The Saint Andrew’s Episcopal School Concert Choir trip to the Heritage Festival at Disneyland in Anaheim was an absolute thrilling success. As the animated group of 44 jazzed choir members and 8 eager chaperons boarded the bus Thursday afternoon, one could almost taste the excitement and anticipation in the air. At 1:30 p.m., we took a role count, shared a few moments of gratitude and prayer, and were sent off to a trip of a lifetime by an enthusiastic group of proud parents and a pleased administrative team.
The 6 hour bus ride to Anaheim virtually flew by as the bubbly group of happy singers hit it off and participated in group bonding games like “Name that Tune”, “What Movie is This”, “The Mutual Admiration Society Game”, “Spontaneous Monologues”, and “Do Tell, Do Tell”. The vibe of friendship and camaraderie was apparent to those who we met at the Casa de Fruita, fast food restaurants, and snack shacks on the road. It was obvious that this group of people cared about one another and had an important purpose and destination to reach.
When we arrived at the Hilton Garden Inn in Anaheim, we were greeted by Mrs. Donna Miller and Mrs. Sue Dvorak who had already arranged our room assignments and keys, and provided us with an amazing Spaghetti dinner with salad, garlic bread, and all the fix-ins. Donna and Sue were absolutely incredible how they organized every event with precision and grace and made each section of the trip memorable and fun.
Friday morning the group woke up to an awesome complementary breakfast of 3 different kinds of scrambled eggs, pancakes, potatoes, toast, cereal, milk, orange juice, and coffee. What a great way to start the day every morning. At 9:00 a.m. the group set off to a fun outside mall near the hotel called “The Block” where we split up into smaller groups to enjoy the fun at the Vans Skate Park, Dave and Buster’s game room and restaurant, the Orange County Bowling Center, and many cool shops and outlets to check out the latest L.A. trends and styles, shop for fun trinkets and accessories, and buy the amazing Sham-Wow extraordinary all purpose towel.
After a super fun Pizza-Pool-Party back at the hotel, it was time to focus on the biggest reason we came on this adventure. It was time to perform the tight musical package that we had been earnestly working on for the past several months.
At 5:00 p.m. the choir and their entourage met in the hotel lobby “dressed to the nines” and raring to go. They looked truly amazing in their concert uniforms of classy black and white outfits with splashes of Royal and Sky Blue in their ties and sashes. Many thanks to Sandy Watkins for heading up the arduous job of organizing and shopping for our spiffy attire. After we performed some vocal warm-ups in the lobby for appreciative onlookers and an energized team of supporters, we headed out to Fullerton College where we prepared for the most important performance of our musical year. The experiences that I had in the moments leading up to our presentation on the stage was the best and most exciting time of the trip for me. The focus, attention to detail, wholesome musical singing, complete sense of giving, loving teamwork, and overall purity of purpose and meaningful direction was an astonishing and inspiring moment to behold. This was some of the best, most genuine, and natural singing that I have witnessed and been a part of with any choir, and the judges in the competition obviously agreed.
After performing our musical presentation, the judges showed their admiration, appreciation, and respect for our musical presentation by taking extra time during the post performance clinic to enjoy some of the musical skills and attributes that our students were able to perform at will. One of the judges was so impressed with our performance of the Brahms Requiem piece that you could see him applauding with his hands over his head while yelling out “hoots” of appreciation. Both of our choirs that sang that evening earned the highest grade possible; a Superior ranking and a Gold Medal. The Concert Choir earned a 92 and the Chamber Choir earned a 93 out of 100 points. The Chamber Choir also earned a second place in the overall standing. This was a truly remarkable experience and an amazingly proud time to be called a member of the St. Andrew’s community.
On Saturday morning, after a 7:30 breakfast, everyone headed off to spend a full day at the Disneyland amusement park. We all split up into 8 different groups of like minded ride connoisseurs and leaped head first into an endless day of roller-coasters, magical musical specials, huge corn dogs and massive Turkey legs, wet water fall drops, Mickey Mouse, and more moments of laughter than I can remember. We stayed in the park literally from the time that it opened until the time that it closed. I have to say that the top rides for me were The California Screamer, the Tower of Terror, and The Mali-Boomer. Serious fun!!!
After collecting our awards the night before, on Sunday morning, we all dragged ourselves down to the bus for the journey home. Although we were much less animated, slow on the up-take, and eager to sleep, we continued our quest by taking moments to express our gratitude for this experience and one another, sharing our encounters of the past couple of days, reveling in our accomplishments, and of course…..singing “Karaoke” songs almost all the way home.
We are all so blessed to b e a part of the Saint Andrew’s community and to be given the opportunities to share our special gifts with the rest of the world. This trip was a complete success because of the support and work that has been contributed by so many people. Thank you to all of the parent and teacher chaperons and helpers who willingly contributed to the beauty and success of this trip. A special thank you to the teachers and administration of Saint Andrew’s who made compromises by adjusting the academic schedule and providing ample opportunities for extra rehearsals and performance opportunities. An extra special thank you to Mr. Harry McKay for his continued support of the Music and Performing Arts curricula and for sitting in as the accompanist for the Concert Choir. This was a truly amazing and enchanting trip.