MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM DADDY V!

Once again Daddy V finds himself in the Garden State for the holidays. A little R & R and of course, being only 2 1/2 hours from the state of Connecticut, Daddy V and the family will being attending the Boyes-Garringer nuptials on December 29th. (Daddy V likes to think he had a little something to do with getting the lovebirds together - specifically some lies told to Emilie regarding Mark's past. You never did get jail time for that public indecency charge, did ya Mark?)

Daddy V took the family and Grandma V to Cape May, NJ, today where we enjoyed a Christmas play entitled "Every Christmas Story Ever Told". Very funny and very entertaining! The program included the following which you may consider my Daddy V Christmas gift to you! Enjoy!

Phoardendron flavescens, or Mistletoe, is actually a parasitic plant that grow on the bark of other trees. It derives it's name from the Anglo-saxon "mistel" meaning dung and "tan" for twig, from the belief that Mistletoe sprang from branches where birds sat and done what birds do do on branches. The tradition of kissing under the mistletoe is in reality a pagan custom that originated with the Vikings, who would dip sprigs of the plant in the blood of sacrificed bulls, and give them to people as protection against evil spirits and storms. So....the next time your're in a doorway beneath a sprig of dung-branch, think about Viking blood sacrifices and PUCKER UP!

LAURA'S A GLASSMEN! (SORT OF)

Well, as they say, no news is good news so we are assuming that as long as Laura still wants to do it there is a spot for her in the Glassmen horn line.  Camp #2, shortened because of weather, really gave Laura very few answers concerning her staus with the corps. Camp dismissed at noon on Sunday and the only indication that Laura has that she is still "in" is a statement from the instructors that if they had not talked to you yet, you should come back to the January camp.  As I said, no news is good news.  Most of the people I talked to said that it was a good sign and Laura should be happy.  Unfortunately, Laura is a very sore person today! 3 hour music rehearsal on Friday night, 4 1/2 hour morning music rehearsal and a 3 1/2 afternoon visual rehearsal on Saturday plus another 2 1/2 hour music block Saturday night made for a lot of tired and aching muscles for all the kids. 3 more hours of music on Sunday morning capped off the week-end.  This is a grueling schedule as evidenced by the fact that out of the 100+ kids who showed up at Thanksgiving camp only 56 came back! The wheat is being seperated from the chaff!



We all got a chance to hear the ballad (Watermark by Enya) with the hornline and pit before leaving on Sunday. And yes, Daddy V once again worked his fanny off in the kitchen, preparing food, snacks, and drinks for the participants - just don't let Mrs. Daddy V know that I can do kitchen work!

GLASSMEN CAMP - ROUND 2

That's right folks! It's time to do or die - put up or shut up - get the bear or let the bear get you - etc. This weekend is the weekend when decisions are made regarding marching spots for next summer's tour. I can personally attest to the fact that Laura is prepared and ready to go. As a matter of fact, I don't think she could be more prepared then she is now so at 4:00 P.M. tomorrow we continue with the quest for drum corps stardom. Check back here for up-dates!

Incidentally, for those of you who might not know, former members of the Patriot Band have marched in drum corps before. Back in the mid 80's Brad Milligan marched as a percussionist for the Cavaliers. He was with the Cavies when they were just starting to make their rise to the top of the heap. More recently (early 90's) Mike Twigg played baritone with the Pioneer Drum and Bugle corps from Milwaukee, WI. Again, for those of you out of the loop, our own Emilie Boyes (soon to be Garringer) spent a summer marching with the Hurricanes D & B corps from Connecticut. Unfortunately, Daddy V's only claim to fame was one season with the Golden Knights All-Male Winter Guard in NJ. Sic transit gloria mundi!

Furthermore, Portland was home to a drum and bugle corps in the 50's and 60's. The Portland Comets were quite well-know in the midwest and came close to stardom on more than one occasion in national competition. For those who would like to read more about the Comets, Daddy V actually wrote graduate school research paper about the corps in 2001. The paper is available at the Jay County Library.

COOL WEB SITE!

Hey! All you budding drill writers! Check out micromarching.com for some fun!

GLASSMEN CAMP - NOVEMBER 2007

Here's a picture from the Glassmen's web site of the baritone line at the November audition camp. Laura is the one to the right in the light blue pants! This picture was taken a a local high school where the horn line practiced during the day. At night, it was back to G-West "ice box".😉

WHY CAN'T WE DO THAT?

For those of you who read the "There and Back Again" post you know that I attended a drum corps camp over the past week-end. The camp, in a lot of ways, was an eye opener for me. But I guess the thing that got me the most was how 100 brass players who had never played together before could show up on one week-end and sound like a well-rehearsed ensemble by the end of the week-end. The answer, of course, is the fact that they wanted to be there! That's right - 100 horns sounding like they had been playing together forever becuase they had the desire. Do the math folks! We've got well over 100 kids in our band, we rehearse every day, and yet our sound doesn't come close to matching the sound I heard on Sunday afternoon. The sad part is, it could! Yes, the average age is higher than our by maybe 2 years, yes, it's all brass, no woodwinds. But still, if we could get the kind of effort I saw over the week-end from all members, at worst, we would be better! Too much "dead wood" - too many "rotten apples" and, on the other hand, too many kids who want to make the Patriot Band the best in the state! Kids come into band with many different levels of commitment, but never-the-less, it is a class with a curriculum and standards, just like math, science, etc. The biggest difference is that every member of the band affects the outcome. If half of your algebra class gets As and the rest of the class gets Fs, the failures in no way affect those who get As. But if half the band class plays right notes while the other half plays wrong notes, the entire group is harmed!Thanks Mr. Smeltzer, for holding the students accountable for playing their part. I'm in total agreement and believe it should be taken even further. What do you think? Talk to me....I'm Daddy V.

THERE AND BACK AGAIN or HOW I MADE 500 GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICHES IN ONE NIGHT!

GLASSMEN DRUM AND BUGLE CORPS - TOLEDO, OH

For those of you who don't know, Daddy V's oldest daughter Laura, is embarking on "an adventure of a life time" by pursuing a baritone spot with the Glassmen Drum and Bugle Corps from Toledo, Ohio. Friday, November 23 was the beginning of the Glassmen camp with 260 prospective members in attendance, breaking down to 100 brass, 100 percussion and 60 guard (approx.). After registering, Daddy V was whisked off to the Glassmen kitchen to help prepare the evening snack (which consisted of the afore mentioned 500 grilled cheese sandwiches) Glassmen have there own building known as G-West. To be perfectly frank, it's a dumpy old school building that leaks air, smells bad and is falling apart - but, hey, it's home! Laura attended the first all corps meeting and then joined the horn line for their first practice. To be honest, I worked til 1:00 AM on Saturday, got up and helped with breakfast at 6:00 AM, worked until 1:00 AM Sunday morning (no kidding - it takes a lot of work to feed and clean up after 260 kids) got up at 6:00 AM again and worked until 3:00 at which time I attended the "show and tell" presentation. Except for meals, I never even saw Laura! Her audition went well and she is planning a return trip during December for Round 2 and daddy V is once again planning a return to the kitchen - just don't let Mrs. Daddy V know or she'll expect me to do kitchen work at home too!

Pep Band Time

Hey banders past and present! Basketball season is just around the corner and that means plenty of pep band tunes on the way! What are your favorites both past and present? Give us your top 5 likes and dislikes! If you are a Patriot alum, give us an idea what year your tunes were played.

LEARNING ABOUT BAND FROM BIRDBRAINS!

Teambuilding and Teamwork

Geese… Fact #1: As each bird flaps its wings when flying in formation, it creates uplift for the bird following. By flying in a “V” formation, the whole flock adds 71 percent greater flying range than if one bird flew alone.
Lesson Learned: People who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they are going quicker and easier because they are traveling on the strength of one another.

Geese… Fact #2: When a goose falls out of formation, it feels the drag and resistance of flying alone and quickly returns to the formation.
Lesson Learned: If we have as much sense as geese, we will stay in formation with those who are ahead of where we want to go and we will be willing to accept their help as well as give our help to others.

Geese… Fact #3: Geese in formation honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep up their speed.
Lesson Learned: We need to make sure our honking from behind is encouraging and not something else.

Geese… Fact #4: When the lead goose gets tired, it rotates back into the formation and another goose flies at the point position.
Lesson Learned: It pays to take turns doing the hard tasks and sharing leadership.

Thanks to Krista Lucas for the above post! I hope we all read it and learn!

PATRIOT GUARD GEARS UP FOR COMPETITION!

PATRIOT GUARD RETURNS TO COMPETITION!
For the first time in 10 years, the Patriot Guard will be competing this winter in the Indiana High School Color Guard Association winter guard circuit. For those of you who have never seen a winter guard program before, it takes place on a high school gym floor. Each guard designs a show that includes flags, rifles, sabers along with props, back drops and other things to "tell" their story. This year, the Patriot Guard will compete in class B which means our show will be 3 minutes long. After class B comes class AAA, the AA, then A. After this comes open and world class. Each class requires a longer show length. Every guard must work themselves up through the ranks in order to compete in the higher classes. Jay County was one of the first competing color guards in the state of Indiana, starting way back in 1980. We were out of it until about 1993 when Lori Mark and Daddy V started the winter guard up again. The guard competed until 1998, narrowly missing state finals in 1997. The new edition of the winter guard is thanks to the enthusiasm of Emilie Boyes who spent 5 years competing in winter guard during her high school career (no genius, it didn't take her 5 years to get through high school - her guard used middle school kids!) Keep your eye on TTMDV for updates as the show progresses.