Sunday, July 01, 2007

From the Road - Part III





We again have internet...on to part III




The housing site in Erie is forty-minutes from the competition site. Evie and I were given DCI staff passes that allowed us to park with the Corps area and to enter the stadium free of charge. We could site anywhere…as long as the seat was vacant.

Though the Crossmen were a little disappointed in their score, it was only their third competition. Those that they were going against had already been in five to six competitions. Tuesday and Wednesday would be off days given to honing their drill. They know the music and the drill, it is time to make sure all are stepping correctly, having the appropriate spacing, moving in harmony across the field throughout the show while keeping proper spacing and playing the appropriate accidentals with fullness.

“Exhausted” is the unifying word upon all lips of the staff, members and volunteers. The days are long and the work is almost constant, particularly for the members. It was after 10:30 when the Corps returned to the housing site. Within minutes, small clusters were working on correcting a small item on the show before turning in at close to midnight.

This second day saw us up by 6:15 to cook breakfast for 150 people. Once breakfast was done, on to lunch preparation and then following lunch preparation, afternoon snack and the evening meal. Then pack up and hit the road at 10 PM for the next event nearly 3 hours away. As with today, there is not event tomorrow so the whole day is given to sectional and full Corps rehearsals.

Tuesday afternoon saw us taking a short nap while the chicken cooked. Fortunately we have our own self contained unit and a sturdy generator. Josh and his peers continued to rehearse in sectionals and sub-sectionals most of the day before the whole Corps worked on the drill in the late afternoon.

Following an 8:30 meal, the Corps quickly loaded up the buses, their equipment and packed up the food trailer. Shortly after 9:30 PM we were on the road to our next housing site three hours away.

Above are two pics from the Erie show on Monday.

2 comments:

Stephen said...

This is very impressive. I don't think I would have had the discipline to have been part of this organization. When I think about your schedule, I feel exhausted just reading about it.

Do the Crossmen compete against the same groups in the other tour competitions?
The other question I have is concerning discipline standards -ie. behaviour and relationship.
How is it maintained - what are the standards?
Get some sleep.

Dave said...

There are twenty-two division one Corps. The major events, like Allentown, Atlanta and San Antonio are only for Div I Corps. The other events will have the regional Div II and III Corps. Div III Corps are much smaller.

Each night the mix of six or seven Corps differs. Major events are the only time all Div I Corps are together.

As for the other questions, see upcoming blogs.