Orchestra Hosts Annual Ice Cream Social
The ice cream on the left is Cookies and Cream, and the ice cream on the right is Mexican Vanilla topped with gummy bears. This was one of the few of the options for this social.
This table is full with the paint brushes, paint, and other things that will be used to make the section posters. Section poster is a big tradition for orchestra and are made every year.
The bass section is planning out how their poster is going to look like. Justin Anderson, one of the directors, is helping the bass sections plan out their poster.
The cellists are brainstorming ideas, trying to figure how to design their poster. The cello section agreed on a idea and start getting to work.
The second violins eat their ice cream and plan out a design for their section poster. Second violins start painting their master plan shortly after.
The cellists proudly hold their finished poster which they spent so long making. They used play-on words to say “cell out”, trying to say chill out using the word cello.
The violas came up with their idea because Mr. Thompson loves making viola jokes, as it is the “middle” instrument, often overlooked. So they took this funny joke and made it the subject of their poster.
The second violins made their poster about the fact that since they are “second”, they will always be hiding behind the firsts and don’t have much expectations. So they painted a starter pack, forgetting the things Mr. Thompson always says to bring.
The first violins made a poster very similar to their poster last year with a giant baby. However, this time they made it vsco themed with popular vsco phrases and objects. Mr. Thompson predicted this was going to happen but thought it was funny anyway.
Mr. Thompson and Mr. Anderson marvel at the turnout of the posters all the musicians created. They see that all the hard work that went into planning the event paid off.
Many orchestra students, hungry after a long day of school, waited in a long line to get ice cream during the annual Orchestra Ice Cream Social on Friday, Sept. 27 after school from 4:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.. It consisted of numerous volunteers and booster members helping to serve ice cream of all varieties, including Amy’s ice cream. This was followed by each instrument section creating a poster for their section, as a bonding activity to express their creativity. The room was packed with students eager to eat snacks and paint.
“I think [the turnout of the event] was really good,” Tomoko Yamamoto, booster parent and mother of orchestra student Amy Yamamoto ’22 said. “I didn’t think this many kids were coming today. There’s a lot of variety [of ice cream] and the amount of people helping out to serve ice cream is really great.”
There were so many flavors of ice cream and toppings for people to choose from, including the classics: chocolate and vanilla, oreo, Amy’s Ice Cream, and Bluebell. Many people enjoyed that part of the event the most.
“A lot of people came for the ice cream then left, but there’s still a lot of people that stayed for the posters,” orchestra officer Junna Castel ‘20 said. “I think they had a lot of fun. There’s a whole wall full of different pages and different types of ice cream.”
In addition to the ice cream, people got to use paint and poster paper and express their artistic talents to make posters for their sections. Students were pleased with how they turned out last year and many people expected them to look great this year too.
“I think none of the section posters turned out bad this year,” Castel said. “The bass poster was really really good this year. And I think the baby one [from the first violins] is iconic with the vsco baby.”
Due to the imbalance of the number of people in each section, only two bassists were there to create the posters. So, a couple of kids stepped in to help out and create a poster.
“It was great [pretending to be a bass to help out in making the posters],” Caleb Fowler ‘21 and Marion Henry ‘20 said. “I do it every year. I am a bassist at heart. I liked decorating the posters because I like painting, I like collaborating, and I like basses.”
Many booster parents and other parents of orchestra students volunteered to help out with serving ice cream. They also helped set up and clean up, keeping the event organized.
“[The people who helped out are] the best,” orchestra director Mr. Joshua Thompson said. “We can’t do it without parents like that. [All the ice creams] looked really great and [Amy’s Ice Cream] did a good job with that and the toppings as well.”
The orchestra officers also contributed quite a bit when planning this event. Their ideas and execution of the event is what helped make it go so smoothly.
“It wasn’t actually that bad [planning the event] this time because we just had to get this paper and paint, but we had to coordinate with the boosters,” Castel said. “I think we got it all together and it was all well planned.”
The turnout was really good, everyone had a good time, and there was something for everyone. There was a large variety of ice cream and everyone admired the section posters.
“It’s one of my favorite events because we have students in all five orchestras, and it’s a way for them to get together and just with the people that play their instrument,” Mr. Thompson said.
Orchestra’s next event is their fall concert on Tuesday, Oct. 1 from 7:00-8:30 p.m., featuring their Camerata, Concert, and two Philharmonic orchestras.
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