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In a perfect world... The perfect corps facility should also have a large sewing/laundry area where all of the uniforms and flags could be constructed, cleaned, stored/sorted by size, and repaired. Such a room would have lots of electrical outlets, big tables, chairs, at least 3 washers and 3 dryers, and cubbyholes or shelves for the necessary laundry and sewing supplies. Nothing should have to be knocked down or moved at meal time. Dream on!

If it's any help, the zip code is 98072-8564. I looked it up on the USPS website. But, you're absolutely right. That information should most certainly be on the Cascades website. If they make it difficult for people to donate, then they're missing an opportunity to raise some much-needed funds.

No matter what kind of shoes you choose, always wear SOCKS. That'll go a long way toward preventing blisters. And make sure the socks come up high enough that they don't get wadded up inside your shoes. Funky tan lines are a lot less painful than blisters.

Corns are the result of constant pressure and friction, not from a virus or fungus. If you have them only on one foot, it's quite likely one foot is larger than the other, so one shoe is tighter. Most of us are not perfectly symmetrical, but it's not usually that noticeable.

The best chapped lips remedy I've ever tried is Raleigh's Medicated Ointment; it heals my chapped lips literally overnight. However, I have no allergies and I don't play brass instruments, so I really can't say that this would be suitable in your case. I suspect it has a lot of petroleum jelly and smells very strongly of eucalyptus or camphor. It does burn a little and would probably make an awful mess of your mouthpiece. One of the other posters mentioned that licking your lips is one of the worst things you can do. That's so true! If you can break that habit, it'll go a long way toward healing the problem. Good luck.

The white flap was removed from the baldric during spring 2007. They also switched from white gauntlets/gloves to black. Everything else is the same. It just amazed me what a difference those two small changes made.

Very nice! Having been a uniform mom for a high school band with white pants, anything dark is good! I really like the way you have combined previous sashes/neckties.

Crusty uniforms and garment bags Whatever else is hiding in the garment bags after tour Febreeze It's funny; I really hate the smell of Febreeze, probably because I know exactly what it's trying to hide. I never marched, so my observations are mainly post-tour.

It's quite possible that the best tickets for this event have been snapped up by a "secondary seller" for resale for considerably more than their face value. In the paper version of the AARP magazine (May/June 2007), there was an article by Laura Daily entitled "Good Seats, Bad Deals." Unfortunately, I have not been able to locate this article online, otherwise I'd post a link so you can read it yourself. I was furious with these "secondary sellers" (a.k.a. scalpers) when I read it. The article states, "There are two types of ticket sellers on the Web: the first, primary sellers, includes box offices and authorized companies such as Ticketmaster and Tickets.com. The next group is known as secondary sellers. These more risky dot-coms range from ticket brokers -- companies that scoop up in-demand tickets and resell them for more than face value (using automated software and phone banks, resellers can snap up thousands of tickets within minutes of a sale) -- to marketplace websites such as StubHub, RazorGator, e-Bay, and Cragslist, where individuals can sell tickets for any price, with almost zero guarantees for the buyer." Other secondary sellers named in the article were especially greedy: GreatSeats.com; TicketsNow; TheSeats.com. If you buy from these guys and find something cheaper somewhere else, too bad; you won't get a refund. Isn't this illegal? The article goes on to say, "While no federal laws directly govern ticket resales, several states and a number of municipalities prohibit the reselling of tickets for more than the face price. Some states allow a small premium to be charged but usually no more than $3. And any offense is a misdemeanor." If you must buy from a "broker," don't jump on the first available tickets. As the event gets closer, the prices will drop because the reseller will be getting desperate to dump all those tickets. And keep checking directly with the source. Sometimes tickets become available again if they find a buyer's credit card is overlimit or fraudulent. Hopefully this problem will go away if all consumers refuse to do business with scalpers.

Sorry, I don't know of any company who manufactures or sells these. But they are quite simple to make. We used rip-stop fabric lined with fleece. Since the fleece is so stretchy and the ripstop is not, a bit of aerosol fabric adhesive kept things from shifting while being sewn. The plastic tubing sounds like it would work well too if it can be put on and removed without scratching the bell.

There is also a town of this name in Norway. And it freezes over every winter. :)

Does anyone know how much such fabric would cost? In drum corps, the $$$ is always a consideration. Is the fabric knit or woven? If the fabric is lightweight and flexible enough, it would look awesome on flags and guard uniforms.

They need to be on an item that's removable, like a baldric or cummerbund since they are a nightmare to clean. Such items need to be kept in good repair since there's nothing rattier than glitter that has gone bad.

Nikk, you are so right! Kudos to you! We also had a bad experience of this sort. We were attending a HS marching band competition in the Pacific Northwest this weekend, and had the misfortune to be sitting directly in front of some girls who simply could not keep their mouths shut. They were so loud and shrill we had trouble hearing the music. What a waste of prime seating (up high at the 50-yard line)! Many times my husband turned around, made eye contact and put his index finger to his lips. We know they understood; they'd apologize, but two minutes later, they'd be yammering away again. They weren't talking about anything important or even related to the show, so why on earth did they think everyone around them would be interested in hearing it?! What ever happened to common sense? Now there's a misnomer.

I'm not a doctor or trainer or anything like that, but as a former gymnast, I'm quite familiar with back pain. Believe it or not, keeping your abdominal muscles strong really helps. Crunches, sit-ups, and generally minding your posture should help. If your back muscles are in full spasm, try an ice pack (yes, ice) to calm the inflammation, and then heat for relaxation. The standard OTC pain relievers will help take the edge off so that you can at least function. Advil/Ibuprofen is particularly good since it's also an anti-inflammatory. Physiotherapy is helpful for some people, but my favorite remedy was chiropractic. I don't think that's covered by health insurance here in the U.S., unless you can get your primary care physician to refer you (a lot of them won't). If your back is not in spasm, here is an exercise to try. Lie on the floor on your stomach, with your arms at your sides. Slowly and gently lift your head and upper body off the floor. Hold for a few seconds, then lower them back to the floor. Repeating this a number of times every day will help strengthen the muscles of the spine and keep everything properly aligned. When you're feeling better, you can try it with your arms stretched out in front of you. And don't allow yourself to slouch no matter how tired you are. Good luck to you, and hang in there.