We’re Underway!
It’s 11:44 p.m. ET and I’m coming to you from the back of the trailer that pulls the cook truck. First rule of volunteering … nothing ever goes exactly as planned. Second rule of volunteering…remain calm. Third rule of volunteering… roll with the punches and remain flexible. But we’ll come back to all that.
Let’s start at the airport. We were picked up by Ryan Mallburg, who I’m sure many of you know. We loaded up in the Adrian College van for the quick drive to meet the corps in Adrian.
Ryan recently graduated from Michigan State and is the Band Director for a school here in Michigan with a transition year with the retiring band director mentoring him his first year.
As I talked with Ryan more, that same recurring theme from every year I’ve written this blog began to ring in the back of my mind. Ryan is a Cavalier. And Cavaliers are simply a cut above.
Somehow (go figure) our conversation turned to Drum Corps, how he discovered it, his audition experiences (including meeting this one particular baritone player from Georgia at Cavaliers auditions in 2017), and how it has affected him.
As it turns out, all Music Departments at all schools aren’t as “excited “ about their studio members marching drum corps as others. Ryan sacrificed a lot in his educational setting to march his three seasons from 2017-2019. But he did it anyway. Good for him. And because he was the “first one up the hill taking the bullets” there are now several members of his alma mater marching band marching drum corps. Because Ryan cleared the way. A Cavalier cleared the way. Surprised? I’m not… not in the least. Being service minded to the end of today’s pick up duties, he went without asking and retrieved Laurie and I a dinner plate from an already closed cook truck. “Long drive tonight, and nothing from the truck til breakfast” he smiled as he gave us our meals and then moved on to his next tour duties. Thanks again Ryan for re-emphasizing for the millionth time over 4 tours the nature of a Cavalier.
So now for the curve balls. We bumped into Thien and Vi almost immediately and I could tell almost immediately that Thien was in “problem solving” mode.
Thien: “We may need you guys to ride with one of the truck drivers. The AC on the V-bus is being worked on. “
Me(internally): “No worries here. Beats the stretch I did in 2018 laying flat in a rolling coffin between San Antonio and Mesquite when the V-bus broke down”🤪
So Laurie and I are laughing down the road with Lorena in her tractor pulling the cook trailer.
And so begins the swansong season for us.
Damn if I don’t love this Drum Corps, its members and their stories, its educational staff and Admin, and its kind workers like Lorena… who has made us feel right at home in her world.
But what I love most? The mature, thoughtful, kind, and amazing young men that the gears of this organization produce.
More tomorrow! Goodnight POTC!
Rolling With the Cavaliers 