Pontins is only one week away now and the hard work seems to be paying off and our Montage is taking shape. For MD Glyn Williams (and his wife Helen - our regular flugel dep) there is one obstacle in the way though - the Nationals with Fodens this weekend. I'm sure everyone at Marsden will be rooting for the lads and lasses from Sandbach! (The band would also like to thank Norman Law for taking charge of our preparations this week, in GW's absence) There will be no rest for our MD though as we plough straight into what will be an intensive week, with a rehearsal on Sunday after our annual harvest festival concert.

Joining us on stage next sunday will be some new (and not so new) faces around the stand. Making their contesting debuts with Marsden will be Alistair Campbell (not the MP!), a student at the RNCM on Solo Cornet and Andy Griffiths on Eb Bass, who joins us from neighbours Holme Silver. Andrew Woodward has returned to the band on Percussion after a brief sojourn at Holme, Nick Lees has dusted off his cornet again to very ably prop up the cornet section and Paul Pugh's work commitments have allowed him to rejoin the bass section in time for Pontins. Kathleen Coton has switched to 2nd Baritone for the contest and after a bit of swearing has become accustomed to her new role (well doneKC!!) We will be using one or two deps but these are all very familiar faces at Marsden and we are very grateful for their help.

It would be nice to be able to sit back and take a breather after working on a tough piece like Montage but the band faces another few weeks of hard work in preparation for our inaugural appearance at the Scottish Open. All the backroom work is in place, coach booked, hotel booked and so on but we do have to keep fundraising for what is an expensive venture without any sponsor help. So, what better way to raise dosh than holding a Curry Evening? This will be on Saturday 21st November (8pm) at the Band Club, tickets are £8 each, everyone is welcome and all proceeds will boost our Scotland coffers. On the subject of fundraising, we must say a big 'well done' to the intrepid trio of Chris Hoyle, Luci Lamb and Matthew Schofield who tackled the Three Peaks of Yorkshire to swell the Scotland fund.

We will keep you informed about our Pontins adventure and hope it will be good news - keep everything crossed!