january camp bigger and better

January Camp marks another successful camp weekend for the Cascades Drum & Bugle Corps. Not only was the December member retention extremely high, but, there was also a great influx of previous veterans and new members as well. Once again, everyone was very impressed with the quality of students and most are of college age. An exciting landmark for the corps and kudos to the brass staff as we passed the 50 member brass section mark this camp, the first time since 2007.

Some new staff flew in this weekend from across the country and we even had some surprise visitors. A.J. Pace arrived in the wee hours of Saturday morning to spend the weekend with the Cascades Percussion section. Warren Murray, from Willamette University, spent the weekend with the front ensemble and Patrick Beare, our 2010 Drum Major, flew in from New Mexico to also work with the front ensemble. One of the biggest surprises was 2009 alumnus, Tom Dougherty, who flew in from New Jersey! He brought two new members with him and helped with visual all weekend. The members were incredibly excited about all the new and returning talent being shared.

A great group of Parents and Supporters were on hand this camp. As always, there is the cook staff and helpers who artfully crafted our delicious drum corps cuisine. Enchiladas, chicken sandwiches, eggs, hash browns and TOTS! Who can complain about tots? Joel James picked up the souvenir trailer and started the inventory process to reboot the souvenir sales for the coming 2011 season. Another large group of parents and supporters worked on the ever-lasting and on-going uniform process: cleaning, hem ripping, sewing, hem ripping, organizing, hem ripping and hanging. Repeat. So much great work was accomplished this weekend and we are incredibly honored to have such wonderful people involved, a big Thank You!

Obviously the corps spent most of its’ time on technique, training and working on the 2011 production, but, on Saturday evening the entire organization gathered in the West Valley Junior High Auditorium to continue with the member introductions that were started at the December camp and to play the most recent MP3 versions of the arrangements. The highlight of the evening was the unveiling of the new uniform to a room full of “Ooooooo’s and Aaaaaah’s!” One and a half years in the making, the new uniform is only weeks away from going into production and the member’s have been given a special comment and vote section on their “member’s webpage” to make any last comments and share ideas. The evening was wrapped up by watching the DCI DVD of the 2010 Cascades, and while leaving the auditorium, you’ve never seen people more happy than those 2011 members.

Sal kicked-off the 2011 Annual NYMA Auction by sharing with the members the theme, some creative ideas for auction items and the time. This year’s auction is set for June 25th and will once again be held in the Seattle area one week prior to the Seattle DCI Summer Music Games. At the end of the camp, the full ensemble gathered to perform what they worked on all weekend. The guard performed over 3 minutes of choreography and the musicians played 8 minutes of the 2011 production, “Pandora, a dark gift.” Great weekend, lots of “Bigger and Better” going on.