2000

WEEKOF __ ~~~~~~---

East Central 's Collegians headed to New York City By Austin Bishop The Meridian Star The Colleg~olJ

When Tom Carson :::ent a video to officials at Walt Dkne) World 11 years ago, it wa,. more of an afterthought than anv- thing else. • He really didn't expect the college band he directs, The Col– legians, to be invited to perform at the Orlando, Fla. , tourut de-– tination "Honestly, I had forzotten about it," said Carson, director of bands at East Central Com– munity College. But when The Colle~1 n· accepted the eventual in\'lUition to perform at Disney World, 1t began a string of 11 stra1zht years in which The Co leg.an.. have traveled to make a :.-um– mertime appearance. Thi year, the rock-and-roll band will pay a visit to New York City to perform at the South Street Seaport in • Ian– batten. "It's a big touristy area on the Hudson River.· Carson said. ~rt \\ill be a totally new experience for most of the students. They are real excited about it.~ Carson and the 21 members of his entourage will leave the Decatur campus of ECCC at 3 a.m. Thursday and will perform a t noon on Sunday. The group will get a chance to see a lot of the tourist attrac– tions on Saturday, such as the Statue of Liberty. . "But the highlight of the trip IS the performance," Carson said of the one-hour show his group will put on. Carson formed The Colle– gians 18 years ago to offer ECCC students a little some– thing different. "So many colleges have show choirs and jazz bands," he said. "There a r e so many kids who are looking for another avenue ~o expr ess themse~ves and this 1S a good way to do It."

abo earn scholarshipl>. Carson arranges all of the mu:oic himself, and actuallv per– forms in the band as well. · "A lot of the former and cur– rent band members still perform in rock-and-roll bands," he said. Last year, The Collegians viR– ited The Bahamas and per– formed on a cruise trip. "I just keep wondering how I'm going to top the previous year," Carson said. "We really caught a break with getting a chance to go to the Bahamas and we caught a break again this year." He said tHe students pav for the trips themRelves. · Carson said the biggest high– light in the group's 11-)ear exis– tence came in 1996 when they performed at the Summer Olympics. As far as next year goes, Car– son is still working on it. "Nothing is set, but it proba– bly won't be as big," he said. But then he added that he did have an invitation to perform in China. "But that may be doing a lit– tle too much," he said. '•But vou never know." Austin Bishop is a staff wr1ter for Tha

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