EOAutobahn

Ten years ago, I was going into my fourth season of winter guard. My parents had already turned down an attempt to march drum corps, saying I was too young. Little did I know that the summer of '97 would find me at Americanos...

I'd have to back up what everybody is saying here. I live in the Chicago area myself and the things to consider when auditioning are your ability level, your finances (which can be worked with anywhere.....hello, sponsorships!), your willingness to travel, and your gender. (Cavaliers still aren't taking girls as of press time.) Phantom, Cavaliers, Pioneer, Racine Scouts, Kilties, and even Capital Sound (and probably a few that I'm forgetting) are roughly equal time away depending on where you are in the area and the amount of traffic. Great things can be said about every organization. As an alum of Capital Sound, I am biased--I love that corps....but when checking out any corps, you want to keep an open mind. Talk to the director, any members you can....see what kind of fit you would make.

I'm pretty sure that we just used double-sided carpet tape on ours when we put it together....after a really good cleaning. The billboards were so much lighter than a real tarp that it was amazing.

There are now a few more kids at my high school that do drum corps, but I was the first one in awhile to go march--most of the corps kids in my town come from the other high school and are marching Colts, Cavaliers, etc. I've had four band directors, and they were a team. I had the unique experience of only seeing them at marching band rehearsal since, as a color guard member, you didn't have to take band as a class to be in the marching band. During my first three years, one seemed to be indifferent--he just wanted our band to do the best we could. The other seemed to be very supportive of Divison 1 corps...he seemed disappointed that I was marching Division 2 when I told him I would miss a few rehearsals because of tour; he sounded like he thought I could do better, telling me I was the only professional in our band (when I was 15 or 16). His brother was the drum major for Cavaliers for awhile. He did wish me well, as did my guard staff--a Cavaliers alum. During my last year of high school, I had two more band directors. I don't know the corps stance of one of them, especially since I wasn't marching corps at that point, but he was an energetic guy that wanted people to do their best at whatever they tried. The other director was a little bit younger--I'd actually seen him as a DM for Patriots when I had first marched. When he found out I marched corps, he was my buddy (granted, I didn't run into him often since I still wasn't taking band)....he never tried to get me to march again, but it's like he knew that he and I had a special interest in common that nobody else in the building understood, something that set us apart. We Had Marched. This was 2000. A few more kids have gone on to march, but I don't know what it's like at that high school.

The one thing I really want to see is people learn how to work. Some people come across hard times and mope about it, while other people come across problems and work through it. While I don't think everybody would enjoy the drum corps activity itself, learning to push to achieve the best is something admirable. What "the best" is, is then up for debate. I also believe in perfectly flat football fields at least once a season, a cloud covering the sun for a moment just before run-through, more than three showerheads for 100 people (I didn't say they all had to work), and a scaffolding that will not give anybody tetanus. We can dream, right? Have a good night. :)

You can get TONS of money through sponsorships. A friend of mine marched a few years at Phantom and never had to pay her dues in full--she sent out sponsorship letters. If you can get money from relatives at the holidays (Christmas, Kwanzaa, whatever you celebrate), that adds up pretty fast. Chin up. If you really want to march, you will get there somehow.

I aged out twice, in a sense. I marched for a year and a half when I was a teenager, and my second year can only be described as ROUGH. Some things I could control, some things I couldn't, and I just needed some time off. I took four years off, marching winter guard almost the entire time. Coming back stayed in the back of my mind. I almost marched in 2002, but monetary troubles at home prevented (I was barely able to stay in school because of them). I did make it back for my ageout year of 2003 with a new corps. I have stayed with that corps through leadership changes and a whole new board--they are my family. I've been teaching for three years now and sometimes it feels like I never aged out. I would give almost anything to march again. At the same time, I understand that I've got to face reality and get a real job, earn some real money. So I miss it, I've continued it, and it's still just not the same. I do like being able to get into a lot of shows, though. :)

People and organizations brought things to be voted on by the public (in this case, whomever came across the website). In this instance, Capital Sound brought a patch forward and the Madison Scouts did not bring anything. It is not that CS was favored or that Scouts were overlooked; there are a lot of things that may or may not make it into the time capsule. (ex: a middle school music program, HIV medication, WI quarter, engraved egg from Vilas Zoo). Capital Sound and Madison Scouts have both enjoyed having memberships in the Madison area, and putting the patch in the time capsule would be a nice step for a Div. 3 corps. Go ahead and vote!

I loved Phantom's show in 98, with the two facing backfield. Didn't always. Sitting in the front stands, it was kind of boring to me. When we were at Tarheel Sun's show, I was stuck sitting in the backstands before anybody else got there and it felt like I was getting my own private performance. From there on out, I was hooked.

I'm very proud to say that the only times I've ever hit judges were in finals performances....once, my friend and I each hit the same judge with our flags (we had to fling them to the side....we couldn't see him....we just heard him say that he'd been hit--like it was an insult or something). The other time, it was my age-out performance, and I had to duck down and sweep up, and I hit the judge's hand with my head. I swear, when I left the sideline with my rifle, he was smiling at me. Like he was proud of me for getting the best of him. Now that I've been teaching for awhile, I know there are some judges that get so caught up in the show that they feel TERRIBLE when they are caught by surprise by a drill change. We kept changing the end of the opener for our color guard for awhile, and one judge got caught in it. One of my girls did her best to not behead him (she would've done severe brain damage to him had she stayed on course) and he just could not stop apologizing on the tape for his lack of professionalism--he said we deserved better out of him as an adjudicator. Classy. (Though he was also a little embarrassed.)