Alternative to Florida works well for Gateway High School band trip

The schedule for the Gateway High School marching band usually calls for a trip to central Florida every other year.

While 2022 was supposed to be one of them, the lingering effects of the covid-19 pandemic prompted some caution among the powers that be for one of Orlando’s premier destinations.

“By the time we were accepted by Disney World, it didn’t leave us enough time to allow families to fundraise for that expensive trip,” James Hoeltje, high school director of bands, said. “So we decided, kind of at the last minute, to postpone that trip by a year. It kind of left us late trying to figure out what we could do as a spring trip with the marching band.”

The eventual decision was to participate in the Virginia International Music Festival and NATO Parade of Nations, held April 30 in Norfolk.

And although their travels didn’t take them to the Sunshine State, the band members, chaperones and faculty members were happy to get away, so to speak, after a two-year interruption.

“It was a wonderful trip,” Hoeltje said. “It was a wonderful opportunity for the kids, from a performance standpoint.”

Gateway as given the honor of the final high school band to march in the parade, between the floats representing the United Kingdom and, of course, the United States. Further honors were bestowed during a subsequent awards ceremony.

“We’re a competitive marching band all fall, so when it comes to our spring trip, we’re not looking for competition. We’re just looking for experience,” Hoeltje said. “But we did take a bronze medal, which was exciting for the kids.”

Norfolk is home to the oldest and largest industrial facility that belongs to the U.S. Navy, and the students were able to take tours of attractions including the maritime science museum Nauticus and its resident battleship, the USS Wisconsin.

“One young lady, in particular, is very interested in the Navy,” Hoeltje said. “This trip for her, going to Norfolk, was a dream come true.”

For other students, the dream came true at nearby Virginia Beach, where the Gateway contingent stayed for three nights with a view of the water in each room.

“We wanted to give our kids the chance to stay on the beach, because some of these kids had never been to the beach before,” Hoeltje said. “Some of them had never seen the ocean.”

When he researched alternatives to Florida, he received recommendations from his Western Pennsylvania colleagues to try Virginia, and in fact, bands from Greater Latrobe Senior, North Allegheny and Seneca Valley high schools joined Gateway this year.

“All of them had nothing but good things to say about that trip,” he said. “It’s definitely a trip that I will do again in the future.”