Sunday Morning

Yesterday went by pretty fast. The kids were busy and all the volunteers we were busy getting food made and served. Breakfast was pancakes, sausage and fruit. Also the ever-present cereal, oatmeal and fruit, etc. We did have a bit of an emergency as the coffee pot was found to not be working. We had some instant coffee so that was available, but Neil volunteered to hit the Dunkin Donuts and pick up a box of coffee for the food volunteers, which was awesome.

The refer on the truck was not working so we were using coolers and ice and all that jazz. The repair guy came, found the leak, fixed it and the unit started cooling right away. Darren (the souvies man) went out and came back with a 100 cup coffee maker, and we ran a pot to test it out and the coffee was good, so we were set for Sunday morning!

Registration

We arrived in Northern New Jersey and got to The Cadets registration with 15 minutes to spare. I checked in with some old friends while the boys registered, dropped their gear and attended a welcome Hop talk. I put my stuff away and inflated my mattress and headed down to see what needed doing. Snack was to be hot dogs and fixings, and Kevin and I were on to get it done. We had some great new volunteer faces and many of the tried and true, so the work was easy and fun. We are just still up late because snack started a 1. So goodnight!
Matt

Cadets 2012 Begins...

Hello All,

Today we drive up to New Jersey for the first winter camp of the 2012 season. Liam and I are headed up with an additional 3 fellows who are auditioning for The Cadets. The ride is a bit longer today due to a change in venue, and the car is a little more full, but it should be a great trip and a fun camp. I will be making Light Tomato Bisque soup for lunch tomorrow, so that is awesome. I will write another post from camp!

Matt

Hi Ho Hi Ho It's Off To Finals We Go!

Through the magic of modern communications, I am writing this entry as we drive to West Virginia, where we will overnight with my little sister and her family. Tomorrow we will head off with them to complete the remainder of our 12 plus hour drive to Indianapolis, IN to see our son and The Cadet perform in the DCI World Class Finals in Lucas Oil Stadium. If you had told me one year ago that I would spend my entire vacation volunteering and then driving 700+ miles each way to see them again, I would have laughed in your face. What a difference a year can make! I wondered how this incredible year started; it was our son, Liam who started it all for us. Last November, he asked that his birthday gift be to tryout for The Cadets. But I think that the core values of The Cadets and the people involved with them has drawn me like a moth to a flame. My fellow volunteers are some of the best people with which I have ever worked. That goes for the volunteers who showed up on weekends over the winter as well as those incredible people who joined the tour. These people are amazing, each and every one, but most especially the ones that stayed with the tour for long periods of time (Patti, Kevin and Bob). They have my utmost respect and gratitude; and remember, they were taking care of my son too!

Though I had less direct interaction with the staff and admin team, I was able to observe how they interacted with the members, and it is clear that they are doing this to help them become the best they can be. As I have followed George's posts on both facebook and his blog, it is apparent that he is, and has always been, in this for the members. I have enjoyed his posts and I have attended a few "Hop" talks and that core belief has always shone through.

I can speak from my experience, and I bet that it is the same for the other volunteers, staff and admin; it is the members who draw us in and ignite in us a desire to help. I have said this before, but it bears repeating: these kids are the best, they are tributes to the families and friends who helped make them who they are. As a parent of a rookie member and a person of a certain age, interacting and supporting these young people gives me hope for a bright future for this country. They are some of our best and brightest and I am glad to have been able to help them in my own small way.

Right now, they are the verge of giving the 3 most important performances of this year and I know they are contemplating them with all seriousness and gravity, but I would like them to know that I already consider them champions in every way. They have given me and my family an undeniable gift, and for that, I will ever be grateful to The Cadets.

So that is why we are making this long trek across several states, picking up family and some friends on the way, and heading to Indy. We want to support this organization and most especially the members, because they have worked so hard and given of themselves so much to become The Cadets 2011!

Matt

Best Field and Facility

After the Georgia Dome, we headed North to our next housing site: York Comprehensive High School in York, SC. This facility is hard to explain without over-using superlatives. The field was so nice, the turf soft and easy to walk on; the buildings clean, new and roomy. The showers were excellent and they even had an industrial sized washer and dryer that was free to use. A real benefit when you find that only certain clothes that you brought on tour do not chafe and feel good in the heat. Getting those clothes clean means you can wear them again and be comfortable.

The Field at York Comprehensive High School

We spent a nice day at this facility and then headed to the show site in Rock Hill, SC. Sadly, the show was cancelled due to thunderstorms, so we packed up and headed on to Buena Vista, VA, our housing site for the Salem, VA show.

Here is a shot of my bed on the RV. I had been able to get a egg-shell pad from wal-mart so it was much more comfortable than it had been. I also got a fan and some additional hooks that made life on my bunk a little easier.

The Georgia Dome

After the Murfeesboro show, we headed down to Atlanta for a show in the Georgia dome. Our housing site was a High School south of Atlanta, later we headed up to the show site, The Georgia Dome. Here are a couple of shots and a movie of The Cadets in the Dome:

BBQ Spice Rubbed Whole Pork Loins

Liam and the other Brass Members lining up.

So many people in the Georgia Dome

George Hopkins and the Time Machine

I started this post on July 29th, so I thought I would use it to begin my wrap-up.

This world that I have stepped into, the world of drum corps, travelling, performing and and rehearsing has been quite an experience for me. I have only been with this organization for a short period of time; but in that time it has been wonderful, stressful, hard, hot and sad and joyous. It is a world of million dollar travel budgets and fleets of motor coaches and gangs of young adults striving, practicing and performing almost every night to crowds of people who know not only what it takes to do this thing, but what it takes to create and perform a great show. I have witnessed all this firsthand because I have been so very fortunate to be travelling with one of the best shows in the Drum Corps International Tour, The Cadets.

I and my fellow volunteers are constantly amazed at the young people who make up the members of this organization. As my fellow volunteers and I say "We do it for the Kids". I will expand on that, however, because these kids are an inspiration to me. I am sure that they sometimes complain and are down, but I have never heard one complain. They come through the food line, with a cheerful "Thanks!", even though I am sure that sometimes they may not be so happy about the food selection. We do our best to prepare food that will keep them healthy and performing at their peak. We truly care that we make them food that they enjoy and is healthful. Here is a picture of the dry-rubbed pork loins that we prepared in Atlanta before their performance in the Georgia Dome. We sliced them and served them with a gravy made from drippings. They were quite good and everyone seemed to enjoy them.

Spice Rubbed Whole Pork Loins

I am also impressed with the Admin Team, they have hundreds of things going on each day, people to pick up and drop off, shopping, and many other things. Time is always on their minds, when to start ensemble, when to eat-pack-load, when to leave for the show and how long it will take to get there.

A interesting example of this is when the corps was practicing in Chattanooga, TN. The show, on the second day there, was in Murfeesboro, TN about 2 hours away. The interesting thing is that the show site is in Central time, while Chattanooga, where we were, was in Eastern time. Since we were travelling from Eastern to Central, we gained an extra hour because we would be to setting our clocks back an hour on the trip to the show. That extra hour was used to give The Cadets more time on the field before the competition. After the show we would travel back into Eastern and lose that hour, but it would happen while were were travelling that night. The Cadets used time zones to give themselves a little edge and to do that takes serious planning and execution.

Matt

Is that the Chattanooga Choo Choo? No it is The Cadets!

Friday July 29th, 2011
We are at Finley stadium in Chattanooga, TN, which is an interesting place: it is excellent for the corps for practice. The Food Truck is right on the edge of the field so getting water, snack and meals is really easy. Sleeping for the corps is pretty good, with excellent A/C everywhere the kids get to sleep. The issue is that for the staff, admin and volunteers, there is not a lot of space to sleep. I know some of the staff pooled their money and piled into a hotel room, we made a deal that included a case of beer for the grounds manager to secure an office with an a/c unit and some other of us were in the officials locker room. A few Vols opted to stay in the RV, with the A/C running it was not too hot, just a bit of a walk to the bathroom.

Being here so close to practice is really awesome! It is so cool to see the kids at it working so hard and really improving. I watched ensemble last night before we served dinner and I got goose flesh on my skin again! It happens every time I see the show, even when they are just practicing! The kids are just awesome, they are so kind and always say please and thanks; I just love helping them out and doing the best food we can so that they are happy and satisfied.

We had some great food yesterday - Rob made a watermelon salad that was really excellent. It is pretty simple with watermelon, feta cheese, mint and some balsamic vinaigrette dressing. Tangy and sweet at the same time. I think the Corps liked it, we made a ton and very little was left. At dinner we made some home made croutons from some left over bread and they were excellent and added a little something to the mostly routine salad.

A young fellow got a package from home. He got beef jerky, socks, candy and some new shoes:

Uncle Matt

Little Rock, Littler Sleep...

We arrived at Little Rock and were staying at North Little Rock High School, the site of the famous "Little Rock 9" who enrolled in the school in 1957, touching off the Little Rock Crisis. Some interesting history. This is a pretty rough school, however, and its history has not enabled it to avoid the usual ravages of a largely inner-city school. The members were able to find sleeping in the cafeteria where it was air-conditioned. We parked the Food Truck near them, and we had tight spaces, but some shade from trees were there so it was a little less hot for the members when eating.

As some of you know, and I eluded to on last evening's post, I was having a hard time at this point. I had not slept much since arriving on tour, and it started to catch up with me. I was feeling really poorly. I spoke with my very understanding and sweet wife and she gave me some very good advice that I took. She said to get some sleep! Sounds simple right, but it worked.  That day, I had been given some potassium/salt slow release pills and as the day wore on and I drank literally drank liters and liters of water and Gatorade, I started to feel much better; but still was very tired. To give you the closer right now, I was able to sleep very well on the trip to TN, and woke up feeling very much better and ready to go. As always, the kids positive attitude and incredible work ethic is an inspiration.

The practice location had a pretty good field, but getting ice became an issue, and we solved it pretty fast. After a few runs to a store by Jay and others, I decided that we needed to get access to the school ice machines, so I caught up with the security guard and sweet talked him into telling us where the ice machines were. Short story: we cleaned out the cafeteria unit and about 1/2 of the football team unit. The coach would not let us take it all because he said he had football camp the next day. We tried to explain that the unit was a 200 lb/hour and that it could refill itself before the next morning, but to no avail. We ended up having plenty, though.

I do not have many shots from that day, as I was pretty busy. I have a few from the show, which was held at War memorial Stadium in Little Rock, where we won again over The Cavaliers.

We had the nice long drive to Tennesse and the road was mostly smooth so I was able to sleep for almost the entire trip, I even slept through one of the two rest stops! Yeah!

Matt

Oak-laaaaa-home-haaaaaa, where the wind...

Friday, July 29th

I am sitting in the press box of Finley Stadium in Chattanooga, TN at this very moment. We have been going and going since my last full length post last Tuesday which covered up until Monday or so. Much has happened since then, but here is what happened in Okalahoma:

Tuesday July 26th 2011

We arrived in Edmond, Oklahoma at a giant high school that consisted of many buildings. We set up the food truck near the existing cafeteria and began operations. It was hot in Oklahoma, just as how as was in Texas, for the most part. It was a red letter day, however, because we did not reach triple digits, it reached 99. The Cadets had a great field to practice on and they, as is usual, spent much of they on it after they got a couple of hours of time sleeping on the floor of one of the auxiliary gyms. We did the usual on the food truck, and we were happy to see that the fridge was working well and keeping the correct temperature. There was some excitement in the air because we were going to be in a show that featured The Cavaliers. George Hopkins decided that a daily meeting with the Food Vols would be good, and so we have a meeting with him every morning 90 minutes after breakfast. It has been awesome because not only does he let us know what is going on with the daily plan as well as letting us know what is going on with the Show and changes that are coming and things they are working on. It is really great insight into the working of the Corps.

That evening we headed over to the show site in Yukon, OK. I was able to get a few shots of the Brass warm-up. Some shots from the warm-up:

Liam Sargent

Kevin Mitchell

The show was excellent! We ended up winning with The Cavaliers coming in a very close second. Here are some shots from the show:

That evening we fed the kids and headed off for Little Rock, a pretty long drive.

 Uncle Matt

So Busy...

I have not been able to post because it has been so busy! Our stay in Little Rock was interesting and trying for me personally. More on that later. I saw the new demon guard unis and they look great!

I will fill in the blanks tomorrow...

Uncle Matt

Monday Night Drumcorps

Monday, July 25th
We pulled into Wakeland Highschool at about 6AM. The food truck had arrived about 2 hours before and needed to be unloaded. When we arrived we found that the refrigeration unit was not working again and the temperature in the unit was climbing. This has happened before and so it was met with much consternation and it also meant that the snack we had planned, left overs, would have to be changed for something else. Not having reliable refrigeration really puts a cramp in planning and preparing meals. We dispatched Jay, the transportation manager, to fetch us syrup, fresh milk,  and margarine so we could serve pancakes for breakfast and then figure out lunch, dinner and snack. (Snack is the meal we prepare at the show venue after the kids perform. They are hungry and usually facing a good long ride. They usually will not have eaten since 5PM and they usually go on pretty late, so having snack at 11PM is not unusual). Patti got a plan together: we had "Mexican Lasagna" for lunch - a recipe she created from another recipe. It was basically a layering of grilled chicken, Mexican rice, cheese and salsa. It was very popular with the kids, who are burning roughly the equivalent number of calories as an NFL running back when they play 3 games in a day. Dinner was a bit simpler, Philly Cheese Steaks with spaghetti salad.

We were able to get all this together but some of the ingredients arrived late from the store and so lunch was pushed back in time, which causes a ripple to all the other schedules for the day. It was all worked out and a very good lunch was served and the schedule only minimally impacted.

During the time after lunch and before dinner, the corps goes to ensemble practice. This is where all the different parts of the corps come together and do run through of the show, or parts of it. It was HOT. I mean as hot an I have ever felt. I started to walk the 100 yards or so of white concrete to where the corps was doing ensemble and when I arrived, I was spent and there was not a lick of shade. I could only watch for about 30 seconds before I headed back, unable to remain in the sun any longer. I pretty much went straight to the showers and cold drinks. I had been outside in that 105 degree heat all day. After a shower and a little time to drink some water, i felt much better.

Dinner was next and after that the mad packing of EVERYTHING starts, you see we leave the housing site and head to the show site where we do a very quick setup and then after the show, we server the snack. We had mozzarella sticks with marinara dipping sauce. We cooked 1,600 of them and I think we had about 60 left over.

The Cadets had a pretty good show and won the competition with a score of 90.7. I got the feeling that they are looking to fix a few things in the show and expect their scores to rise if they are able to do it. We have a very busy week coming up, with the Corps facing the top corps in the next week. Here is a shot of the angels taking the field. 

Liam in his travelling clothes

The Cadets had the encore tonight and George tells me that the corps that goes on second to last always gets the encore. Their encore was fantastic and I recorded it, but my bandwidth is limited, so I will need to link to the video later.

We packed up in the RV and began the trek to Edmond, OK. We made one pit stop on the way and arrived about 5AM. I was able to sleep for a little of the trip, which was good.

Uncle Matt

Who Killed JR?

Sunday, July 25 2011
We have officially set off for Dallas, TX. It is about 1:00 AM and we are rolling down the highway. We are scheduled for a rest stop about half way and that brings us to the housing site at about 6AM. So my first night in the RV. I am in a middle upper bunk and it is almost long enough for me. I can get in and out of it pretty easily, but I have to be careful not to step on Bob, my under bunk-mate when climbing in.

Since this was a laundry/free day we were only serving breakfast and lunch. An angel donated a wonderful breakfast of egg and sausage/potato/etc tacos. They were awesome. We served roasted hot dogs for lunch along with some chili and nacho sauce, potato salad and chips. I doctored up the chili a bit, so that it was a little more "there". Liam said it was a hit and the hot dogs went like mad, even though most of the Corps was going to do laundry then hit the River Walk in downtown San Antonio to eat again! The kid left for laundry and so the food vols had a more leisurely time of packing up and then getting a shower. They were cold, but felt incredible: a shower to remember. We had a quick Food Vol meeting and then pretty much set off on our separate ways with instructions to meet up at no later than "butt-in-seat-time" of 12:15 AM.

I spent the evening with Kevin and Bob at the house of Lori and Paul, who have twin girls in the color-guard and just recently finished a stint of volunteering. They have an amazing home not far from the San Antonio housing site with a beautiful pool and hot tub. They treated us to cocktails and a delicious meal of chicken fajitas from a local joint that were outstanding. Ever the engaging guest, I feel asleep on the couch with Bob. Time got away from us a bit and we did not get down town to meet up with the Corps who were going to see the final installment of "Harry Potter". We did however get to ride with John and Barbara who have been following The Cadets in their own RV. We met up with the rest of the buses in the Alamodome parking lot and I used the porta-potty and got into my bed/travelling clothes. I was able to duck into the Brass Bus and chat with their driver, a great guy who really enjoys driving the kids. He is having the time of his life driving these kids around and is not shy about saying they are best buch of kids he has ever been associated with! Here are a couple of shots of the inside of their bus:

They are packed in there, but their driver assures me there are some hard and fast rules they must follow for safety sake and the kids always comply. The caravan headed to the movie theater and picked up the kids and the rest of the staff and Vols and headed to Dallas.

Uncle Matt

The Show

Saturday 7/23/2011 Alamodome
We traveled down to the Almodome in the Volunteer RV as part of the caravan of 5 buses and 1 tractor-trailer. The RV tows the trailer that carries the scaffolding for the drum majors, the gator and some other stuff, so we pull into equipment parking. This is were the drum corps bring their tractor trailers full of equipment, instruments and everything needed to put on these awesome shows.

The atmosphere is a little excited, but controlled, as each of the members goes and get their equipment, gets dressed and then moves off to warm-up. The pit has a ton of equipment that must be unloaded, assembled and made ready to roll into the show. The battery gets their drums and goes off to warm up, as does the brass and the color guard, each to the area of their choosing. I and some of the food volunteers used our official ID badges to good use and wandered down to the loading area of the dome. We walked right in and followed the tunnel down to the dome floor. I wanted to right on up and see what Liam would see as he walked into the dome that first time, but my Food Vol friends were a little reluctant. I went anyway. I walked down that hallway and could see a drum corps performing and I could see that there was space enough for a football field, and much more. As I walked through the door, I was greeted by the sight of this huge dome. As I looked to my right, I could see where the fans were seated in the stands in front of the performing corps. There were people as far up as I could see, they just kept going up and up into the upper levels. I was taken aback, it was an incredibly impressive and daunting sight. I slowly walked out and skirted to the right so as not to be noticeable and watched the performing corps. They were the Troopers out of Casper, Wyoming.

I started back to the tunnel and I saw that one of the Food Vols, Suzanne, had followed me out and had the same look as I did on my face - "My son is going to perform in THIS place?"

I then went on a mission to find where the brass was warming up. I walked and walked and finally found them at the very far end of the parking lot. I watched as they did a few warm-up exercises and then performed their traditional warm-up, "Rocky Point Holiday". It was very cool to see it live. They then lined up and got ready to march to the dome. I got going so I could get up to some seats before the show actually started. I got a text message from my brother-in-law and his family that they were in section 318, so I headed up there to see the show with them. The show was different from up so high, but still awesome. The brass reached right up and grabbed you, the battery pounded you and they were far down on the field. It did not seem that they noticed they were in an awesome dome in front of thousands of people. They sounded and looked great, I was proud to be associated with such a wonderful group of kids demonstrating their incredible hard work and talent.It was truly great, and no video of the performance can ever convey the incredible power and beauty of their show.

I also stayed and saw the Blue Devils show, and I just have to say, "I do not get it". They play well and move well, but not much of that happens at the same time and I do not get the houses made of plastic pipe, sorry.

Uncle Matt

Matt's First Day on Tour

Saturday 7/23/2011
I woke this morning in my Motel 6, and the less said about that establishment, the better. I will say, however, there is a reason why they "leave the light on for you". It is the same reason cavemen and campers used to keep a campfire lit: to keep wild animals away.

After some walking and shopping, I was picked up by Abby, a lovely girl working for The Cadets in this, her first year after age out. I made my way around "Ladybird" Johnson High School and saw some old friends, Kevin, Patti, Neil and Jay, and met many new friends as well. The school is fantastic, fairly new, with great fields and lots of space. We are well taken care of here, the Baritone Tech for The Cadets works here and so they really understand what this is all about. All day yesterday member of the band from this high school were out on the field watching The Cadets practice, and the looks on their faces were priceless.

I asked Patti (head food poobah) I could take some time to see the practice sessions, check out where Liam actually goes during the show and maybe catch him for a much-needed and long overdue hug. I was able to watch some of the Brass practice and during a water break an extremely tan, tall and thin young man came up to me with a "Hey Daddy-o" and gave me a big hug. I was surprised, happy, moved and in awe of this young fellow, who just a couple of months ago was my high school age son. I am reflecting on that first conversation and kindness and I am still moved by it. We talked for a quick minute and then Liam, as is usual for him, introduced me to anyone who was nearby and really made me feel welcome within that group of young elite musicians. They took a moment to say hi while they were getting water and refreshed for the next session of practice. Later that day I was able to pass on the package of items he had asked for along with a special present his Mom sent along - a new Naval Academy baseball cap. I know she will be proud to know that he wore it to ensemble practice later that day, and it was great for me, it was so new and white that i could easily pick him out while he was out on the field.

So I did actually help with the food, we served General Tso's chicken, rice and broccoli, though all I did was help load the Cambros and help  serve. It was frozen prepared and came with a sauce, but the kids ate it up! Here is a photo of Kevin and others opening up the sauce packets while the chicken, rice and broccoli are being prepared in the mobile kitchen. We used the Cambro thermal keepers to good effect, heating the chicken in pans in the ovens and then transferring them to deeper pans and putting them in the keepers. They stayed nice and hot in the keepers and ready for serving. They make life so much easier!

Tomorrow we say good bye to some volunteers that have been with the corps many days. To each of them I say a hear felt "Thank you" for taking care of the Corps and most especially for taking care of my son, Liam!

Now, on to the show!

 Uncle Matt

Tough Start...

So I arrived at the Norfolk airport to find that my flight has been delayed due to weather. The dominoe effect kicked in and now I can not make my connecting flight. I called Southwest customer service and they re routed me through orlando, then houston then to San Antonio. I arrive sometime in the middle of the night.
I will post again from Orlando... my flight is boarding...
Uncle Matt

Less than a Week...

In less than a week and I will be flying down to San Antonio start my adventure of cooking, cleaning, serving and washing dishes for The Cadets! I asked my son about what he wanted me to bring for him when I come down. His immediate answer was "Nothing, I am good." His next answer, received a couple of days later, was "Candy, quarters and some money."  The third was received tonight and it listed a few more items: "Wright's Silver Creme, Softscrub with Bleach, microfiber cloths,  and... money". I sense a theme here. I have my list too:

Cooking stuff:

1. Chefs Knives, Knife Roll, steel
2. IR Thermometer (The Cadets already have Thermapens!)
3. Thermocouple thermometer with long wired probe for calibration.
4. A select few recipes, scaled to 200, just in case.
5. Minor's Chicken Base

 Other stuff I think I will need:

1. Large Tervis Tumbler with Lid and Straw
2. Noise Cancelling Headphones
3. Ear plugs
4. Flash light
5. Battery-powered camp fan
6. Sunscreen
7. Hats/bandanas
8. Camera
9. Laptop
10. Plugs, cables, etc

I know this list will grow, and I have not even included the clothes I will bring. Based on the regions I am going and their recent temperatures (see last weeks temperature chart for San Antonio below), it will be shorts, t-shirts and a little rain gear.

Oh and money.

Uncle Matt

Getting Ready

I have been thinking about this trip for awhile. My wife recently returned from her trip out West. She visited friends and family and then joined The Cadets for about a week, traveling in California, Oregon and Washington. She had a great time, but being a light sleeper, her time sleeping on the volunteer RV was tough. Luckily, during her part of the tour, they only traveled about every other day.

I do not know what I must have been thinking about when Rudy (the tour manager) asked me to volunteer during the tour from San Antonio, TX to in Salem, VA. That particular part of the tour is tough, we will be traveling in mostly the southern states during late July and early August (HOT)! To add to that, we will be on the road almost every night. I am concerned that I will be able to sleep well on the moving RV. But hey, that is why Rudy asked because and he needed the help then, so that is what I am doing.

Here is a map of my portion of the Tour:

I am looking forward to my adventure, and hoping that I am able to do my part to help these incredibly hardworking young people succeed. They deserve it!

Uncle Matt