FVRR goes to Madera, San Francisco

By Michelle Doan, staff writer
Monday, November 26, 2007

The Fountain Valley Royal Regiment sweeps the awards from their competition at Madera High School.

The Fountain Valley Royal Regiment spent their Veteran's Day memorial weekend in Madera and San Francisco for the Madera WBA competition.

After the pre-game performance on Friday night, November 9, the band left on charter buses for a four and a half hour ride to Madera Valley Inn, arriving at 2:00 a.m.

After a good night's sleep and brunch at Hometown Buffet, they headed to Bullard High School to practice their sets and run through the show.

The WBA competition at Madera High School came to an unexpected and exciting end.   At the awards assembly, the band did not receive first, second, or third place, but rather the sweepstakes award, placing them higher than first, with a score of 90.25. In addition, they won all the captions awards except one, and a free clarinet from the Jupiter company.

The next day the band started for San Francisco. When the buses finally arrived at Pier 39, the band broke off into groups to explore the city, stopping at attractions like Alcatraz, Ghirardelli Square, and Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum. After exploring San Francisco, the band then headed to Chinatown's Cathay House for dinner.

Subsequent to all the fun, everyone began to pack their luggage for their departure of the Inn the next morning and headed straight to bed. They stopped by Six Flag's Magic Mountain theme park before hitting the road once more, this time, for home.