Oracle Band 2010 -
The Year in Review -
January through March
Welcome to the annual Oracle Band Year In Review pictorial for 2010!
As you may or may not know we've been doing these end
of the year retrospectives almost since the first days of the band, and
each year we get more and more photos from an ever changing year.
Are you ready? Let's go! Click on any of the images
below for an enlarged view.
New Years Party
2009-2010
For several years now Oracle fans have been
asking the band to perform for New Years at a location with rooms
available so folks don't have to party and then take chances driving
home the same evening.
We heard you, and we were incredibly fortunate to
find the folks over at the Sheraton Four Points at BWI Airport to be
incredibly accommodating.
We were offered a magnificent dinner
option, discounted hotel accommodations, breakfast at 1:00, and best
of all, a significant donation to the USO since the Four Points is a
major departure & arrival point for troops arriving and deploying
overseas.
We'd like to thank the folks at the Sheraton Four
Points for being such incredible hosts for the party. They
really bent over backwards to make sure everything was just right
and then some. When tickets sold out by Thanksgiving they opened
another ballroom and put a video feed from the main room in there
onto large screen TVs to try and accommodate the overflow. The only
thing they weren't able to do was make the ballroom larger!
The first week of January found Oracle in Ocean City Maryland
performing for about 800 members of the Chesapeake Commodore's Club
at the Princess Royale Hotel.
Wow! What more can you say about a party so massive it
lasts three days! With some folks arriving on Thursday and
departing on Sunday, the hotel was the scene of non-stop partying
from the moment we arrived to start setting up!
This was our third opportunity to perform for the folks at CCC,
and we're looking forward to returning for 2011 as well!
January Ushers in the Yacht Club
Commodore's Ball Season
Following the big opening of the Yacht Club season with the CCC
ball, Oracle is always thrilled to perform for many of the other
individual yacht clubs that dot the Chesapeake.
First up was the Commodore's Ball for Great Oak Yacht Club.
Their members are spread far and wide, and in the past we've
travelled to Egg Harbor New Jersey and Lancaster Pennsylvania for
this ball, but for 2010 things were kept a little closer to home as
we performed at Kent Island Yacht Club, just on the other side of
the Bay Bridge on Kent Island.
On To Belvedere Yacht Club
The following Saturday found the band performing for the
Belvedere Yacht Club Commodore's Ball at Snyder's Willow Grove in
Linthicum.
This was our third year in a row performing for Belvedere Yacht
Club, and we enjoyed every minute of it.
Having so many of the area Yacht Club Princesses on hand is
always a special treat as they do love to dance and really keep the
party alive.
Special kudos go out to the folks at Snyders, who are always
right on top of things and even find the time to take care of the
band as well as all the guests.
First Perry's
Performances
of 2010
Oracle hit the stage at Perry's twice during the
first quarter of 2010. Perry's is pretty much where the band
got it's start on the club scene, and we have continued to perform
there on a regular basis for the past ten years.
It's always a party at Perry's, and we have so
many really good friends that are regulars there that have become
strong supporters of the band.
As we look back on the year we realize just how
many great memories we have from our performances there.
It started out just as flurries. The snow continued to come down
& by the time we arrived at the BWI Hilton the roads were completely
covered with snow.
We moved everything inside & then waited for the decision...do we
set it all up or do we take it back to the vans?
Hey...the band was there, the food was there, & the staff was
there. There could only be one decision...let's have a party &
see who laughs in the face of Maryland drivers who cower at the
first sign of a snowflake.
We needn't have worries. These were business people.
They know a few snowflakes won't stand in their way of having a
great evening.
And what a great evening it was. It may have taken them a little
longer to get there owing to the traffic, but get there they did, &
what a great party it was, with ladies in their beautiful gowns
coming carrying their heels and wearing snow boots.
Valentine's Day at American
Legion Post 40 - Glen Burnie
In what has become yet another tradition for Oracle, we spent
Valentine's Day weekend at American Legion Post 40 in Glen
Burnie Maryland, where a full house of party folks came out to dine,
dance, & party.
We started performing for these folks for Valentine's Day way
back in 2004, and here we are six years later & tickets are sold out
weeks in advance.
Our photo gallery for Post 40 includes this past years
Valentine's Dance, as well as links to our other Post 40
performances.
Following on the success of last year's inaugural dance, Oracle
returned for a second year to perform for this fundraising event at
the Knights of Columbus in Severna Park.
Considering that we had just survived the snowiest winter in 100
years in the Baltimore area, the title "Cabin Fever II" dance seemed
all the more appropriate, as folks came out to shake off the winter
blues and party for a while.
A near sell-out spent the entire evening on the dance floor as we
dusted off lots of songs that we hadn't performed for quite some
time for a very unique and diverse audience.
This was the first of three performances that we did at the
Columbian Center in Severna Park over the course of 2010. It
is an excellent facility for wedding receptions and other special
events.
The tradition continues yet again in early March as Oracle sets
up at the Kossiakoff Center on the grounds of Johns Hopkins Applies
Physics Laboratory to perform for the annual "Chocolate Ball.
Sponsored by the ARC of Howard County, the event is the hottest
ticket in town as folks of all ages come out to support the ARC's
cause of supporting those with intellectual and developmental
disabilities.
Confectioners and bakers from all over the area bring their most
spectacular works to present. It seems a shame to eat them as
they really are works of Chocolate Art.
This was our fifth consecutive year performing for this wonderful
group of people that give so much of themselves to help others.
We are privileged and pleased that we will be returning in 2011 for
our sixth year at this very special event.
Lauren & Michael's Wedding
@
Chesapeake Bay Beach Club
Weddings. They are so much FUN to perform for. Lauren
& Michael got married on March 27th 2010. To make things even
more enjoyable, they had their reception at the Chesapeake Bay Beach
Club, right on the shores of the bay, looking up at the spans of the
Bay Bridge at it hits the Eastern Shore of Maryland. A great
view with great people at a great location...it was a wedding that
will long be remembered.