Red Deer Royals Euro Tour 2009

Yaa Trinna I gotonto the site. Just to let the parents know I will try and blog as much as possible to keep you up to date on the kids tour. There are 7 of us that are on the Companion tour so we will all try to contribute to let you know what your kids are up to.
Michelle Bakke-Purnell

12.07.2009 by mpurnell

The Royals had a 3.5 hour trip to Toronto and then another 6.5 hours to Dublin Ireland. Many tired people both youth and adults performance took place 3 hours after landing on St Stephens Green. The beginning of the rainy weather here in Ireland. Bus tour of 2.5 hours, this was great but very hard to stay awake as we had been up for 36 hours. We seen The Books of Kells at the University. We stopped at the St Peter's Church and looked at the statues and learned some history of Dublin. Free time shopping and dinner and then a walk back to the hostel. Lots of people were at the Hostel. We have learned that toilets are a problem (lack of or you have to pay to use them)

Day 2:
Went to Tullamore for the Phoenix Festival. Once again it rained. However it was sunny and warm for the parade. The crowd was overwhelmed by the size of our band. The parade was a short one of approximately 3 blocks. The crowd ran behind us in order to keep listening to the band. This was so heart warming for all. The public was so thankful and they made us feel welcomed. We then did a stand and play at the Texas Car Park. Dinner was provided by the one of the Vendors. We then had another stand and play at the Town Park. Once again it poured rain and we were all soaked to the bone. Departed for Athlone and meet our host band The Athlone Ravens. The band is small and of a younger group. They were so very excited to see us and waved and clapped constantly whenever we arrived somewhere. They supplied us their Community Hall with beds and bedding for those that were not able to go to home stays. There were a total of 43 youths that were able to go on the home stay. This number was double of what the original total was going to be. We had rehearsal at the Rugby park and the Ravens came to watch us for the day. Once again we got poured on right off the start.

20.07.2009 by rdroyals

The weather then warmed up and we were able to have joint sectionals with the Ravens at the Band Community Hall. This was followed by the Ravens performing their show for us and we performed our Field show for them followed by a joint performance. The Ravens are a small band but their sound is so amazing.
So far all the Royals are doing wonderful and having a great tour.

20.07.2009 by rdroyals

Thanks for the updates...really appreciate hearing how the tour is going. looking forward to the next posts! Thanks again...have fun!
Debbie

20.07.2009 by debfroese

Thanks for updates as well!! Can't wait to read the next one!! Really excited to see you all at the end of July. See you in Kerkrade.!!

20.07.2009 by asoutar

Thanks for the updates!! Great to hear all is going well. Hopfully the weather will cooperate for the rest of the tour.

20.07.2009 by dwratchet

Day 4
The Royals have left in the Athlone in the pouring rain and are now in Galway, Ireland. They had stand and play at Eyre Park. The weather was nice and it started spitting rain just as we finished playing. Comments from the spectators were things like "When are you playing next and where?" "Play more please?" This is very exciting and a great feeling for all the staff, chaperone's and of course the Royals. We had free time to shop and eat dinner for a couple of hours and then all met back at the Sleepzone Hostel. From there we went on a boat tour which the Royals thought was amazing. After this we walked back to the Hostel and had a bit of free time to go for ice cream or snacks of some sort. Back to the rooms and ready to call it a night. Lights out at 11:00pm for another big day tomorrow. We will be site seeing and travelling back to Dublin. Stay tuned for more coming soon....All the members are having a great time and are all doing very well.

21.07.2009 by rdroyals

SO wonderful to be able to see the kids and all of you at the Galway hostile!! Please tell the staff there how much it's appreciated that they have that camera! We keep hearing how much fun everyone is having and can't wait to see the pics.

21.07.2009 by TGrills

Glad to hear you are having fun. We saw some pictures posted by Wade on Facebook, but the more, the better!

21.07.2009 by bencivenga

Thanks for the update. Glad to hear the kids are having fun! Can't wait to see some pictures of your adventures!!!

21.07.2009 by dwratchet

WHERE ARE THE PICTURES?????!!!! I don't know where to look!!!

22.07.2009 by asoutar

The only pics, as far as I know, are the ones Wade uploaded while they were in Galway. They're on facebook. To see them you'll have to add him to your facebook. Trinna will post pics here as soon as she has the chance.

For anyone who wants to add Tim or myself to facebook feel free to

We've been checking with the other hostels to see if they have live web cam feed like the last one did, so far no luck. If we find something though we'll let you all know.

22.07.2009 by TGrills

Just a reminder to Mr. Walker and Austin Please make sure Austin has his passport before you leave on August 3rd, so we can continue on the rest of our holiday. Thanks for the pix!!

23.07.2009 by asoutar

Thanks for the update! If possible tell Sarah C Mum and Auntie Ann just missed you all in Dublin. Are in Scotland. Hope to see you in the Netherlands. Looking forward to more pics.

24.07.2009 by Janey C

Did my wife (Loretta) rejoin the group? I am getting sketchy updates

25.07.2009 by bencivenga

HI from the Norris's , Thanks for the updates ,greatly appreciated getting some news while we were away in Las vegas. Looking forward to updates from germany

25.07.2009 by norrislj

Hi everyone, this is Michelle. I have finially got internet and a chance to give a quick update. Internet over here is sparce and you have to pay for it even in the Hotel.

So you have heard some of the updates from Ireland. We the Companion group got to do alot of site seeing and saw the kids at every performance. What a beautiful country. We are now in Germany. Both our group and the kids got caught in traffic on the Auto Bon. We did not make our destination which was a place right near the castle, until 8:00pm at night. So that day got lost. We went and saw the castle in the morning and then headed the 3 hours up to meet up with the kids in Rothenburg. Wow what a place to see. The kids an us then headed to Kups, we are staying about 20min away from them. They had a great day of site seeing yesterday. The buses headed in three different directions. Some to the ancient town of Bomberg (where we went). Some to the fortress in Kronach, and some went to luge. They then did a awesome performance for there host families last night in Kups. Wow has the show improved and been added to. The kids look like they are having a great time. If we could just get some nice weather. We still are getting rain here in Germany. Today they have a packed performance day. Will try to write more later and hopefully get pictures on.
Michelle

26.07.2009 by mpurnell

Hi Everyone!! Danny and I are now in Germany. (remember this morning, when we were in Paris?.) I´m going to really start to annoy people with that one!

Weather is beautiful. Getting very excited about seeing you all. Will be in Cologne tomorrow night then, Herzogenrath the following day

See you soon. Arlene & Danny Soutar

27.07.2009 by asoutar

We have made it to Rudesheim, Germany. We finialy had our first hot day of weather. I need to let you all know what it was like to be a spectator while the kids were in Kups. They performed in Kups, Kronach and Windheim. Everywhere we went the crowds cheered and had so many good things to say about the kids. They were in awe at how well the kids played and precision marched. The home stay parents all kept telling us how wonderful the kids were and that they had the best manners. They kept saying how polite they were. So your kids were very good ambassadors. The kids are having a great time. We the companion group are having a great night spend time with them.
Michelle

27.07.2009 by mpurnell

Hi I heard from Bob and Peter an hour or so ago. They say people are doing well and not to worry if you aren't hearing from people. Apparently payphones are hard to find at Kerkrade. They had not located any internet access yet. Peter is happy with how hard the band is working on their performances and looking forward to tomorrows prelims. It was 28 degrees today.
To answer an earlier bloggers question Dr. Fiorillo and a band member who had been delayed by the airline in Dublin were able to fly Dublin Munich and rejoin the band there. The autobahn on 23rd was extremely busy and slow so it throw that days itinerary out but they got to Munich where it was raining when they arrived.
Miriam had a home stay in Ireland and e-mailed me and on in Kups as well where she e-mailed me. She said anyone who wanted a homestay in Kups would get one. Miriam said she really enjoyed performing in Rothenburg in the town square because the sound was so good there although percussion and pit had to decrease their volume because of the acoustics in the square. Peter said today when I spoke to him that the drumline is sounding really good. Bob said he may not phone again until Frankfort. Carolyn

29.07.2009 by C Wing

Got an e-mail from Bob. He says in Kueps the whole surrounding community pulled out all the stops providing extraordinary hospitality including super food! The last evening there in Kueps they bussed to fortress city and played marching up the steep cobbled stone streets in the dark and then played a few pieces in the town plaza while the towns folk decorated all of them with blinking flourescent lei garlands while crowding around. Made for tight quarters but very magical. Only 9 bands chose to do the parade competition in Kerkrade, the others opted out in favor of more rehearsal time. The Royals of course did the parade. Bob says generally the tour is going very smoothly with positive attitudes all around. He guesses that with the advent of cell phones there are probably only 100 payphones left in the Netherlands. I'll post again if I hear more news. Carolyn

29.07.2009 by C Wing

Thanks for another update Carolyn!

If anyone is interested, and hasn't already seen them on facebook, you can view Trinna, Michelle and Wade's pictures of the tour at http://reddeerroyals.blogspot.com/

HUGE thank you to the three of them for taking the time to post them!!

If anyone knows of, or has, other Euro pics let me know and we'll add them to the site for all to share.

for_terri_g@msn.com

29.07.2009 by TGrills

Finally the cat is out of the bag about where the pictures are! Thank you!
I can see that the prohibition on beer for the chaperones has been relaxed! Unavoidable in Germany, I suppose...
Good luck in the competition and look forward to seeing you back
Roberto

30.07.2009 by bencivenga

Thanks so much for the pics and updates. Has anyone heard if they have made it to the finals?

30.07.2009 by yannisax

lmao.... I'm sure the chaperones wish they could have beer. The pics from the beer gardens are of the companion tour. Those lucky parents get to enjoy all Europe has to offer.

We're still waiting for the results of the first field show. They'll be posted as soon as someone knows.

I spoke to Michelle last night. Unfortunatly as our kids approached the judges station during parade they had to disband to let an ambulance through and then try to get regrouped. I don't know the outcome of the parade results and can't find our kids listed yet on the official WMC results page.

30.07.2009 by TGrills

hello from Kerkrade!
It has been a fantastic day.The royal were on top of their game and did amazing. First the parade results....
They placed 6th. Great effort and they really enjoyed the parade route which had many many spectactors.
Today was the semi finals for show band...
The kids placed 8th out of 15 and will be in the finals on Saturday or Sunday. WHAT A GREAT SHOW. After the show Mr. Goring said it will be hard to beat their top performance. They were amazing. The Stetson band and Royals played "hey, baby" together after they marched out of the stadium. They were all yelling, jumping and having a ball. Very emotional for us groupies!

unsure of finals yet...they are supposed to play sat. pm. unfortnately, some band need to leave Sat. night so they have to rearrange the schedule. We will find out if it is \Sat or Sunday.

Group is happy..everyone is well. They will all have many stories to share on their return.
till next time...
Debbie Froese

30.07.2009 by debfroese

Thank you so much for letting us know the results of the parade and field show prelims. We are very excited and proud to hear that the Royals have made it into the finals. A very special time for all the members that have worked so hard and given so much for this occassion.
Have a Great Finals!!
Barb & Colin Strang

30.07.2009 by strangbg

Well done, Royals! All that work is paying off. Time to enjoy your achievements and the friendship with other bands.
Roberto

30.07.2009 by bencivenga

Congratulations on making the finals! You continue to exceed expectations and make us all very proud. Your incredible hard work has brought you to this point. Remember to take care of each other and celebrate your achievements as a group. Together, you have created a big piece of Royal's history.
Phil Norris

30.07.2009 by norrislj

Chaperones, could you please let the kids know that when we heard the results over here many of us were chearing and yelling! lol.... I'm sure people thought we'd lost our minds but we're bursting with pride for all the kids!

We can't wait to see you all on Monday and hear the details of what's been an amazing tour.

GO ROYALS !!!

31.07.2009 by TGrills

YAHOO! We are oh so proud of you all!

Mike, Julie and Nickolas Lind

31.07.2009 by mekkel

Way to go ROYALS, we're all very proud!!!!!

31.07.2009 by dwratchet

Way to go Royals we are cheering for you
Tony and Rhonda Hansen

31.07.2009 by trhansen

There is a short video on YouTube of the Royals
in the Kerkrade Parade. In "search" on YouTube type in Red Deer Royals Kerkrade.

31.07.2009 by strangbg

WE ARE SO PROUD OF YOU ALL. Keep up the excellent work and have fun.
Sharon and Kyle in Whitehorse

31.07.2009 by toohot

Hi Everyone: I am finally able to connect to the internet. It has been a great trip and the hard work the Royals have done has paid off for them. They were all very excited and hyper after making 8th place in the prelimanary's and the next couple of days they had many long practices to fine tune the show. Today we played an outstanding show and the final results of what award we will be bringing home will be announced tomorrow after the other five bands play. We do know however that we scored a total of 1164 out of a possible 1400 (this is what we are understanding) which would give us a percentage of approximately 83.14. We are all still so proud of how well all the kids performed and they truly are wonderful to be around. To all you parents I personally would like to say you have a very wonderful children and it truly shows. I am not sure if we will get on tomorrow night to give you an update but if there is internet I most definately will be on here to let you all know the final results. For now take care and be extremely proud of the Royals they did great.

01.08.2009 by rdroyals

from Laurie and Phil Norris Passed on our Congrads to band ,staff and chaperones . We know how hard everyone worked on this show. WELL DONE

01.08.2009 by norrislj

Congratualtions. We are so proud of the Royals as is everyone here I have spoken to. A huge thank to our children for doing us all proud. An immense thank you to the band staff and chaperones for giving this experience to the kids. You are to be commended.

Mike and Julie Lind

01.08.2009 by mekkel

We are very proud of all the Royals, staff, and chaperones. What an exciting opportunity. The Royals are very hardworking students and their effort shows each time they perform. Anyone you talk to has nothing but positive comments about them. Way to go Royals! Can't wait to see you all on Monday!

The Delaurier/McQuillans

01.08.2009 by yannisax

Wow what an accompishment thansk to all of your hard work sleepless nights We are very proud of you all and to be a first year parent this has been an unbelievable experience for us all

Thanks you and see you all Monday

Tony and Rhonda Hansen

01.08.2009 by trhansen

If you go to YouTube there are videos of the field show in Kups.

01.08.2009 by yannisax

Here is a link of the Royals and the stampede band laying Hey baby (it is at the end.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3f4zhd5nRk

01.08.2009 by yannisax

As well as those videos posted above there are a few new ones thanks to Terry Tucker posted on You Tube. The links are on the Blogger page. I will also try to get more photos added. http://reddeerroyals.blogspot.com

01.08.2009 by TGrills

Hi all, I have uploaded a bunch of unedited pics in three facebook albums and the direct links are below. Sorry you may have to cut and paste them into your browser but you do not need to be a facebook member to view them. If you want them posted somewhere else please let me know and I would be happy to upload them. I will post a few more youtube clips today. Terry

Bingen, Germany (on the banks of the Rhine) July 28.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=290564&id=784535082&l=d81c24907d

Kerkrade Show July 30.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=290368&id=784535082&l=ea2f0d6513

Kerkrade Parade July 29.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=290350&id=784535082&l=5ce5703f9e

02.08.2009 by ttucker

Awesome, Thanks Terry!! Can't wait to see them all.

02.08.2009 by TGrills

Thanks Terry! It is wonderful to be able to see
all the different performances, over & over!

02.08.2009 by strangbg

Pleasure!! was amazing to watch them! I just got part 1 of 2 of the big stadium show uploaded on youtube and it is processing now but should be available soon. I have lots of video of the other competitors that I will post as well so you can all see who our competition was!

02.08.2009 by ttucker

are we reading the results correctly?? 14th place? Way to go Royals!! http://results.wmc.nl/ms.php

02.08.2009 by TGrills

http://www.wamsb.org/index.php?actionID=news&news_aID=showNewsPage

Red Deer Royals are EIGHTH!!! WAY TO GO ROYALS!

03.08.2009 by yannisax

As I am back home now I can add a little more about the trip. First it was so wonderful to see all your posts of congratulations for the kids. They did such a great performance in finials. For us on the Campanion tour it was really nice to spend time with the band in the Rhine river area. They all looked like they were having so much fun. They have worked so hard during the tour, as did all the Chaperones. I heard a story second hand and will have to find out from the kids if this is true. When they rehursed in Kerdrade they had to go to a different feild from the school. On the last day before finials a older lady (in her 80's) came to the feild with home made cookies. She told the story of how during the war her family was starving. The Canadain soldiers came and liberated her country and gave her family food. She wanted to bring food for the kids from Canada,and to tell them good luck in the performance as she could not make the show. Ok that had me crying.

We in the Campanion group were so happy to have gotten the oppurtunity to follow the kids. It was such a great experience. To see how the people responded to the band was increadable. The finial performance was so good, and the kids gave it there all. It was great to see all the parents at the performances. At prelims there were 35 of us, and yes to clarify, it is only those of us on the Campanion tour and those not Chaperoning that got to experience the German tradition of beer. They do like there beer.

03.08.2009 by mpurnell

We know that it was hard not to receive regular updates as to the trip and how the kids were doing. There was almost no internet in Ireland, and in Germany and The Netherlands it was just as hard. Us with the campanion tour thought we were in luck when we reached our hotel near Kups, yet the connections were so weak that uploading anything or getting a page to download, took for ever. Then in Kerkrade as someone mentioned in a eairler post, you could not find phones. They have hardly any pay phones anywhere in Germany or Holland. Our internet connection in our Hotel would only work during the morning. So we could not get on at night when we came back after a full day of seeing the kids or the performances.

Many times during our travels we would be driving into an area where the kids were going to be and say to each other, does anyone know where the kids are suppose to be? We would have no idea where to look for them. With in 10 minutes someone would spot the red and white jackets. We couldn't beleive we had found them. In Kups the one morning we were following the schedule from home and went to see the Mayoral reception that was suppose to be at 9:30am. We drove around Kups a couple of times and then stopped a person and asked where the Bergermister might be. The lady pointed at a red car and flagged down the mayor of Kups. When we asked where they kids Royals might be he said follow me, and drove us right to where the busses were loading and said have a good day. I guess the schedule had changed and we got a escort from the Mayor of Kups to the kids. Boy did we laugh about that one.

03.08.2009 by mpurnell