• "Mission Essential Brass will appear at a school near you!  The ensemble will be performing throughout northeastern South Dakota between February 10th and 14th. Comprised of eight citizen-soldier-musicians from the 147th Army Band of the South Dakota Army National Guard, Mission Essential Brass performs a wide range of music, from patriotic to contemporary. MEB is one of five ensembles from the 147th traveling throughout South Dakota in February.  The 147th Army Band was created 130 years ago and during its storied history has deployed to the Philippines during the insurrection of 1900, the US-Mexico border in response to Pancho Villa in 1916, France during WWI, and the Pacific Theater during WWII.  The group has also performed in Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Panama, along with serving on state missions during natural disasters. The 147th Army Band and its ensembles perform for thousands of South Dakotans and Army National Guard troops each year."   
• The public is welcome to attend this morning at 9:30 AM in the Groton Area High School Arena.
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• Instant Challenge Day-Monday, Feb. 17 at Groton Elementary from 1pm-4pm.  The Groton DI teams and a few from another school in our region will be attending.  This is a great learning experience for our DI kids!  Each Team Manager has an instant challenge prepared and will be located in different rooms in the school.  The teams then rotate to the different instant challenges (about 15-20min. in each IC).  This is beneficial for the teams as they experience different challenges and comments from the "appraisers" (team managers).  RISING STARS TEAM WILL NOT BE PARTICIPATING IN THE INSTANT CHALLENGE DAY-
• Sunday, Mar. 2-Dessert Theater 2-4 (approx.) at Groton Elementary Gym  -  All Groton DI teams present their performance, giving them a "trial run" in front of an audience before regional tournament.  Each team provides 2-3 desserts and desserts are served with a free will offering taken.  This is a great way for the kids to have a practice before regions and an opportunity for the community to see what DI is all about and watch all the teams!
• Regional DI tournament - Saturday, March 8 in Aberdeen @NSU
• State DI tournament - (for those teams placing 1st or 2nd at Regional Tournament) Saturday, March 29 in Pierre at Riggs High School  --Rising Stars team does not have to worry about this date