Day 4- Easter Sunday

Easter is here! The Gtown Bands made a very early start today. Six am wake up and on the bus to the city by 6:45. The majority of the group attended Easter services at St. Patrick's Cathedral or St. Bartholomew's Church in mid-town Manhattan. Some of us even saw a glimpse of Archbishop Dolan after mass. The Easter Parade was quite the scene as they closed 5th Avenue allowing thousands of New Yorkers into the streets, many in obnoxious bonnets and other head gear. They even dressed up their dogs for the event.

Following the parade, we journeyed to Central Park for a picnic lunch (and boy was the weather nice!), then a trip to the Museum of Natural History or the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The kids also had a chance to meander through Central Park from one side to the other...visiting the Sheep Meadow, Strawberry Fields, the Boat House, the Ponds and literally miles of winding paths. It was a great experience to see the park up close and personal (filled with thousands of New Yorkers and visiting guests enjoying the natural beauty of the park).

After the museums, we made it back to Times Square again and had a special dinner at Planet Hollywood. Due to some rain showers we postponed the trek up to the top of the Empire State Building for a clearer (and dryer) day. The rain did provide an opportunity to go back to the hotel, enjoy the pool, relax and a game or two of Uno in the lobby (Go Seniors). We hope everyone has a good night's rest because we have our Lincoln Center performance tomorrow along with the clinic for the bands. Time to focus for performance!

The kids have been great and have represented themselves, their school and community well over the past four days. We are very proud of them.

Take care and Happy Easter!

Mr. Barnes