BUSY BEE BAND & HONEYBEES
1968 - 1972
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BUSY BEE BAND & HONEYBEES
2005 - 2008
On January 17, 2005, the group traveled to Charleston for the Inaugural Parade of Governor Joe Manchin. Full Story
The Busy Bee Band & Honeybees perform in the Magic Kingdom during their 2005 Spring Trip to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida.
Members of the Busy Bee Band & Honeybees aboard the Aircraft Carrier Intrepid during their Spring 2006 trip to New York City. While in New York, the group performed at aboard the Intrepid and at Rockefeller Center. The group also saw the Broadway musical Lion King.
The Busy Bee Band & Honeybees were featured in the national magazine, Student Youth and Travel, in the Fall of 2006 following their May visit to New York City.
Senator Joe Manchin, then governor of West Virginia, at an opening in Fairmont with Choreographer Millie Swiger, Director Earl W. McConnell and Queen Bee Meghan Kinty in October 2006.
The Busy Bee Band & Honeybees participate in the 54th International Azalea Festival in Norfolk, Virginia during their April 2007 Spring Trip. The group was awarded Best Overall Marching, Best Overall Music and Queen Bee Meghan Kinty was awarded Best Drum Major. The group was presented as Grand Champions of the Parade of Nations, winning a gold medal representing a rating in the 90th percentile based on a national grading scale. Full Story
The Busy Bee Band & Honeybees present their 2007 Field Show during the East Fairmont / George Washington at Laidley Field game during the Bees' 2007 playoff run. Full Story
The 2008 Busy Bee Band & Honeybees during their Spring Trip aboard the Carnival Fascination. During the trip, the group performed aboard the ship and in Rawson Square in Nassau, Bahamas.
The Busy Bee Band & Honeybees featured in the national publication "Teaching Music" in August of 2008 following their recent trip to Nassau, Bahamas.
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"Music in Motion" by Catherine Applefeld Olsen
Organizing travel for a student group presents many challenges—and offers many rewards
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Over more than three decades, the East Fairmont High Busy Bee Band and Honeybees have made travel an ensemble tradition. In the past, they’ve gone from their home base in West Virginia to such distant locales as New York, Toronto, Disney World, and the Rose Bowl. This year, in its most exotic journey yet, the band took a cruise through the Bahamas to a performance in Nassau.
“There’s nothing like watching these young students’ eyes open up for an experience they might never otherwise get,” says Earl McConnell, who’s been East Fairmont band director for 33 years. “They feel a lot more mature and worldly when they come home.”
