It’s time for the annual
UnFundraiser Donation Drive!
Our goal is to raise $10,000 for the Mona Shores Orchestra Parent Association’s general fund to support our orchestra students. This is the ONLY fundraiser that is planned for this school year.
No amount is too big or too small. Cash and Check donations will be accepted by all orchestra students until October 6, or make a quick and easy donation ONLINE.
Thank you so much for your support of the
Mona Shores Orchestra Program!
MONA SHORES DISTRICT-WIDE PERFORMING ARTS SHOWCASE
One Stage. One Moment. One Incredible Musical Experience!
Prepare to be amazed as the Mona Shores Performing Arts Department brings together the power of music in a spectacular District-Wide Concert featuring over 500 student musicians from grades 4 through 12! Witness the incredible talents of our bands, orchestras, and choirs as they take the stage in a celebration of music, artistry, and community.
But that’s just the beginning! Throughout this performance, you’ll be treated to a diverse mix of specialty acts—from stunning solos and small ensembles to unexpected musical surprises—that will showcase the depth and variety of talent within our district.
Then, as the grand finale, experience the unforgettable moment when every performer unites on stage for a show-stopping closing number that will leave you inspired and uplifted!
This is more than just a concert—it’s a semi-annual musical event that captures the heart, dedication, and passion of Mona Shores’ finest young artists. Don’t miss your chance to witness the magic!
Day 7: Tuesday, June 25, 2024
Day 7 is a travel day to our final destination city, Dublin, with two stops on the northeast route first being the Blarney Castle and then the Rock of Cashel with a performance. We grabbed an early full Irish breakfast in the Clayton Hotel Silver Springs so we could depart about 8:30 am on the bus from Cork.
The 30 minute bus ride to Blarney Castle and Gardens got us to the castle as it was opening and beat the possible crowds. The current Blarney castle was built in 1446 on the site of previous destroyed castle. Blarney Castle is now a partial ruin with some accessible rooms and battlements. At the top of the castle lies the Stone of Eloquence, better known as the Blarney Stone. Tourists visiting the castle may hang upside-down over a sheer drop to kiss the stone, which is said to give the gift of eloquence. We are able to walk the grounds, kiss the Blarney Stone, visit one of the many gardens like the “Poison Garden” or the rock formations Druid’s Circle, Witch’s Cave and the Wishing Steps. We were on our own to wonder the grounds and get lunch before our 12:30 pm departure.
We set off for about a 90 minute drive to the Rock of Cashel. The Rock of Cashel, iconic in its historic significance, possesses the most impressive cluster of medieval buildings in Ireland. According to legend St. Patrick himself came here to convert King Aenghus to Christianity. Brian Boru was crowned High King at Cashel in 978 and made it his capital.
Link to the performance:
https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?ref=watch_permalink&v=2323229671361188
One of the main reason for our visit to the Rock of Cashel was to perform The Fiddlers original tune The Rock of Cashel. The acoustics within the ruins of the cathedral was amazing. People throughout the castle and grounds came in for the impromptu mini concert. The group was able to perform approximately 20 minutes to a group of 50+ people.
Including the performance, the time we spent was about a hour at the Rock of Cashel. It was long enough time to explore, take pictures, and a bathroom break before our two hour trek to Dublin. As our journey progressed we slowly watched the landscape change from farmland to suburbia to the busy city of Dublin.
We made it in to Dublin and ready to check into Holiday Inn Express City Centre around 5 pm. It was at this time we Flan would no longer be our Charter Bus driver. We said goodbye to Flan as we would now be chartered around by a local bus company.
With the hotel in the heart of the Dublin City centre the lobby was not as spacious as we had gotten accustomed to but a very nice hotel. Because of its size it took us a bit longer to get up the stairs to the elevators and to our rooms. We had enough time to check in, freshen up before we met in the lobby for dinner. We met at 6:30 for a short walk to Beshoff on O’Connell Street for either a Fish and Chips or Chicken Strips and Chips dinner. The was great but we all agreed the chips were some of the best we had on the trip.
After dinner we walked back to the hotel for the night where we all made it back in time to catch Euro Cup Soccer game of the night. A early night to bed for a full day of walking and enjoying the sights in Dublin the next day.
Day 6: Monday June 24, 2024
Day 6 started off a early with another full Irish breakfast in the Clayton Hotel Silver Springs so we could have a 8:20 am bus departure for Cobh. We had roughly a 30 minute foggy drive from Cork to the southeast coast where Cobh is located. The fog was thick as we were basically following the River Lee to the East bay where Cobh is located.
Cobh’s name changed from Queenstown in the 1920’s during Irelands war of independence from England. It was a major port for the Royal Navy, it was the launching site for 2.5 million of the 6 million Irish people who emigrated to North America between 1848 and 1950, and it is also the final port call to Titanic before she set sail across the Atlantic.
We arrived at Cobh out of the fog from the north end of town and it was St. Colman’s Cathedral that was the first striking landmark with a view down this very steep hill to the bay. The bus made a westerly turn parallel to the bay as began to descend to the bay where we were able to get a great view down the street with “Deck of Cards” houses. The streets had a few tight turns as the bus made it to the bay. Even with the fog we arrived at the city center at the bay a bit early for our 9:15 am tour of the Titanic Experience. The bus dropped us off at The Promenade of John F. Kennedy Park where we would wait for our tour and meet up before our departure.
Our group was a too large go on one tour of the Titanic Experience so we broke into two groups. The tour was in the building where passengers departed for the Titanic. Unlike the movie passengers did not walk aboard the Titanic from port, but bored boats that shuttled them to Titanic, it was too large to dock. We were all given White Star Line passenger tickets with actual passengers names on them and at the end of the tour we would find out if they survived and what happened to them. Inside the building they had rooms that replicated the cabins of the different class size cabins that were offered to passengers. Combination of the stories of passengers, the cabins, historical artifacts, etc. on this guided tour made it a very entertaining and enlightening experience.
After the Titanic Experience we gathered outside the building where we began our guided walking tour of the city with Joe. The tour started out at the RMS Lusitania Memorial which was in the city center and across from the Titanic Experience. From the memorial we walked up the steep hill on West View Blvd. to West View Park along the road is also the “Deck of Cards” Houses and finished the tour at the top of hill with St. Colman’s Cathedral. We were are on our own from the Cathedral to explore the city and get lunch before we departed back to Cork. Many of us found our way to SuperMacs for lunch.
After lunch we departed back to Cork. The 45 minute drive was needed rest after climbing the streets of Cobh and full bellies. The bus dropped us off in the city center of Cork at the Merchants Quay Shopping Centre along the River Lee. We had the next 90 minutes to explore and shop Cork.
We met up as a group again at 4pm to make the walk for dinner at Luigi Malones Cork with stops along the way. Our first stop was to the English Market. The English Market is a cover market that has been selling and trading locally grown and prepared organic food since 1788. A very unique shopping experience. Our second stop was at the Crawford Art Gallery. The art gallery had made interactive displays that everyone was able to do while we waited for our reservation time slot at the restaurant. At Luigi Malones we had the choice of Chicken Tequila Fettuccine, Lasagne, Cashew & Tofu Stir Fry, Chicken Caesar Salad, BBQ Baby Back Ribs, Hamburger or Pizza. The food was again was amazing and we all debated who selected the best dessert from the three options of Fresh Strawberry Pavlova, Caramelized Apple Crumble, or Toblerone Cheesecake.
After dinner we walked across the street to Emmett Place Opera House where our walking Ghost Tour of Cork begun. We were lead on a tour of horrible histories, ghost stories and hysterical shenanigans. To say this tour was lively would be a understatement. We had one tour guide that told us the stories and a young actor who played several characters or ghosts. The actor would hide, pop up along the tour, and then run off with a costume change before the next hiding. The ghost tour was a highlight not for the day but for the trip. We ended the tour and headed back to the hotel about 8:15 pm.
It’s time for our annual Un-Fundraiser Donation Drive! Please donate today!
Our goal is to raise $10,000 for the Mona Shores Orchestra Parent Association’s general fund to support our orchestra students. If we reach our goal, no additional fundraisers for the general fund will be held this school year.
No amount is too big or too small. Cash and Check donations are currently being accepted by all orchestra students until Friday, October 11th, or make a quick and easy donation ONLINE.
If every orchestra student collects five $10 donations ($50 total) we will meet our goal.
Thank you so much for your support of the
Mona Shores Orchestra Program!
Donations also accepted by mail:
Mona Shores Orchestra Parent Association (MSOPA)
1121 Seminole Road
Norton Shores, MI 49441
We started our day roughly at 8 am at Galmont Hotel’s Marina Restaurant where we enjoyed our first Irish breakfast. Breakfast typically included many cold meats, cheeses pastries, eggs, Irish breads, potatoes, mushrooms, thick bacon, waffles, toast, juices, coffee, hot chocolate, etc. Something for everyone and very tasty, I think most would agree this hotel had the best breakfast on the trip.
As soon as we were done with breakfast we boarded the bus to start our adventure to the Cliffs of Moher. We head south/south west out of Galway following the coast and proceed to the Cliffs of Moher going through a very scenic region call the Burren. The Burren is a very interesting place as the limestone was scraped smooth by the glaciers providing very porous but almost waterless limestone landscape. It is ideal landscape for wild flowers and plant life but rarely a tree is seen. The landscape makes it very difficult for human life. In the mid-17th century General Ludlow reported to Oliver Cromwell that The Burren possessed “not any tree to hang a man, nor enough water to drown him, nor enough earth to bury him”.
We stopped for a quick 15 minute break to walk around The Burren and to take a few quick photos. Where we stopped we could see the Cliffs of Moher rising up in the distance from the coast line. Our break at The Burren short was to beat the crowds and the rain that was expected at the Cliffs. A experienced rock climber or hiker may have wanted to stay longer.
Our bus moved up the narrow roads to higher elevation winding through some smaller villages as we arrived the Cliffs of Moher. Upon arriving at the Cliffs we were the second tour bus of the day to arrive beating the crowds and the rain. Once the bus was parked we had the choice to walk or take a trolley (8 Person Golf Cart) to the top. It was recommend to go to the cliffs first to beat the rain, by the time we all started to head back down the drizzle was becoming a very steady rain. With the rain the gift shop and the informative movie theatre was packed.
The Cliffs of Moher is a very different landscape of the The Burren. Its a towering layer of shale, silt, and sandstone towering 682 feet over the Galway Bay with amazing views of the Aran Islands. There is a 30 mile trail along the edge of the cliffs that is unguarded. The tower on the Cliffs of Moher was built in 1835 and on a clear day the mountains in Kerry can be seen. From here there is noting but ocean to coast of America. The views were amazing and the group has repeatedly reported this was one of their favorite parts of the trip.
We left the Cliffs about 11:30 AM to travel the town of Lisdoonvarna and play the “The Road to Lisdoonvarna” in the center of town. Unfortunately the rain was now a very steady down pour so we stopped for a quick sing along on the bus at the city center. On our bus tour of we learned why people would be so happy to be on “The Road to Lisdoonvarna”. The town is the host of the largest Match Making Festival in Europe with 100,000 people flooding the town after the fall harvest for the fest. Host of the fest is the town and Irelands last official matchmaker Willie Daly.
After our “Sing Along” we made our way to the town of Kinvara for lunch. The rain at lunch made it a bit soggy to enjoy lunch at the outdoor Farmers Market. We had several pubs to choose from and a grocery store for us to find lunch and dry off a bit. The Great Famine of the 1840’s through the 1960’s the population of Kinvara dwindled down to 100 people but since the 1960’s the population as grown to about 1,000 people. Our bus driver, Flan, pointed out the Pub that the legendary song writer John Prime use to visit when he lived in town.
We made our way back to Galway to the Claregalway Educate Together N.S. school to have a after school exchange with the Lackagh Comhaltas, a power house of traditional Irish music. Its a youth group that dominates the Fleadh Cheoil music scene with winning many All-Ireland Awards. Both groups played a few tunes for each other and shared our music with them. They sounded amazing and also had two harp players. During their performance they also had dancers perform traditional Irish jigs. After the performance exchange they taught us how to dance. Big smiles and fun for all!!
The exchange lead to big appetites so we made our way to downtown Galway where we had a 5:30 dinner at Monore’s. I should point out that our time in Ireland was also the beginning of the 2024 Euro Cup, so Football (Soccer) was on every screen at dinner with many roars of cheers. Many of us would watch the games back in the hotel to wind down the day. At Monore’s we had a choice of Irish Beef Burger, Bacon & Cabbage with Mash & Parsley Sauce, Beer Batter Fish & Chips, or Hearty Beef & Guinness Stew with Creamy Mash Potatoes. It was a very tasty dinner.
Our evening was not over after dinner, we enjoyed a quick stretch of the legs at 7 PM to Carrol’s Bar. Carrol’s Bar is famous for live session music, very cozy, festive place. The music was slow to get started which some stayed to enjoy and other went into the heart of Galway’s Latin Quarter that is filled with live music and street performers. Walking through the Latin Quarter was fun walk back to our hotel for much needed rest on this very busy day. Our day
On April 16th we had the Spring 5th and 6th Grade Orchestra Concert with the Middle Fiddlers at the Middle School.
6th Grade Orchestra
Some members of the 6th Grade Orchestra read their letters of what they like best about Middle School Orchestra and why the 5th Grade Orchestra students should continue in Middle School. Birthday Cupcakes seems to be the most favorite things.
The Middle Fiddlers
The 6th, 7th and 8th Grade orchestra students of The Middle Fiddlers performed with several students performing solos.
5th Grade Orchestra
The 5th Grade Orchestras students from Campbell, Churchill, Lincoln Park and Ross Park performed together as a combined 5th Grade Orchestra.
On Saturday, February 10, 13 high school and 14 middle school orchestra students represented Mona Shores in the 2024 MSBOA Honors Orchestra. The day included rehearsals and a performance with orchestra students from Muskegon, North Muskegon, Grand Haven, Fremont and Greenville. The middle school group was directed by composer and string educator Bob Phillips. The high school ensemble was directed by Dr. Joel Schut, GVSU orchestra director and music education professor. The honors groups put on a wonderful performance that was well received.
Mona Shores Orchestra 