By DAN TOMASELLO
LYNNFIELD — Lynnfield High School music students are looking to visit and perform in Nashville, Tennessee once again this March.
LHS Choral Director Doug Hodgkins said during the School Committee’s Sept. 25 meeting that the Music Department’s proposed trip to Nashville will take place from Thursday, March 19 through Sunday, March 22.
“This is my fourth or fifth time going there,” said Hodgkins. “It is always a great experience.”
Hodgkins said he and LHS Band Director Eric Blackman heard feedback from students and families that the trip’s original cost of $2,150 was too expensive.
“We tried to make it more affordable,” said Hodgkins. “We changed a couple of things around. Instead of $2,150, the student cost will be $1,975. Most of the students who came to us afterwards said that was much more doable for them.”
Hodgkins said students and chaperones will leave LHS at 7:30 a.m. and will take school buses to Logan International Airport on Thursday, March 19. The trip’s attendees will be taking a Southwest Airlines flight to Nashville at 12:30 p.m.
Music students and chaperones will be staying at the Gaylord Opryland Resort for the first night of the trip.
“That resort is stupendous,” said Hodgkins. “It is unbelievable.”
Hodgkins said music students will be having dinner at Ole Red, which is a restaurant owned by country singer Blake Shelton.
“They have a stage, a live band and a buffet dinner,” said Hodgkins. “It’s a really, really great time. It will be a relaxing first day, which will be nice because Friday and Saturday are going to be packed.”
Hodgkins said students will be having lunch at the Hard Rock Café at 12 p.m. on Friday, March 20.
“We will then go to the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum,” said Hodgkins.
Hodgkins said there is a Grammy Museum Gallery at the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum, which will give students the opportunity to perform on a stage and mix music in a sound booth.
“Students can also sing backup tracks for famous singers because they took the backup tracks off,” said Hodgkins.
Hodgkins said students will be staying at the Holiday Inn Express and Suites for the trip’s remaining two days.
“After we get checked in, we will go to the Opry Mills Mall,” said Hodgkins. “The kids will get some dinner there, and the band will have their first performance there. After we have some dinner and the band has their performance, we will go over to the Grand Ole Opry and see a performance that night.”
Hodgkins said students will be going on a tour of the historic RCA Studio B on Saturday, March 21.
“That is where hundreds of famous artists have recorded,” said Hodgkins. “Elvis Presley, Dolly Parton and Loretta Lynn have all recorded there. We will learn history about the studio. The piano that is there is actually the piano that Elvis performed on and recorded with. The kids will get to see all of that, and we will get to record while we are there.”
After students visit and record at RCA Studio B, Hodgkins said students will be going to the Nashville Farmers Market in order to “do some shopping and get some lunch.”
“We will then go to the Country Music Hall of Fame,” said Hodgkins. “Outside of the Country Music Hall of Fame, the band will have a performance and the chorus will have a performance. We will then have some time to explore the museum for a couple of hours.”
Hodgkins said students will be having dinner on the General Jackson Showboat.
“That is a historic riverboat,” said Hodgkins. “The chorus will be doing a performance outside while people are boarding the boat. The boat goes up and down the Cumberland River. While we are enjoying a nice buffet dinner, there will be a live stage show about the history of country music.”
After students and chaperones check out of the hotel, Hodgkins said the trip’s attendees will be visiting Broadway and Fifth on Sunday, March 22.
“It’s a touristy area that the kids can explore and get some lunch,” said Hodgkins. “We are also going to have some time exploring Broadway and downtown Nashville.”
Hodgkins said music students will also be visiting Grimey’s New & Preloved Music.
“It’s a famous record store that sells vinyl records as well as tapes and CDs,” said Hodgkins.
Hodgkins said students will be having dinner at Nashville International Airport before flying home on a Southwest flight at 8:20 p.m.
In order to make the trip to Nashville more affordable for students and families, Hodgkins said families will be able to make five monthly payments totaling $390 each.
“It can be spread out instead of paying a huge chunk of money,” said Hodgkins. “We are planning to do some fundraisers.”
Hodgkins asked the School Committee if he and Blackman could begin collecting deposits before the committee votes to approve the LHS music trip to Nashville on Tuesday, Oct. 7.
“We already lost our Southwest tickets once because they only give you a week once they book the seats to give a deposit,” said Hodgkins. “The deposit for this group of tickets is due on Oct. 1. We would loose the seats again if we couldn’t give a deposit prior to final approval.”
Superintendent Tom Geary told Hodgkins and Blackman they can begin collecting deposits in order to “keep flight prices down for families.”
School Committee Chair Kristen Grieco Elworthy expressed her support for the proposed trip to Nashville.
“It sounds like an awesome trip,” said Elworthy. “It looks like a lot of work to put together, so thank you for doing it for the kids.”
School Committee Vice Chair Jim Dillon agreed.
“It clearly has a lot of value,” said Dillon.
Hodgkins said music students have always enjoyed visiting Nashville.
“The kids have a blast and they learn so much,” said Hodgkins. “The first time I did it, I was like ‘man, country music.’ But being there, you see live music everywhere. If you walk up Broadway, every little tiny restaurant has live music going on. They have live music on the streets. It’s really amazing to see.”
In response to a question from School Committee member Kate DePrizio, Hodgkins said a security guard at both hotels will be “walking up and down the hallways to make sure nobody is going out of their rooms” at night. Hodgkins also said he and Blackman are looking to have School Resource Officer Alex Doto attend the trip. He said LHS nurse Risa Ferrara will be going as well.
School Committee member Kim Baker Donahue said she wished she could go on the trip to Nashville with the students.
“It sounds unbelievable,” said Baker Donahue. “I happen to love country music.”
Baker Donahue asked Hodgkins and Blackman if they are concerned that some students won’t be able to afford going on the trip to Nashville.
“A lot of the decisions like asking for early deposits and tweaking the itinerary were made to keep costs down,” said Blackman. “We wanted to make sure there is as much participation as possible. I have told people if they need help, we can figure it by putting our heads together and find a way to do it. We really want as many kids as possible to consider going on the trip.”
School Committee member Jamie Hayman recused himself from the discussion about the proposed trip to Nashville, and sat in the audience during the discussion.
The School Committee will tentatively be voting on approving the LHS music trip to Nashville on Tuesday, Oct. 7.