BTN Field Trip 2019!
We’ve had a lot of firsts this year at BTN, and I believe this one here takes the cake! Last weekend, a few of the older students were selected to go on a field trip down to Vancouver to catch a drum clinic by the one and only Aaron Spears. For those of you that don’t know Aaron, I’ll post a few links to some YouTube videos below for your viewing pleasure.
The trip started off with two car loads of kids and a quick stop to a car wash and vacuum station where the kids hopped out and speed cleaned the van so that we were driving in luxury! Then it was off to Surrey for our first official stop of the trip - Heartbeat Cymbals HeadQuarters. This place is THE candy store for drummers. Our dear friend Noel Walker gave us a grand tour and dove into some amazing and educational content on how their cymbals are made, where they come from and all of the various cymbal lines, sizes and sounds. The kids were able to try whatever cymbal they wanted and had a fantastic hour of cymbal and drum testing. The tour ended with free heartbeat T-Shirts for all and happy faces.
Next on the agenda was the Air B&B. This place was a mansion and perfect for what we needed. Pizza was ordered and devoured by all the moment it arrived!
Then we hit the town for the main event.
Rufus Drum Shop’s new location hosted the incomparable Aaron Spears. The clinic was about 2 hours long and contained performances and Q&A. Some of BTN’s students asked some great questions and Aaron blew us away with some drumming that the kids had never seen live before. They even gave out prizes at the end and one of our students won!
After the clinic, Allan, the fearless leader of Rufus Drum Shop thanked Aaron for coming out and was kind enough to give a big shout out to the BTN crew for making the trip from Kelowna. From there, we made our way to a back room where we got to meet with the man himself. He was gracious and kind has he signed whatever the kids asked for.
I wish to say a big thank you Heartbeat Cymbals and Rufus Drum Shop for hosting us! Also to the parents for allowing your kids to come on this trip. It was exciting to see connections and friendships being made and it was so cool to see the kids witness amazing talent right before their eyes.
Aaron Spears Link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSpWEN99o3A
