccolo part of “Stars and Stripes Forever” on his tuba after Mr. Norman, the band director at the middle school, requested that he try it.

Our original plan to go to Eagle Point Park was thwarted by a misconception from Google and a locked gate. Instead, we drove to Dubuque’s HIstoric Waterfront on the Mississippi. In the hour we spent there, I learned about the Shot Tower, a building made for making musket rounds to try breaking the monopoly held by manufacturers in St. Louis. I also learned that Dubuque has three sister cities: Dornbirn, Austria; Handan, China; and Pyatigorst, Russia. Lastly, I held Eliott’s hips a la James Cameron’s “Titanic” while he played “My Heart Will Go On” on his ocarina as we faced the Mississippi River.

Our supper toinght was, once again, Pizza Ranch, as buffets are useful for feeding fifty-five people quickly with guarentee that we won’t run out of food or break the bank. Our food was paid for by a donor, but president Robby was unable to get me the name of said donor. Whoever you are, I salute you for feeding us and God bless you.

Our evening concert had very similar music to our afternoon concert. The biggest change came at the beginning, as we added about twenty middle schoolers to play the first two songs with us. We tripled our oboe section, but none of the younger saxophones were able to join us. This was not a problem, though, as it helped to improve our balance. The two middle school oboes also blended well with Carly, an amazing feat given how difficult it is to play oboe in tune at that age. We celebrated Leah’s and Trevor’s birthdays mid-concert by singing our usual “Happy Birthday Tuba Euph” folowed by the two of them dancing in front of our audience. The night ended with a wonderful homestay where we talked about Star Wars, consumed kettle corn and other delectables, and played Fortnite. #yeet

If there’s one thing today makes me think about, it is how much things change while staying the same. The biggest constant to me is how easy it is to just have fun with people from so many walks of life. I love every one of these people, I know God loves them as well, and I’m so thankful that we are given the privilege to change lives over the next month.