Student and alumni to focus on giving back on #GivingTuesday (November 28). 

#GivingTuesday is a global day of giving fueled by the power of social media and collaboration. Celebrated on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving and the widely recognized shopping events Black Friday and Cyber Monday, #GivingTuesday kicks off the charitable season, when many focus on their holiday and end-of-year giving. 

This year, UNC Charlotte's campus community will be signing holiday cards to send to troops who are deployed over the holidays. Students volunteers will also be collecting donations to send the "Pride of Niner Nation" Marching Band to Normandy, France to perform at the 74th Anniversary of D-Day Allied Invasion and the end of World War II. 

Honor a veteran of any war or conflict.  A limited number of sashes remain.  Each of our 100 band members will wear a sash in honor of or in memory of a veteran as they perform in 5 celebrations in 4 days while in France. Or, for $49, we will plant a US flag in honor or memory of a vet at the US Cemetery while in Normandy.

Please help us spread the word this #GivingTuesday.

The schedule below is what has been designed by the travel provider for the Pride of Niner Nation Marching Band's Musical Salute & Celebration to D-Day, May 31-June 7.  PLEASE NOTE there is a separate travel package that will be announced later this week for travel with University Officials.

THURSDAY, MAY 31, 2018

• Depart from Charlotte. Travel overnight to France

FRIDAY, JUNE 1

• Arrival into Paris, Charles De Gaulle Airport. Meet your tour manager at baggage claim. Retrieve your luggage, clear customs and board your private motor coach. Depart for Normandy.
• Early afternoon arrival in Normandy. Check into your hotel.
• Visit to Arromanches and enjoy the D-Day 360 Museum and film “in the round”
• Return to the hotel for dinner and overnight

SATURDAY, JUNE 2

• Breakfast provided 
• Tour other D-Day sites including Pointe du Hoc and Utah Beach
• Transfer to Sainte-Mère-Église to tour the town and prepare for the D-Day Memorial Parade
• Perform as part of the Musical Salute to Liberation in the town square of Sainte-Mère-Église
• Lunch on own
• Afternoon D-Day Memorial Parade: March and Perform
• Post parade picnic dinner
• Return to hotel for overnight

SUNDAY, JUNE 3

• Breakfast provided at the hotel
• Morning transfer to the American Cemetery at Brittany
• Performance and ceremony at the cemetery in honor of the American veterans of WWII
• Transfer to Mont. St. Michel for a tour of the medieval town and fortress abbey
• Lunch on own
• Return to your hotel and enjoy the evening at leisure
• Dinner at the hotel

MONDAY, JUNE 4

• Breakfast provided
• Morning transfer to the American Cemetery at Omaha Beach
• Performance and ceremony at the cemetery in honor of the American veterans of WWII
• Depart for Paris (approximate 4-hour drive)
• Upon arrival in Paris, enjoy dinner in the Latin Quarter
• Check in to your hotel – and overnight at the hotel

TUESDAY, JUNE 5

• Breakfast provided
• Morning visit to the Eiffel Tower (a ticket will be provided to the second level observatory)
• Lunch on own
• Afternoon guided tour of the city including Notre Dame, Champs Élysées, Arch de Triomphe, Paris Opera, and Montmartre
• Dinner and evening in Montmartre
• Return to the hotel for overnight

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 6

• Breakfast provided
• Visit to the Louvre Museum
• Performance at Luxembourg Gardens in Paris
• Afternoon for optional sightseeing and souvenir shopping in Paris
• Farewell dinner in Paris
• Overnight in the hotel

THURSDAY, JUNE 7

• Breakfast provided
• Morning departure for the airport, Charles de Gaulle
• Depart for home on your scheduled airline
• Arrival in Charlotte

The dates of travel for the “Pride of Niner Nation” Marching Band’s trip to celebrate the 74th Anniversary of the D-Day Allied Forces landing in Normandy, France are published.  The band will depart from Charlotte for their tour, May 31, 2018, as the official US marching band in the D-Day Memorial Parade and “Musical Salute to the Veterans” and perform four other times through June 6, 2018.

Schedule:

• Friday, June 1 – Arrive in Paris after Thursday, May 31 Charlotte departure; travel to Normandy
• Saturday, June 2 – Tour Pointe du Hoc and Utah Beach, travel to St. Mere Eglise to tour the town and perform as part of a “Musical Salute to Liberation”.  They will march and perform in the afternoon in the D-Day Memorial Parade
• Sunday, June 3 – Travel to the American Cemetery at Brittany and perform at the ceremony in honor of American WWII veterans
• Monday, June 4 – Travel to the American Cemetery at Omaha Beach and perform at the ceremony in honor of American WWII veterans
• Tuesday, June 5 – Visit the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Champs Elysees, Arch de Triomphe, Opera, and Montmare
• Wednesday, June 6 – Visit the Louvre Museum and then perform at Luxembourg Gardens in Paris.  The Farewell Dinner in Paris the evening concludes the activity.
• Thursday, June 7 – Depart for Charlotte

For more information on how you can travel to France and enjoy these performances, please contact Joël Gallegos, the Assistant Provost for International Programs for UNC Charlotte in the Office of International Programs, at 704.687.7753 or jagalleg@uncc.edu.

For information on how to support the band and learn more about the Pride of Niner Nation, please contact Mark Colone in the Office of Development at 704-687-5526 or mdcolone@uncc.edu.

Today marks the 73rd anniversary of the Allied invasion of Nazi-held France on the beaches of Normandy.

Operation Neptune was part of the larger Operation Overlord. The belligerents included the Allied forces, consisting of the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Free France, Greece, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, and Poland, against Nazi Germany.

By late August, all of northern France was liberated from the Nazi stronghold thanks to Operation Overlord, which started with D-Day. In military terminology, “D-Day” is the day on which any given combat operation begins. There has been more than one D-Day throughout history, but “Operation Overlord” is the most famous of these.

D-Day was also a turning point in the war, as it led to the total defeat of Adolf Hitler and his regime.

Join us next June as our University’s Pride of Niner Nation Marching Band pays tribute on the 74th Anniversary of the invasion as the US Marching Band representative in the parade and four performances throughout select sites in and around Normandy, June 4-9.

For more information, contact Mark Colone (mdcolone@uncc.edu; 704-687-5526).

Thank you.

Live Exponentially,

Mark '83

Mark D. Colone