By PAT NEWMAN
pnewman@TheCitizenNews.com

If you're looking for the Fayette County High School Band during Friday's 2000 Olympics opening ceremonies, they'll be in the upper left, back corner of the forms, according to band director Kenny Beard's recent e-mail.

The 160-member contingent also can be spotted during the parade of athletes as the “Red Band,” farthest right among the bands in line, Beard added.

The Fayette musicians will be wrapping up their trip Down Under this weekend, following their participation in the opening extravaganza in Stadium Australia. The students and their chaperones have kept up a steady stream of e-mail and phone calls to the folks at home, since their departure Aug. 31.

With the exception of chilly temperatures, a few head colds and some long waits during dress rehearsals, the kids and adults are having a fantastic time, based on the messages received. They have also been warmly welcomed by the Australians.

In an article in the Sydney Morning Herald during the torch run, Ian Warden wrote: “A wonderful 160-piece U.S. marching band, the Fayette County High School Band from Atlanta [sic], marched into the melee and becoming a band 50 meters long with a conductor every 10 meters or so, arranged itself along the narrow path the torch would take when Bishop Power [torch bearer] skipped into view. `Cold doesn't worry us! Rain doesn't worry us! But the wind is difficult 'cause it takes our sound away,' the enthusiastic leader told us.

“But he needn't have bothered. This band with the curious tone, bassoons, flutes and sousaphones (there were five sousaphones, giant brass instruments that circle the body like a brass python) gave Advance Australia Fair an eerily beautiful quality I had never given it credit for possessing... The band's version of `Star Spangled Banner' and `your unofficial national anthem, “Waltzing Matilda”' were just as exciting.”

Practice and study time has been spent in Bathhurst at Charles Sturt University, which has been transformed into “Bandtown” for 2,000 Olympic musicians. Chaperone Philip Foster wrote, “When the band finally performed `Ode to Joy,' the Olympic tune and `Also Sprach,' the locals were on their feet and cheering. One man yelled, `You are awesome.'

“It is truly inspiring to see 2,000 young musicians marching and playing such intricate patterns and complex music. The locals were also concerned about the band students being cold. They held a clothing drive and collected a small mountain of jackets, coats, sweaters, hats and gloves and delivered them to the university. We have to recognize the town in some way after we return to the U.S.”

Word from the students has focused more on the sights and their interactions with fellow musicians from around the world. Austin Bergstrom wrote, “The Japanese people crack me up. They're the coolest people I think I've ever met. It's not what they do that is so funny, they're just fun to be around.”

Another unnamed student wrote home, “Boy, is it cold! It even started raining this morning during practice, speaking of which, I stand between two cute Italian guys, but they're older...”

By phone, Nikki White reported a wild kangaroo sighting to her mom, Pam, and noted that toilets flush differently in Australia — a half flush and a full flush.

Chaperone Gail Cribbs writes, “We are having a fabulous time. The Australian people are so friendly and are really glad that we're here. They are eager to talk to us and to welcome us to their country.”

And to moms worried about their young travelers' appearance and studies, Jan Bankieris writes, “Everyone has clean clothing. We're checking their homework and squeezing in time to study.”

There is a chance that Beard and several students may show up on NBC or MSNBC in the next few days. He was contacted by Tom Varrato, a reporter with “NBC Sports Online” MSNBC Sports.com who is hosting a daily webcast. So stay tuned — you may see some familiar Fayette faces.