Santa Clara Vanguard volunteering

[PeeWee]

"Miss Amana" is what the Santa Clara Vanguard A-Corps calls their food truck. It's a fully contained 48 foot kitchen trailer with a walk-in refrigerator/freezer, commercial range, ovens, grill, commercial mixer, and plenty of storage for serving 4 meals a day to over 200 people.

Thank you to all of the volunteers who have already come out to help on Miss Amana this season! Debra (the lady in charge of Miss Amana) really appreciates and needs your help.

If the corps is in town, and you want to come out and watch rehearsal, seek out Miss Amana and help out for an hour, a meal, a day, etc. Here are some common tasks that anyone can do:

1. Wash dishes

2. Empty the trash cans

3. Serve food through the windows to the kids (wear gloves for this one, esp. if you've been doing #1 or #2 above)

4. Take stuff out/bring stuff in from the tables

Also, fresh produce is always welcome. Purchase enough for 200 people. Vanguard buys their bread and produce as they go, and sometimes they can't always make it out to (or can't find) the local grocery store. Produce the kids LOVE include:

1. Watermelon (7-8 large)

2. Bananas (1 or 2 boxes)

3. Strawberries (2 large boxes)

4. Grapes (2 large boxes)

5. Peaches (1 box)

6. Tomatoes (1 box)

7. Cantelope (20 - 24)

Large bags of ice and fresh sliced bread (white & wheat) are always welcome too!

The corps housing location is usually posted online here:

http://www.scvanguard.org/vanguard/2008/tour_schedule.cfm

And of course, it's not just the Vanguard who needs your help. Please help out any corps when they're in town! You can't imagine how appreciative everyone will be that you're there to help or bring food. Thank you so much

Edited July 9, 2008 by PeeWee

[PeeWee]

***date has past for this post***

Edited July 12, 2008 by PeeWee

[PeeWee]

VANGUARD - Mean to Clean the Red and Green

July 9, 2008

Uniform maintenance at Vanguard is a daily event in the summer. Our Stanbury uniforms are tremendous and easy to maintain, but they take a beating each night with the physical nature of the show Vanguard performs each year. There's always a short list every morning of an ornamental button to replace, a feather to change, an Aussie-strap to repair, a flag to sew or even a small blood spatter to address.

"There are mornings we open the equipment truck - following an evening performance - and you would think the corps had performed in a flood! We wash their uniforms usually every six performances, but sometimes you have to make the call earlier, especially if there was mud or dust on a performance field. A quick run to a local Laundromat with 42 guard uniforms or 10 red tops always raises an eye. We get many interesting questions," said Marie Bienkowski, the volunteer in charge of making the corps' uniforms look great each season.

Vanguard normally attempts to schedule the uniform laundry days well in advance, and are always looking for volunteers to meet them at the housing site at a designated time. Many times these days are posted on the on the web site calendar, but for your convenience, we're posting them below.

If you're able or interested in assisting with Vanguard uniform laundry on any of the days below, please contact volunteer@SCVanguard.org with your name and contact information.

Thanks for your enthusiasm for the Vanguard!

Laundry Date #1: Sunday, July 13 - Elizabeth HS, Elizabeth, CO - 7:30 am

Laundry Date #2: Friday, July 18 - Southwestern HS, San Antonio TX - 1 pm

Laundry Date #3: Thursday, July 24 - Missouri/Illinois/Tenn - Site TBA - 1 pm

Laundry Date #4: Wednesday, July 30 - New Jersey - Site TBA - 1 pm

Laundry Date #5: Tuesday, August 5 - Indianapolis Area - Site TBA - 1 pm

Laundry Date #6: Saturday, August 9 - Indianapolis Area - Site TBA - 7:30 am

Edited July 12, 2008 by PeeWee