About 6 weeks ago, I received an email from Landon's music teacher (Mr. U) at Bayfield Elementary School asking if we would consider sending Landon to Denver to perform at competition with his D.R.U.M. group. Our first reaction was "no way".....it's too far and too expensive. So we didn't even mention it to Landon. Mr. U continued to send emails, offering to cover most of the cost if we would send him. By this time, I was beginning to feel sorry for Landon because he was missing field trips here that I know he would have gotten to go on IF he had started the year here such as the gifted field trip and the AR reward trip. And I knew he was missing the fun times in Bayfield because he was here. I started questioning Mr. U on what my expenses would be because I knew that I couldn't "send" him. He emailed back and said that all my expenses would be paid while there so this meant I would only have to buy my plane ticket. SOOOOOO we went for it......we felt like Landon was worth every penny to get him to this place where he was so heavily wanted.
Mr. U wanted to keep it a surprise to all the other kids so we flew to Denver last Friday and met them at Fun City. Mr. U had gathered everyone together in a private room and said, "Boys and girls, It would not be DRUM competition without a special guest....straight from Alabama....IT'S LANDON!" And Landon jumps out and this is where the video begins (click on the arrow at the bottom left of the screen)
It brings me to tears everytime I watch it! How awesome that made him feel! Those couple of moments were worth every penny of what I had to pay to come out there!
What this was the Elitch Garden Music Festival where the groups perform in front of 2 judges who critique their performance and judge them. Every group from Bayfield Elementary won gold which was the highest you could win. BES has a choir, several orchestra groups with violins, violas, and cello's, and then the D.R.U.M group. While it would seem that the D.R.U.M. group would play the drums, they actually play all types of percussion so on trip they played the mallets and it was beautiful. Here is a video of their performance....Landon is on the far right
It wasn't as if Landon was "needed" to do this performance. They all played the same thing and it would have been fine without him. It was the fact that he was so "wanted" by his music teacher to be a part of all the fun they would have on this special weekend. It blessed my heart so!
This is the whole group from Bayfield Elementary. This was about a 7 hour drive for this group to get here. Below is the DRUM group that Landon perform with
Landon with the Gold!
After the competition they got to spend the day at Elitch Gardens which was an amusement part right in the heart of Denver
Landon and Mr. U
After Elitch, we went down town Denver to the Hard Rock Cafe for supper
We had to wait a while for them to get our tables ready so the kids ended up performing on the sidewalks and people stopped to watch. It was a neat experience!
So an extra special THANK YOU to Mr. U for making Landon feel so cherished and loved! Landon has endured another major life change by moving and this was an awesome reward for his courage and endurance, and a reflection of how loved Landon is for being Landon!
