CN Band Newsletter 09.16.2025

Clovis North Band
Sep 16, 2025
7 min read

Updated: Sep 16, 2025

From The Director's Desk

Good Afternoon. We are in week 5 of school and have about half of the field show on the field. We are looking forward to learning the ballad tonight during rehearsal. This Friday will be our first football game since the first week of school. We will now be performing almost once a week. This week our football game will be a home game where we will perform pregame and then over half of our field show during halftime.

Parent Meeting 09.16

Please join us in just a few minutes in the lecture hall for a parent meeting.

STANDARD OF THE WEEK

#5 Teamwork

Now that we are in the 5th week of school, we have been doing band for over a month. We are beginning to see multiple things happening with our members. They could include:

Falling behind in schoolwork
Falling behind with memorization of music/choreography
Falling behind with proper marching/visual technique
Feeling tired
Getting sick
Arguments with friends or family members

One of the best parts about a band like no other group on campus is the potential to have over 135 friends, 135 people looking out for you. We are a family. We should all be looking out for one another to help everyone get through the rehearsal, the day, the week, etc. This activity can be overwhelming to our new members. A tremendous amount of performance and procedural information needs to be memorized.

To our new members, if you have a question, please ask. To our returning members, look for people who seem down, overwhelmed, on their own, and… HELP positively.

Check in with your section members about how school is going, and check to make sure dot books are completed, and music is being learned.

Above all else, be kind and be a friend to one another. Remember some of the things we are looking to achieve every rehearsal:

End of rehearsal

Celebrate small victories
Take stock of what you need to do in practice before the next rehearsal
Make time to pass off all playing tests in a timely manner
Ask section leaders, drum majors, or band staff for help if you don’t understand something
Be proud to be a BRONCO!!!

Football Parking

We have football parking duty this Friday, September 19. This is a quick fundraiser for us with minimal responsibility. We only need TWO volunteers from 4-6 pm tohave all slots filled to collect money for football parking. The band receives 100% of the funds generated from this. Please sign up to volunteer on Cuttime.

Golden State Tournament of Bands

Be on the lookout in the next week or so for information regarding volunteers needed for our hosting responsibilities for the Golden State Tournament of Bands

Tuesday Rehearsal Changes/Field Seeding

In the coming weeks we will be displaced for a few Tuesday rehearsals due to reseeding the fields for the winter months. This will turn a few Tuesday night rehearsals in to marching band rehearsals that will begin during 6th period and will conclude at 5:30. I can not 100% confirm but right now we are looking at Tuesday Sep. 30 and Tuesday Oct. 7. As soon as this is confirmed I will change events on Cuttime.

Pictures

Here are links to purchase band photos from Kenny Gillman photography.

Important dates and information can be found in the gallery. If you have questions or concerns please ask. kgphotos@pacbell.net

https://kgphotos.zenfolio.com/cnmb2025

Clovis North Marching Band 2025-2026

Pit Crew

We need approx. 12 parents to volunteer for pit crew. This number could rise to 14 depending on whether we add more speakers but for now we are looking at 12.

Here is what we need help with moving:

Sound board – 2 people

Speaker stack side 1 – 2 people

Speaker stack side 2 – 2 people

Synth cart – 2 people

Bass drum – 1 person

Gong – 1 person

Drum set – 2-3 people

The pit crew plays a very important role in the success of the band. When we are at games and competitions, we have a limited amount of time to set up before and tear down after the performance. The band has a very strict time limit at competitions and if we go over the allowed time the band will be penalized. Pit crew is a vital part of the band’s success, it is an easy job but an important one.

Because this relies on accuracy and speed, the best case scenario is to have the same person working the same job at each performance.

In the past we have had the pit crew work the football game before the first competition and then help at other games if possible. I usually try to set up as much of the electronics on the track as possible to make the job lighter and I will continue to do that. However, the new speakers and sound board can’t ride on the pit trailer, so we do ask for assistance getting those back to the truck.

Halftime at football games happens at approx. 1 hour after kickoff.

Here is a list of games/competitions that we need a pit crew for:

Sept 19 – football game at VMS

Sept 26 – football game at VMS – we will perform after the game due to homecoming

Oct 2 – Thursday football game at VMS

Oct 10 – football game at Lamonica

Oct 17 – football game at VMS – at this game we will not preset electronics so we can see how it feels at a competition

Oct 24 – football game at VMS

Oct 29 – CUSD Band Night at VMS

Oct 31 – football game at VMS

Nov 7 – possible playoff game

Nov 14 – possible playoff game

Nov 21 – possible playoff game

There are no performance times yet for the competitions, but we typically perform somewhere between 700pm-900pm. Once we do get our performance times, I will put together a detailed schedule for the events. It typically looks like this:

Let’s pretend the performance time is 830pm –

735pm – meet pit at warmup

850pm – push to gate

805pm – arrive at gate

830pm – perform

845pm – push to truck

855pm – pit crew finished

Pit crew is usually needed for approx. 80-90 minutes. Plan to arrive 1 hour before the performance time.

Oct 18 – competition at Independence High School in San Jose

Oct 25 – competition at Clovis High School

Nov 1 – competition at Dublin High School in Dublin

Nov 15 – competition at Kingsburg High School

Nov 22 – Class Championships at local area (we think VMS or Sunnyside)

Nov 23 – Grand Championships at local area (we think VMS or Fresno State

Please let me know if this is something you can assist us with. Please let me know if you are able to work pit crew at the Oct 17 football game plus all the competitions. With any luck we will find enough people that can do that in then we can fill in the rest as needed.

I look forward to your response.

Thank you!

davidgabrielson@cusd.com

Prop Crew

The props are here! They are really amazing, really large, and there is some assembly required. Usually we would have students unload, assemble, and reload props. However, this year for their safety and for some of the assembly needed, we would like to create a crew of parents who would be willing to help be a part of the team. We are looking for at least 8 parents to commit to unloading, assembling, disassembling and loading, props for football games and competitions. Please check cuttime to volunteer. Thank you for your help.

Mattress Fundraiser

The mattress fundraiser is THIS SATURDAY!!! Please find one person to send to the CN MPR who would be interested in purchasing a new mattress or accessories.

Saturday, September 20, in the CN MPR. This fundraiser works due to word of mouth. The more people we bring to the gym, the more chance of selling a mattress we have. The band will earn money towards our general financial goals for the year through mattress sales.

However, your student can earn money as well like this: using the mattress referral form, which we have many of in the band room, they write their name at the bottom and hand them out. If someone buys a mattress and uses the referral form you gave them, you will receive a personal bonus. You will receive the following incentive:

1 mattress sold = $25.00

2 mattresses sold = $50.00

3 mattresses sold = $100.00

4 mattresses sold = $150.00

5 mattresses sold= $200.00

Music Test & Pass-Off

Music pass-offs are continuing. We are seeing some steady progress, but aren’t seeing many students attempting retakes. Please encourage regular practice in small increments at home.

All State Audition & Recording

We hope many of our students are working to audition for the All-State Bands this year. With the All-State Weekend earlier than ever, audition recordings are due in 3 weeks. Please prepare to make your recordings and submit them on October 7. We will meet next week to set up your profiles on the CASMEC website.

Concert Attire

Our fall concert is scheduled for Wed. Oct. 23. We hope to see all of our families in attendance. Stay tuned for more info about the fall concert.

Students will need the proper attire for this concert.

It is the following:

Boys: Black suit or tuxedo, white long-sleeve dress shirt, black bow tie, black dress socks, black dress shoes (marching band shoes are acceptable for this).

Girls: Black dress pants or slacks, black blouse or sweater, black stockings/socks, black dress shoes (flats)

Winter Percussion

If you are interested in being a member of the Visual Ensemble for the 2026 Indoor Percussion Show to see John Holmes @ Tuesday Night rehearsals so we can get their names on the audition list.