Week of October 12, 2026
Upcoming Dates
Marching Band
Monday, 10/12: Percussion & Guard, 5:30 - 8:30 PM
Tuesday, 10/13: Winds & Guard, 5:30 - 8:30 PM
Thursday, 10/15: All Members, 5:30 - 8:30 PM
Friday, 10/16: VFB vs. West Stokes HS (Senior Night)
VFB Concessions
Saturday, 10/17: Fuquay-Varina Competition
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Monday, 10/19: Percussion & Guard, 5:30 - 8:30 PM
Tuesday, 10/20: Winds & Guard, 5:30 - 8:30 PM
Thursday, 10/22: All Members, 5:30 - 8:30 PM
JVFB Concessions
Saturday, 10/24: Jay M. Robinson Competition
Concert Band
Thursday, 10/29: Tentative Candy Crawl Performance date
Thursday, 11/5: All-County Honor Band Auditions
For the full calendar, please visit https://sites.google.com/surry.k12.nc.us/eastsurrybands/calendar
Director's Notes
Welcome to Bandtober!
VFB on 10/16 - Senior Night
On Friday we will recoginze our senior marching band members for their contributions to the marching band.
Who: Senior band parents
When: Halftime
Where: Parents should meet Melissa Sutphin at the wide track gate near the endzone closeset to the Concession stand with 2 minutes remaining in the second half.
How: Parents will walk out onto the track while the band sets up on the field. Then, senior students will join their parents on the track. After the recognition, the band will perform their field show.
Fuquay-Varina Competition Info
Please see the Competition Info Sheet/Itinerary linked here:
2026 Fuquay-Varina Competition Info Sheet
FVHS does not use trailers to transport props/equipment to the field. Extra hands to push percussion instruments and props would be appreciated!
Reminders:
Leave jewelry at home – use clear, plastic place holders.
Hair must be up off the collar when in uniform (bobby pins, hairspray, hair bows)
Wear tall, black socks, marching shoes, marching gloves, and your Marching Band shirt.
Bring money for lunch/dinner at the concession stand.
Bring clothes to wear after changing-out of uniforms.
Check the weather prior to leaving. Remember to dress for being outside for an extended period of time.
Sunscreen.
We encourage you to come help with props and percussion crew! We can use all the help we can get.
Candy Crawl
The Candy Crawl is a trick-or-treating event hosted at ESHS on Thursday, October 29 from 4-6 PM. This is a required performance for Concert Band Members. The students voted to do a Minons theme for our group costume.
Candy donations would be greatly appreciated.
General Home Football Game Info
Here are some other reminders about home football games:
The ES Music Boosters will provide a meal from the concession stand for each band member during their third-quarter break. A large snack (pizza) will be provided between rehearsal and the game. We are asking for parents who would be able and willing to donate toward providing this snack for our student-musicians.
Students will need to bring everything they need for the day with them to school in the morning.
Students will wear summer uniforms (marching band shirt and khaki shorts). All hair should be pulled up, off the collar. No visible jewelry.
The band sits together during the games.
Non-band members are not allowed in the band section, however, we do encourage you to support your child by sitting behind or next to the group and cheering for them.
Band members are not to leave the stadium during the game.
Band members will be given a break during third quarter at which time they may visit with family or friends, use the restroom, and visit the concession stand.
After the game, we sometimes play as people are leaving the stadium. The band will exit the stadium and return to the room as a group before packing-up and being dismissed.
Games are usually over somewhere around 10:00-10:30 PM. You may pick up your child outside the Band Room. Please be patient as they pack-up their equipment and clean up. Help unloading equipment is always welcome!
General Competition Information
Our itinerary for the day is based on the performance schedule of each competition. Each host determines their schedule. I will release our itinerary as soon as I can after receiving the schedule from the host school.
Bands are grouped into classes based on size. Schedules usually (but not always) start with small classes and work up to larger classes.
We have a short rehearsal before we leave in order to get the show fresh on our students' minds. I have found this makes our performances more successful.
Meals are planned based on the schedule and our travel itinerary. We will do some combination of fast-food and concessions depending on our performance schedule. Students need to bring money with them for these meals.
Once we arrive on our host campus, we have a scheduled rotation to go through dressing/bathroom, setup, and warm-up before our performance.
Some hosts have one awards ceremony at the end, while some divide the day and have two ceremonies.
Come support our student-musicians! We encourage you to come see the performance and cheer on our band! We also need help with percussion equipment and props.
The admission charge is set by each host school and is different week-to-week. I try to include it in the itinerary for each competition if the host includes it in the info sent to directors.
Bands are evaluated in what we call captions. The captions are: Music, Marching, General Effect (how the design and execution of the show works together), Color Guard, Drum Major, and Percussion. Placement awards are given for each caption. Captions scores are then combined to determine "overall" scores, which are used to determine class placements. Grand Champion/Band of the Day awards go to bands earning the highest score in groups of combined classes (ex. 1A, 2A, & 3A).
Students may be signed-out after our performance is complete and they have packed-up.
Competition Schedule
10/10 - South Caldwell HS
10/17 - Fuquay Varina HS
10/24 - Jay M. Robinson HS
10/31 - Northwest Guilford HS (We typically perform early/mid afternoon at this event. Make any Halloween plans for
the evening, after our performance has concluded.)
Football Concessions
Melissa Sutphin, sutphinme@surry.k12.nc.us & Jessica Yarboro, jessyarboro@gmail.com
Thank you to everyone who has volunteered in the concession stand, so far! Hopefully the weather will cool off very soon!
The ES Music Boosters operate the concession stand for home JV and Varsity football games. This is a huge undertaking for our organization, but is also one of our biggest fundraisers.We need your help! Contact Melissa Sutphin or Jessica Yarboro to sign-up to volunteer for a game.
2026 Concessions Schedule
JV Home Games - Thursdays
October 22 - Forbush
October 29 - Mt. Airy
Varsity Home Games - Fridays
October 16 - West Stokes (Senior Night)
*November 6 - 1st round of playoffs
Show Uniforms
Thank you to Jessica Yarboro and Mrs. Trice for fitting and modifying/altering our show uniforms!
ES Bands Sponsorship Opportunities
The ES Community Music Boosters are now asking for band sponsors for the 2026-27 school year. Please see the Sponsorship Opportunities page of our website for more info. Printing directions are included on the page, however, if you would like a hard copy of this info, please contact Mr. Trice. We appreciate your support!
Marching Band Cost
Please be reminded that there is an $100.00 fee for participation in marching band. This fee helps cover things like show design, uniform cleaning and t-shirt costs, and may be paid at the parent meeting. Checks should be made to the East Surry Community Music Boosters or ESCMB for short. If there are financial concerns, please contact me.
Communication - NEW Remind for 2026-27
If you haven't done so, please sign-up for the East Surry BANDS Remind class:
Text @esb26-27 to 81010
Communication - Facebook Group
If you haven't done so, request to join the ESHS Band/Music Boosters private Facebook group to aid communication.
Booster Meeting
The next East Surry Community Music Boosters meeting will be Monday, October 19, at 6:00 PM in the ESHS Music Room.
Please join us as we plan for this year!