Marist Band Travels to Hawaii Over Spring Break
Hawaii Band Tour-March 25, 2025-March 31, 2025
Over Spring Break, the famous Marist band took their talents to The Aloha State. Keep reading for a recap from Band Director, Andrew Creagh…
Tuesday, 3/25-Flight to Hawaii
The band students arrived at Marist by 5:30 a.m. We then loaded the buses and headed to O’Hare airport. When we arrived, the students checked in our luggage and instruments, and headed to our gate. Our flight was at 9:50 a.m. The 9-hour flight to Honolulu went very smoothly, and the students did a great job.
When we arrived in Honolulu, we met our tour director, Kilifili Alaiasa. He led us to baggage claim and to our buses. Then, we headed to our hotel, Holiday Inn Express Waikiki. After we checked in to the hotel, the students went off in chaperone groups for dinner. We were lucky that a group of food trucks was a few blocks away from the hotel, so many groups went to eat there. They had about 10 food trucks serving local food that the kids enjoyed.
After all the groups arrived back at the hotel, the kids went up to bed for room inspections. Each night, the chaperones inspected the rooms, and taped the doors. The band had no issues or complaints from the hotel or guests, so I was very proud of them.
Wednesday, 3/26-Pearl Harbor
At 7:00 a.m., we headed to Pearl Harbor.
We toured the Pearl Harbor park area, and took a ferry over to the USS Arizona. This was a great experience for the students, and they were very respectful and attentive. It was great to see how interested the students were with the experience, and I’m glad they felt the impact and importance of the gravesite.
After the USS Arizona, the band loaded the coach buses and headed over to the USS Missouri. We first toured the ship, ate lunch and watched two other bands who performed before us. Then, we headed back to our equipment truck to gather our instruments and prepare for our performance.
While we were setting up, the organizers asked if we could march in to the USS Missouri performance area since we were the largest band, and they thought it would be a great “attention-grabber” for the guests. We thought it was a unique way to make an entrance, so we lined up, adjusted our squads so the students marched in by 2’s to fit, and marched through and performed “National Emblem” in route to our performance. It was a truly memorable experience, and the students did a great job!
Once we arrived at our staging area, the band set up and performed the following pieces: National Emblem, You Belong With Me, Uprising, I Want It That Way, South Side Irish, Drum Circle, and of course the Marist Fight Song
The students did a great job, especially since we had not played our instruments together in over a week. We had many Marist families in attendance, as well as guests of the USS Missouri. I received so much great feedback from everyone about well the band performed and how fun the performance came across to the audience. After the performance, the students loaded the equipment truck, and headed back to our hotel.
When we got back to the hotel, the students changed quickly and we all headed to Waikiki Beach. We were at the beach for several hours. Many students swam in the ocean, while others hung out in the sand, and the open park area with volleyball courts.
After the beach, the students broke off into groups with the chaperones, ate dinner in the area, and headed back to the hotel for the night.
Thursday, 3/27-Polynesian Cultural Center
After breakfast, we headed to the Polynesian Cultural Center. The 1.5 hour bus ride was beautiful and scenic. We actually drove past some areas where the Jurassic Park movies were filmed.
When we arrived at the Polynesian Cultural Center, the students were able to eat a quick lunch in the shopping area. After that, we headed into the Polynesian Cultural Center. This was a GREAT experience for the kids, and it was nice because the students were able to tour the areas in small groups without chaperones. The following islands and cultures were represented in the park: Hawaii, Samoa, Aotearao (New Zealand), Fiji, Tonga, and Tahiti.
After the students explored the island areas, we all met and headed to our buffet dinner. After dinner, they hung out in the shopping area a bit, and then we headed to The Breath of Life Show at the Pacific Pavilion. This was a great show, and the students seemed to really enjoy it. After the show, we headed back to the buses, drove to our hotel, and the students went up to their rooms for room inspection and lights out.
Friday, 3/28-Circle Island Tour
After breakfast, we got on the buses and had our Circle Island Tour on coach buses. The coach buses drove us around the perimeter of the island, and had us stop off at some key locations to view the scenery and take pictures. At our first stop, the students were actually able to spot a pod of whales in the ocean.
After we were out for a few hours, we stopped in a small town for lunch. The students ate lunch, headed back on the bus, and made a few more stops.
When we finished the tour, the students went back to the hotel and prepared for dinner and the beach. It was really nice because we arrived at the beach later at night, and every Friday, there is are fireworks on Waikiki beach. We enjoyed the fireworks, and headed back to the hotel for room inspection and lights out.
Saturday, 3/29-Vietnam Veteran’s Day Ceremony & Parade
In the morning, the students broke into groups with their chaperones and explored the city and beach. After lunch, the students came back to the hotel to rest for a few hours before our performance at the Vietnam Veteran’s Day ceremony and parade.
Mr. Keelan and I were having conversations throughout the week about the weather, and how difficult it would be for our students to perform and march in their full marching uniforms. We decided that it would be best if the students wore their Marist Band Hawaiian shirts and comfortable clothes due to the heat.
The pre-ceremony was held at Fort Derussy Park, which was located near our hotel. We walked over to the park, warmed up a bit in the shade, and prepared for our performance. The pre-ceremony lasted about an hour and a half, and the students stood and performed “The Star Spangled Banner” and “God Bless America” with all the bands who were participating in the parade. It was a great event, and we were lucky to have Alex Klockow ’25 and Jessica Ekhart ’25 present leis to the veterans in attendance.
We were number 45 in the parade. We lined up on the street, and marched for about 1 mile down Kalakaua Avenue. The students played “National Emblem” for the occasion.
Following the parade, all the bands went to Kapiolani Park and were given dinner and had a brief awards ceremony. All the bands received a tiki trophy and medals for all the student participants. This was a nice event, and the students were even able to dance to the music from the DJ. After that, we took shuttle buses back to the hotel.
Sunday, 3/30 & 3/31-Final Days in Hawaii and Departure Flights
The band walked a mile to St. Augustine By The Sea Church, for Mass. It was a great Mass, and the priest was very welcoming and accommodating to our group. After Mass, we headed back to the hotel, checked out of the hotel, stored our instruments in a storage room, and went with chaperones to explore the city.
The students were out for a few hours, met back at the hotel, and relaxed before heading to the airport. Then, we loaded our coach buses and drove to Honolulu airport.
We flew through the night. When we arrived in Denver, we had a short changeover and switched planes to head back to Chicago.
Thank You
First, I would like to thank all the parents for their sacrifice and helping pay for their student’s tour. This tour would be impossible without our parent’s dedication to their students and the band program.
I would like to thank our band tour chaperones for all their efforts in making this one of the best trips! The band chaperones were:
Mr. Mark Murphy
Mrs. Julie Murphy
Mr. Jaime Ortiz
Mr. Dan McDermott
Mrs. Julie McDermott
Ms. Erin Laskowski
Mr. Tan Nguyen
Mr. Patrick Keelan (Assistant Band Director)
I would like to thank Mr. Rich Alifantis and the Brother Rice Band for letting us borrow some of their storage cases for our large instruments.
I would like to thank Mr. Patrick Keelan for his assistance with planning, accounting, and assisting with the entire tour. He has always done a great job, and I am so lucky to have him at Marist with us!
From Marist, I would like to thank Mrs. Meg Dunneback, Mr. Larry Tucker, Mr. Marion Klatka, and Mrs. Patti Derdzinski. I am lucky to work with such great people and I am very fortunate to work with people who are so dedicated to the band program and the students.
Lastly, I want to the all the band students for their hard work, kindness, good behavior, patience, and adaptability throughout the trip. I am so blessed and fortunate to work with such great students and I could not have been happier with how they performed and acted throughout the trip. I love my job as band director at Marist, and that is mostly due to the students.
This was a GREAT trip! This was by far the most difficult trip to plan and coordinate. The students seemed to really have a great time and I was very proud of their performances, behavior, punctuality, attitude, responsibility, and diligence throughout the entire trip. The students really stepped it up for their events, and I could not be happier with how the tour went. I received many comments from people in Hawaii about how well-mannered and well-behaved the students were.
We are one of the only high school bands who are fortunate enough to attend a band tour every year. We can only do this from our support from our students, parents, and the Marist community. I am so happy with the students and I am looking forward to Disney World and Universal Studios next year!
