The Burlington Teen Tour Band’s planned trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina in March has been cancelled - due in large part to ongoing trade problems between Canada and the United States.
“City staff are working to find a Canadian event as a replacement where expenses will be kept within Canada and in support of today’s announcement,” the band wrote on X on Feb. 6.
Expenses for the band are high, with well over 100 members, along with support staff and parents, hotels and travel can be tricky.
Steve Butterworth, president of the Burlington Teen Tour Band Boosters – a non-profit that financially supports the band but exists fully separate from the organization – said they were only days away from sending hundreds of thousands of dollars to the U.S. hotel and bus company.
“It would have been $90,000 to the hotel and $80,000 to the bus company,” Butterworth said. “The bus company is Canadian, so they might be understanding and give it back. But this is not city money, this was all boosters what had been fundraised. The hotel also had a lot of goodwill, we had a small deposit with them that they indicated they will send back.”
Butterworth updated the booster group on Monday, Feb. 11, on the latest with the cancellation, and said there was a sense of understanding in the room. Not necessarily happiness or anger, but he said it was a tough decision for the city but the right one in the moment.
Both Butterworth and a representative from the city of Burlington said this was a city decision in conjunction with efforts to support Canadian business.
"The decision to cancel BTTB’s Myrtle Beach trip was made by staff and band leadership after careful consideration of financial commitments such as deposits and payments during this time of economic uncertainty,” a city official said in an email. "While this was a difficult decision and there will be some disappointment for participants and their families, we are choosing to be prudent with the band community's financial investments in travel."
"Overall, we have received positive support for exploring alternative trips. We are actively reviewing options for a Canadian trip, though no plans have been finalized at this time. The dedication and hard work of the Band members will always be valued, and we sincerely appreciate the ongoing support from both them and their parents/guardians."
Brad Gibson’s daughter has been in the band for two years, and the Myrtle Beach trip was supposed to be her second tour.
He said she and the family were looking forward to a mini-vacation.
“She was quite disappointed, she was looking forward to it,” Gibson said. “But that’s alright, we’ll have to find something else.”
Gibson added his daughter knew something was off when instructors ended practice 15 minutes early, a rarity for the band. Band members heard the news at the end of Wednesday’s practice, a day before the band made the information public.
Future plans for the band are still in the air, Butterworth said.
“The city does have an ongoing list of possible trips, and they get invited to go to places around the world,” he said. “There’s always a plan B, and we’re working on it.”
The band's last trip abroad was last summer, performing in France on Juno Beach for a WWII memorial.
Read more here: Burlington Teen Tour Band D-Day performance at Juno Beach leaves huge impression on many
The Burlington Teen Tour Band is set to perform at home at the Burlington Performing Arts Centre on Sunday, March 30 for the annual spring concert. The band will play two shows, at 2 and 7 p.m.