Day Nine - Back in Philadelphia

Time to get misty; today is my last day on tour with The Cadets; a wonderful group of young adults, who are working harder every single day than almost any group of people I have ever seen. It is truly jaw dropping what they do every day and the staggering amount of work they put in to perfect their show. If you have read the posts I have made over my time with them, you know that volunteering on the Food Truck is not a picnic, but it is fun and rewarding. You get to work with some wonderful people, parents of current and past members, past members and people who feel the need to help this great organization. They are all great people and working with them is an inspiration to me. The work is hard, the hours long, but the sense of accomplishment and the pride of helping a truly deserving group of young people is what makes it for me. I count my blessings that I am able to take six or seven days of vacation and spend it with The Cadets and my son. As a father, I know only too well how fast my kids have grown. They are now preparing to make their way out into the world. It is part of being a parent that you are destined to see them grow then move off into the wide world. The opportunities to work side by side with your child on something meaningful and difficult is a rare gem to be grabbed with both hands and held tightly. It is a gift to be there to witness my son meeting and mastering challenge after challenge, and I will cherish it.

Day Eight - The Beanpot Invitiational

Today started out at our housing site of Burlington high school. We thought we would do a breakfast of egg casseroles. They are easy to make and delicious. We added ripped up bread to 8 hotel pans and then added cheese, onions, peppers, ham and pepperoni and then baked them. Jay liked to get them almost all baked, then take them out of the oven to set up and then back in the oven to finish up cooking. They came out of the oven and into the cambros waiting for service. This is Matt's recipe, but he warned us that the members are finicky about egg casseroles and they never go that well, the member opting for cereal and other breakfast items. He was right and out of the 8 that we made, we had four left over. I had a serving and it ware really quite delicious, so I think the member missed out.

Day Seven - Happy Fourth of July!

The 4th of July dawned bright and hot and promised to stay that way all day. Today is parade day, and the corps would be performing in two: one in Bristol, RI and the other one in Norwood, MA. Bruno asked that we serve a hearty breakfast because the corps would be on the go all day. When I got up at 5 or so, Jay was already up and making his special biscuits. He let me know that I would be making sausage gravy.

Day Six - Beautiful Rhode Island

So I missed a day or two! It happens when you have a very busy day, and July 3rd was a busy day. We woke up at the beautiful Roger Williams University right on the Narraganset Bay next to the Bay Bridge. I woke up early because we needed to get breakfast started. Breakfast was fried eggs, flank steak, cheese and bagels to make breakfast sandwiches. I used the meat slicer to cut the flank steak into strips and Jay cooked them on the flattop, then we fried eggs individually so the corps could assemble their sandwiches. Served with our usual breakfast items it was a good breakfast for the corps to start a busy day. The weather looked a bit overcast but there was not much humidity and a nice breeze was blowing. They day turned hot, however, but thankfully the breeze never stopped blowing.

Can it be Day Five?

Hard to believe that five days have gone by! The days fly by when you are this busy. Just the fact that I have been able to make a post each day means the pace has been fast but not crazy. Today started at 5:00 AM when I got up to get dressed so I could go out and help with breakfast at 5:30. Elaine and Jay were up when I got there and Jay was preparing potatoes on the flattop while Elaine was cracking eggs. Jay said he wanted to do scrambled, but I wanted to learn his omelette technique so I shamed him into making omelettes. We made plain cheese and onion, green pepper and ham. I have attached a couple of pictures of them in process.

Day Four aka Laundry Day

Last night we got to see The Cadets at Southern Connecticut University. We usually get to see the brass warm up, which is always a treat. Last night the horn line sounded great. They got into position for warm up early so the kids got a little time to relax and hang with their sections. After that, they started their last bit of warm up which ends with "Rocky Point Holiday", which was so good I was pretty sure they were going to have a great show. I got into the stands and up the press box stairs in time to see the show, and I was not wrong. I thought the show, and especially the brass, was the best I had heard yet.

Brass warm up

The show at SCU

After the show, we loaded into the entertainer to head back to the housing site but we needed to hang for a bit to wait for the design staff to get back from the critique. We eventually got back and snack was being served by the people who remained behind and a couple of people who went back with the Admin RV from the show.

Since we were staying at this housing site for the next two nights, I had setup my inflatable in a computer lab that was air conditioned, so I headed off to a good night's rest. Matt, Jay and Dave were doing breakfast, so we got to sleep in a bit so I awoke at 7:00 AM and headed out.

Breakfast was pancakes (strawberry, chocolate chip and plain) along with ham and the usual assortment of  cereal and some blueberry muffins that Elaine and Tessa made the night before while we were at the show.

Lunch was remote again and we decided to make cold salads; tuna and chicken. We made some plain and some with onions and celery in it. All had a spice mix of a little garlic granules, dried parsley, salt and black pepper. We packed all that in the box truck and off it went with bread, drinks and all the other parts of a Cadet style meal.

After lunch was in hand and prepared, we started on plans for dinner, which on a laundry day, is always a puzzle. We were told that most of the laundromats did not have any food places nearby. It is usual for the members to go to the laundry, put their clothes in the washer and the quickly got get a treat of fast food or ice cream or other such stuff. So we would be preparing a dinner for the corps so they could get some food before they left. We decided that making fajitas would be a good choice because they could make one to go if they wanted. So we prepared lots of onions and peppers to be sauteed on the flattop and cooked another 8 pounds of rice. I tried to make the rice a little different by adding cilantro and lime, but I think it would have worked better if I had been able to get some fresh cilantro and more lime. Still, it tasted quite good. 

Sauteing the peppers on the flat top

Matt also prepared roasted potatoes getting Elaine and Tessa to chop some up so he could roast them with some spices and a little onion. They came out delicious and everyone loved them. The fajitas went well, but as is sometimes the case on laundry day, some kids had a difficult time getting ready for laundry and grabbing some food too. So we have some great leftovers for a snack in a couple of days. We may use the leftover potatoes, peppers and onions tomorrow for breakfast.

Tonight we get a rare break of an open evening, the members are out doing laundry and we already served them all their meals, so there is nothing to do but hang out and maybe have an adult beverage with some of the other carrots and drivers. After that, a bedtime of 11:00 PM sounds pretty good, breakfast prep is at 5:30 AM tomorrow...

Oh, and it rained pretty much all day, but we missed the really bad storms that hit other parts of the state. Hoping for better weather tomorrow, but I think the forecast is similar to today's...

Matt

On the Third Day...

After a great show in Quincy, MA last night  Matt (tour cook, not me) and the gang laid out a nice snack spread of leftovers and other assorted goodies. I was so tired that I was not to much help. I hit the sack as soon as we pulled out and slept through to the morning. I woke up about 6:00 AM a bit groggy but got going pretty fast. Jay and Dave Marden were up and doing breakfast of eggs, bacon, sausage and all the usual breakfast items.

Lunch was split again but to add some spice, it was remote. We needed to cart the lunch over to the stadium where the corps was rehearsing. The lunch was cadet-style grilled cheese which means we butter the bread with mayonnaise. Now this is the way my family has always done it, but many people find it strange. We setup a bit of a line to assemble the bread, cheese and mayo. Tessa, Alice, Elaine and I were able to get the 400 sandwiches made in about an hour and a half. After we got the first large pan finished Matt, Dave and Jay grilled them up and put them in hotel pans and into the cambro for transport. The rest of the lunch was packed and shuttled over to the corps.

After lunch departed we started on dinner. We planned dirty rice since we had lots of onions, peppers, celery, ground beef and rice. Alice and I started by chopping peppers and onions then I did the celery. I cooked the vegetables on the flattop. We saved off some of the vegetables to cook without animal fat so we could serve a vegan version of the dish. While I had a quick shower and shave, Matt browned the ground beef. Then time was getting tight so I started to cook the rice. I used the oven method to cook the rice. We decided to cook about 32 pounds of rice so we would be sure to have enough. While the rice cooked we portioned out the meat and vegetables into 8 foil lined hotel pans and added the creole spice mix that Alice had made up earlier in the day. Once the rice was done, we added a good amount to each pan, added a bit more chicken broth, mixed it all up and and covered them with foil and put them back in the oven for a bit.

We served the dinner with corn and salad. Lots of members, volunteers, and staff said they enjoyed the meal, so I think the team had another success. I saved some of the rice I made to give to our Asian members, they miss their rice so much that I thought a little treat of plain rice might be well received.

We are off to see the show and since we are doing snack back at the housing, we have the rare treat of having nothing to do at the show.

Here are some shots.

Cooking the Holy Trinity - Carrots, Onion and Celery

Member Shun Sasaki enjoying Dirty Rice and some plain rice I made special for our Asian members

Day Two

Near Boston at Burlington High School. We arrived here from NJ this morning. We had one rest stop on the way in New York, the trip was uneventful and I was able to get enough sleep. I am sure I will sleep well tonight, however.

Breakfast was easy, just put out donuts, coffee, pop tarts and other baked goods with the usual cereal, yogurt and stuff.

Lunch was what we call "split", which means that the brass would be fed at 12:45 and the guard and percussion at 2:00. Since it was in a single location, it is pretty easy to do. We served hot dogs and home made Mac and Cheese along with chips and apples. I made the Mac and Cheese from the ziti I cooked and chilled yesterday. I looked up a general recipe and went from there. Butter and flour for a roux, water and milk, a truly awesome amount of cheddar cheese, a couple of pounds of Parmesan, dry mustard, a touch of garlic powder and a block of Velveeta we had left and we had a large pot of cheese sauce. We made 8 pans and they ate 7, so I think they liked it.

Tonight is meatballs and spaghetti with salad and green beans plus some chocolate sheet cakes. Here are some photos:

The spaghetti and meatballs

Alice serving the chocolate cake

Yesterday they had a repairman come to fix the valve that got broken on the flat top. He told us that the back splash we had was causing many problems and told us to either remove it or cut holes in it to let the heat flow properly. This has been done so the unit should work much better. I am hoping that we will be able to do some blackened chicken sandwiches. I think the corps will love them. Here is the recipe

We are now getting ready to head to the show in Quincy. 

Matt

First Day

I arrived at the Trenton Train station all safe and sound. I was picked up by an old Cadet friend, Chris Demas. There was another Cadet at the train station too so the three of us headed to the housing site.

When I arrived I saw many old friends and met some new ones. The best part of joining the tour is getting to see all these great people, members, staff and volunteers.

I found my son, Liam, got a hug and handed off to him his new shoes and air mattress.

Today was a bit of a special dinner because a great supporter of the cadets, Greg Pych, was bringing it in. He brought country ribs, corn, baked beans and a wonderful salad of mixed greens, grapes, strawberries and a neat mixture of three dressings. Greg prepared the ribs with a rub in the oven then finished them off on the grill with barbeque sauce. We did our special "cooler corn" and it came out great as usual. A very successful meal and the members were well pleased with it. Here are some shots of the food:

Country Ribs

Mixed Salad

Corn on the Cob cooked in a Cooler

Liam showing off his meal

At the Train Station

The station in Norfolk is packed! This is very good news for our new little station.

Get the Tour Calendar

This is kind of a how-to blog post, but since we all like to know where the tour is at any given moment, here is the link to the tour calendar:

http://www.yea.org/site/PageServer?pagename=cadets_tour

Here is the cool part, if you are a Google Calendar user you can add this calendar to be shown on your calendar. All you have to do is click the little button on the bottom of the calendar:

This will add the "The Cadets Tour" calendar to your Google Calendar display. The best part is this is not a copy of the tour calendar, but a link. When the calendar is updated by The Cadets, the entries on your calendar are updated automatically.

If you have an Android phone, this new calendar should appear on your phone in a short time, if you do not see it after waiting a while, go to your calendar display and use the setting "Calendars to Display" and  make sure that the calendar named "The Cadets Tour" is selected to be displayed. Also make sure that in the list of "Calendars to Sync" that the calendar is checked as well.

-Matt

Joining Tour 2013 in New Jersey

Hey All,

I will be joining The Cadets again on Tour starting this Friday. I will meet up with them after a very early train ride from Norfolk, VA. I will be with them from the 28th until the 6th.

I hope to post at least once a day this year, we will see how busy it gets.

-Matt

April Camp!

Lunch for The Cadets, grilled hot dogs and fixings, baked beans, fruit cocktail and cookies.

On the Train

We spent a wonderful couple of nights with our daughter in New York City. We went to a famous coal fired pizza oven place and did some shopping. I picked up a high capacity battery for my phone because I thought I might need it while I tweet and blog from the shows.
We are on the train from NYC to Boston and, though we were a bit late getting off, this is the way to travel. I have a 110 V socket right next to me, a comfortable seat and a quiet and pretty quick ride.
Both Kathy and I are looking forward to getting settled in so we can start helping. Also we are looking forward to seeing our son and all our "carrot" people friends, both old and new!
That is it for now, but I am using the mobile blogger, so I will try to post little bits more often.

Monday before the Saturday...

It is the Monday before the Saturday that we join The Cadets on their tour. This year, Kathy and I will be volunteering together and I think it will be much more fun to work together than at separate times like we did last year. Later this week we will be making the first leg of our journey to New York City to spend a little quality time with our daughter, Carlie, who interning there this Summer. We will take an early train on Saturday to Boston and meet up with the tour about mid-day.

We have begun our packing and this year seems to be a bit easier (to me) to pack. I am packing all of my shirts that wear well when you are hot and sweaty. I have quite a few of the various types of Dri-Fit, Under Amour and other types of shirts that do not show sweat, dry quickly and keep you cool. I have also packed a number of shorts that wear well and are comfortable. Of course, lots of socks and underwear and one sweatshirt if it gets cold. I am sure we will pick up some Cadets shirts and other items while we are on tour, so that should round out the clothes.


We are packing the air mattress, sheets and pillows because they are needed when we stay overnight at a school. Liam asked us to bring him a few small items so we have picked those up for him. Also, his childhood nanny from Germany, Manja, sent him a box stuffed to bursting with chocolate as a bit of a graduation present, so we will bring the boy that as well. Jay Travis asked me to bring up some Christmas lights to use for decorations, so I have packed them up as well.

That is about it for now, I will be posting from the tour so stay tuned.

Matt

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.