Amazing this thing called corps!

I've been involved for a very long time in the pageantry activity in one form or another. It actually started in 1970 when I was only 4 years, and my oldest brother Robert was a 9th grade bass trombone player in the-then highly regarded Pasadena High School Marching Band. My parents were the typical crazed band parents, and I went everywhere they went, and they went everywhere the band went. I knew, at age 4, that some day I too would be drum major. That's true. No lie.

In any event, in the drum corps activity, my involvement started technically in 1981 when I went to my first show as a spectator. An amazing experience. I knew then that some day I too would be in a corps. After a couple of mishaps along the way, including joining on day 1 of the 1984 season of VK as ostensibly their best contra and going to EVERY rehearsal, only to chicken out and fricken QUIT during the Memorial Day camp, I ended up joining in 1985 as an upper lead baritone (gave up on tuba), and then became drum major in 1986 and 1987. I got to know many of the instructors during that time--even worked with a few later on as I started to get my teaching and drill designing chops going.

Fast forward to Tuesday night. At the behest of one of those "old" instructors that I've kept in contact with over the years, I joined 4 instructors from that era at a wonderful sit-down dinner at a local Chili's. WHY? We VK'ers don't need a reason, but we were always known to be able to find reasons out of nothing at all and make them seem extremely significant. :-)

In attendance was the current SCV Program Coordinator Mike McCool (the organizer of this shin-dig), my first contra instructor and stalwart VK staff member for a million years Billy Park, the head horn instructor AND arranger for VK from 1984 to 1986 Dave Elder, and the visual/program/leadership guru of the ages and one of THE inspirations in my life Greg Clarke. It was surreal "breaking bread" with these guys. Surreal because these were guys (as I flashed back to being 19 years old) that were my teachers. And here I was, 20 years later, sitting with them at Chili's in Cypress having some food and laughing our asses off at the stories we remembered from "our day". We weren't together for longer than maybe 2 hours, and truth be told (and this is just my personal weirdness here) I was a little nervous/anxious to be going out to dinner with these guys.

But as I drove home, and even now a few days later, I considered it 2 hours that I would never give up. We weren't there to impress each other with our credentials and accomplishments (I mean--I was sitting next to the guy that turned SCV around and made them rock in the late 90's for crying out loud!!!!!!!!)--we were there because of that bond.

I've tried to talk about "it" on Drum Corps Planet before and describe "it" or make sense of "it"--that bond we have in this activity in general. And I can't. It just is. It's there. And for 2 hours, I could have sat there at dinner with the title "These Guys' Former Drum Major That They All Use To Yell At!", but instead, I was a fellow former VK'er...and Ryan H. Turner.

The email I got from Greg Clarke the next day not only confirmed the admiration and respect I have for the man, but it made me realize you are what you make yourself to be, and you should do your best always. If you choose not to, that's your choice. If you choose to, and no one notices, who cares. Because YOU did it. I am grateful to Greg, and I will be forever, for instilling some ideas and values into me that while I can't claim 100% adherence to (because of my flawed nature--just as all of us have), I appreciate nonetheless.

This has been a sappy ass entry into my blog. Sorry 'bout that. Hope you enjoyed. Now get outta here...