Director News
July 6th, 2011
We had a great time seeing the sites in New York yesterday. We toured the financial district and saw many of the famous building that are known around the country. We made it to ground zero which has really turned into a giant construction project and does not have as much of the memorial left. It’s great to see that we are recovering and moving on from 9-11. We also toured the church that Washington went to immediately after his inauguration and later became a sanctuary for the firefighters that worked on and after 9-11.
The evening was devoted to Times Square and to Broadway plays. Kids spent a little time touring times square and went to one of four plays: Catch Me if you Can, Phantom Of the Opera, Mary Poppins or Anything Goes. From talking to students, all of them were outstanding productions.
Today we will make our way to Ellis Island to see the Statue of Liberty before departing for the long ride back to Mankato. It has been a great trip! I know the kids will be tired when they get home. Once again the Lancers have represented Mankato extremely well and will have made new memories to take with them for their lifetime!
July 5th, 2011
We had a great parade in Bristol yesterday for the 4th of July. What an amazing crowd! The crowd was 15-20 deep the entire parade route and cheered relentlessly for the bands! Our kids put on a great show and were loved by the crowd. The parade was close to 3 miles long and the kids toughed it out on a hot, humid day. We had a few problems with the heat but all of the kids recovered well and were ready for a relaxing night of fireworks.
After the parade we took some time to relax at the hotel and then headed into New Port for the evening fireworks. What a great night with a perfect 72 degrees, no wind or bugs, some great food and a great fireworks display over the harbor!
Today we are headed off to New York City and tonight we will catch some shows on Broadway.
This is such a great group of kids to travel with. They have been positive and upbeat the entire trip!
July 3rd, 2011
Sorry I missed yesterdays update. We have a good but long day yesterday in Boston. We took a walking tour of Boston. We started at the Prudential Center, went through Copley Square, passed the restaurant that the T.V. sitcom “Cheers” was based on and then stopped for a group picture at the Massachusetts State House.
We continued our tour by following the Freedom Trail through Boston. We got to see where Paul Revere, John Hancock, Samuel Adams and much of Ben Franklins family are buried. We went by the meeting house where much of the American revolution was planned and saw where the Boston Massacre took place. It was a great learning tour for all!
At 3:00 we arrived at Faneuil Hall and dressed for our performance at Quincy Market. I think students were thrilled to see how many people stopped just to watch them warm up! The Lancers performed a great concert in Quincy Market to a very appreciative audience. Students then got a few hours to spend shopping before returning to the hotel for the night.
Today the Lancers toured the Mansions in Newport, RI which was founded in 1639. Students then got free time in the Historic District to shop. In the afternoon we headed off to Randolph, MA for the “Night Before the 4th Parade”. The Lancers were the last unit in the parade and put on a great show for the audience. Congratulations to the other participating bands which were all from the Mid-west! Luverne, MN, Benson, MN, Long Prairie, MN, and West Central/Hartford, SD.
July 1st, 2011
Hi All!
Lancers survived 2 days on a bus out to Bristol and I did not see one crabby face the entire time! We had a great first day today. It started with 3 hours on the Colt State Park Beach early today. We then checked into our hotel and had a couple hours of rehearsal and a pizza party. The kids are now getting ready for their annual talent show and dance that will start at 7 pm tonight! Tomorrow we will spend the day in Boston. I will keep you posted!
Mr. Hench
June 7th, 2011
WOW LANCERS! Believe it or not one week from now you will be done with your first competitive parade! We were very lucky to have some incredible clinicians in for Alpha Camp. Between the clinicians and your staff we have a great product and have set the Lancers up for success this season. Now the choice is yours on how well you are going to prepare yourself to ensure that success. Success will not repeat itself accidentally – you must give it everything you have! Make sure you are 100% percent ready to go on Friday when camp starts! We will be doing memorization checks on Friday. All of the drill is now available in my public folder. You can download it and slash the moves in your music so we are ready to go! Make sure you mark in the following directions:
Lancer Phase I- starting line (set O starting line set) should be on side one 40 yard line (left side)
Lancer Phase II- one the 0 yard line side 1 that yard line should be marked as the 5 yard line going through to side 2 85 yard line being on the 20.
Lancer Phase III- the 0 yard line side 1 should be yard 60 through to the 40 (side one) being yard 100.
GO LANCERS! HUP!
May 22nd, 2011
Hey Lancers great rehearsal yesterday! I think the whole staff was in agreement that we saw a lot of great improvement since Monday’s rehearsal! Remember – one week until Alpha Camp so keep the discipline up and push to have all of your music memorized by the start of camp! As a band we can only move as fast as our slowest member so we need everyone sprinting this season!
Percussion parts for America the Beautiful are now in the Public Folder!
Reminder that medical forms, high school league eligibility forms, pre-excused forms, tour forms and Alpha Camp meal orders are all due on Monday. Most of these forms can be found in the public folder.
Sioux Empire Spectacular
DCI Drum Corps Show and Boston Crusaders Marching Band Clinic
Wednesday, July 13th, 2011 Howard Wood Field, Sioux Falls, SD 7:30 p.m.
Featured Corps:
Phantom Regiment Boston Crusaders
Glassmen Blue Devils
Cascades Blue Knights
Evening Prime tickets are $17.00 motorcoach is $30.00
Bring Check Payable to Mankato Lancers to Monday’s Rehearsal in the amount of $47.00.
We need a minimum of 40 to attend. Parents are encouraged to attend!
A full itinerary for the day can be found in the public folder.
See you all on Monday!
Mr. Hench
“Commitment ~ Your satisfaction from Lancers will be in direct proportion to the contribution you make.”
May 8th, 2011
Hi Lancers! It’s hard to believe but in just a few short weeks we will performing in our first parade and a few short weeks after that our season will be over already! With school getting out so late this year it is truly going to be a whirlwind season! This means we must do everything we can to be completely prepared when the season starts! Make sure you are spending time daily on your music and getting yourself in performance condition both musically AND physically! Take time to pay the price of discipline now so you don’t have to pay the price of regret later!
Reminder of our music rehearsal tomorrow (Monday) night at Dakota Meadows from 6-9 pm. We are going to focus on the first half of the show music to Letter E, memorizing Marches of the Armed Forces and learning America the Beautiful. Please make sure you have all of your music downloaded from the public folder and have everything numbered for rehearsal. Our rehearsal time is minimal so we must be very focused and use it efficiently.
Check the online folder for a memorization schedule. Use this to plan out your memorization. It’s not effective to try and memorize all of the music at once, take it section by section and selection by selection. All music must be memorized by the beginning of Alpha Camp.
Let’s have a great rehearsal!
“In Marching Band the individual can only add or take away from, there is no in between.” Make sure you are prepared to add this season!
May 1st, 2011
Hi Lancers! Our finale concert selection for the season, “America the Beautiful” is now online in the public folder. There is an auditioned solo available in the song. Parts for the solo are available in all keys. We will audition all solo parts during Alpha Camp! Drumline parts will follow in a week or two.
“Leaders are the ones who do what needs to be done, when it needs to be done, whether they want to do it or not!”
April 27th, 2011 11:25 PM (For Brianna Pischke…lol!)
Lancer Leadership Team 2011
Congratulations to the following students for being selected to the Lancer Leadership Team for 2011. Remember Leadership is about serving others to help make them the best possible Lancer they can be! Leadership is a verb and not a noun. It requires action on your part to set a great example for your section members. Your title will only be as effective as the actions and service you put behind it! Congratulations and letʼs have a great season!
Piccolo/Clarinet Captain – Allyson Endersbe
Clarinet Lieutenant – Andrew Stelter
Alto Sax Captain – Chris Rife
Tenor Sax Captain – Leslie Putzier
Trumpet/Horn Captains – Alison Briggs, Victoria Snyder
Low Brass Captain – Brianna Pischke
Low Brass Lieutenant – Sean Plemmons
Percussion Captain – Gunnar Boettcher
Percussion Lieutenant – Ben King Quale
Guard Captain – Jessica Pasker
Guard Lieutenant – Kristy Sonnek
April 27th, 2011
Hey Tubas! The T.C. Parts for “The Bullfighter” and the correct T.C. parts for the Lancer Patriotic Medley are now available in my on-line folder!
April 26th, 2011
Hi Lancers,
The part placement assignments are now viewable in my public folder. Go check it out and make sure you get the right music parts downloaded. If it says you play 3rd part and there are only 2 parts it means you play the bottom split of the 2nd part. If you have questions or concerns about your part please contact me. Remember our job is to play the part where we can contribute to the group the most.
Thanks,
Mr. Hench
“Would you rather pay the pain of discipline now or the pain of regret later?” – Make sure you are getting prepared!!
April 22nd, 2011
Hi All,
I wanted to send a THANK YOU to the parents and students who helped out last Saturday with the cape cutting. We were able to get them all cut and sewn in one day! That amazing!
I thought we had an incredible first rehearsal with the music for this summer. I keep thinking about where we were at this point during last season and it blows my mind how much further along we are this year. That is a great testament to the character of the Lancer students. Keep focusing on doing everything you can to be your best and we will all be proud of our final product reguardless of what happens in competition!
A few house cleaning notes:
1.) We are making a few edits to the music. When we are done it will appear in my on-line folder as “The Bullfighter 2″
2.) Part placement results will be posted by Tuesday. Remember it’s not about what part you get but it is about what part you can contribute to the band the most with!
3.) Section Leader certificate will be mailed on Monday and posted on the web-site on Wednesday.
4.) Drumline music is about a week and a half to two weeks away. We will definitly have it for the next reheaersal!
5.) Clarinet Players! Please check the on-line folder for some info for you from Mr. Kunkel!
Make sure you go to the staff bio page and check out the new addition to this summers staff.
Have a safe and happy Easter Holiday!
Mr. Hench
“A Champion is a Champion because he does the things that a Loser does not like to do!”
April 15th, 2011
Hi Lancers,
I’m excited about tomorrows rehearsal! Music for the show will be avalible in the public folder at about 2:00 pm today! Please print your parts for tomorrows rehearsal. If you have a conflict with rehearsal tomorrow please e-mail me and let me know. Thank you to those that already have. I will be avalible from 8-9 am for make up auditions for anyone still needing to finish that. Remind your parents about the Cape Sewing project at 1pm tomorrow.
See you soon!
Mr. Hench
Life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it!
Wednesday, April 6th, 2011
Hi All,
We had a few glitches to figure out for me to be able to post on here but we are back in business now! We had a good day of auditions last Saturday. It’s very exciting for me to be able to hear how much individual improvement there has been for many of the players over the last year! It shows you are working hard and getting great instruction at your local schools.
I am planning on having make up auditions this Saturday at Dakota Meadows from 8am-9am before the Lancer Garage Sale. I will also hold make up auditions on Saturday the 16th from 8am-9pm. If one of these dates still does not work for you please contact me so we can make other arrangements.
On Saturday, April 16th we are seeking moms (and dads!) to help us cut and sew the fabric for our capes for this summer. We originally planned to do this last Saturday but the cape material did not come in on time. If you are available to help out please send me an e-mail at michael.hench@yahoo.com to confirm your assistance. You do not need any seamstress skills to help out with this project!
Thought for the week:
“Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art… It has no survival value; rather is one of those things that give value to survival.”
C.S. Lewis
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Hi Lancers and Lancer Supporters,
Welcome to the Director’s Corner! In this little spot on our web-site I will try to give weekly updates about what’s happening with the Lancers. This will hopefully be a great way to keep everyone better informed as we work to meet the challenges with having a director that lives 3 hours away! Please check in here weekly to keep updated on all of the latest Lancer news!
Lancer Leadership Camp is this Saturday from 9 am – 5 pm at Dakota Meadows Middle School. This camp is intended for ALL Lancers interested in leadership not just those selected for leadership positions. Leadership is a way of acting or behaving; a habit. Many students miss understand and think leadership is a position of authority and that they can “tell” people what to do. Because of the nature and make up of our group we do need students to take up rolls and responsibilities where they get to organize and distribute information to other students. These are our “title” student leaders. However if these leaders don’t have the right behaviors in their position their “title” of Leader will mean nothing to the students around them. No one needs a “title” to be considered a leader. Others will judge you as a leader much more by your character, willing to serve and your kindness then by your “title”.
Leadership camp is also about creating a philosophy and mentality of togetherness and teamwork. Everyone in the Lancers is their own individual but if we can create one purpose and philosophy and agree on how to reach it our challenges this summer will be much smaller.
I am looking forward to kicking off the Lancer season soon!
Mr. Hench
p.s. I have not posted the Lancer Leadership team for this summer yet. I have not had a chance to review the applicants with the rest of the Lancer staff yet. I apologize for the delay and hope to have this finished soon. Remember it’s NOT about who gets the title but it IS about who is willing to serve others around them!
I have created a public folder on-line that I can place files in for Lancers to download. In this file you will find almost everything you will need from me for the season. This is how we will distribute music, forms, itineraries, etc.. Watch for A LOT of things to appear during the next month in this folder. You can access this folder from any computer by going to:
https://public.me.com/mr.hench
Lancer Letter from Mr. Hench