Litchfield High School marching band has performed and competed on city streets throughout the country. Come the summer of 2024, band members will need to find their sea legs.
Band directors Bailey Benoit and Kelly Taylor present plans for the Marching Dragons’ annual end-of-season trip in 2024 during the Litchfield School Board meet March 13. And plans call for a first-of-its-kind trip aboard a Caribbean cruise line.
Tentative plans being arranged through Bursch Travel call for a July 1-5 trip, with the band flying to Port Canaveral, Florida, where members board the cruise ship Carnival Glory bound for the Bahamas, spending a day in Bimini and a day in Nassau.
The goal of the trip is to plan “something the kids are going to remember for the rest of their lives,” Taylor told the board.
The end-of-season trip is a tradition for band members, both a celebration of the season and an opportunity for high school students to travel to areas they might not otherwise see on their own. Though the trip usually includes an appearance in a parade in one of the cities the band visits — recent performances have been in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Philadelphia, Disney World, Nashville and Chicago — the 2024 trip will not include a parade performance, due to travel and cruise ship logistics.
Though a cruise with international destination is unusual for Litchfield High School band, it is not unheard of, Taylor said. He named Hastings High School as a Minnesota band that recently traveled to Madrid, while other high school bands have successfully made trips to China, England and Australia.
“It’s a little bit different because we’re going in the summer,” Taylor said of the cruise, but “we feel this is one of those things we can design our whole program next year around — make the trip a reward, but maybe a little educational as well.”
Initial estimates set the cost at $1,000 per band member. While not inexpensive, it is not out of line with what band trips have cost in the past.
It’s been common for several years that the band makes a less-costly trip one year, then a longer, more-costly trip the next. The Bahamas cruise will follow what this summer will be a less-costly trip to Wisconsin Dells, which is estimated to cost about $XXX.
Even at the higher cost, Benoit and Taylor said, it was important to keep the Bahamas trip affordable.
“We didn’t want to do a trip that was absolutely going to break the bank,” Benoit said. “If we’re going to take a trip, although it is optional, it want it to be something every student has the opportunity to go on, regardless of their family’s financial situation. If it’s not fundraisable, it isn’t feasible.”
Total cost for the cruise trip is expected to be about $100 more than last year’s trip to Myrtle Beach, including airfare.
Input from students and band booster club members helped drive the cruise idea, according to Taylor. Band members told the directors they didn’t enjoy the 24- to 30-hour bus rides that are common during “big trip” years. And when a suggestion was made that a trip to Hawaii was possible, but likely would have to take place during spring break in March, students didn’t like that idea, Taylor said, because they wanted to keep the trip as an end-of-season reward.
Benoit credited booster club member Tom Zens with driving trip discussions and planning, something he’s done for several years with former band director David Ceasar.
Board members were largely supportive of the plans as presented, though suggested that the directors work with Business Manager Jesse Johnson to secure trip insurance. The district’s health insurance could cover medical issues during the trip, Johnson explained.
