Dayton Diary 2008

Drumline wins Silver Medal in Dayton, Score 95.75 !

(Updated Wednesday, April 30, 2008 08:25 AM)

Pictures:

Randy Young's Pictures

Webmaster's (unedited) pictures

Wednesday April 16th - Travel

Getting to Dayton proved to be quite the adventure. Delayed and cancelled flights meant that almost everyone arrived much later than they had planned.

The Drumline bus arrived on time but then we had to wait because the bus driver needed to visit the rest room... you'd think that if anyone should know about going before you leave it would be bus drivers... oh well.

The first leg of the trip was uneventful and we arrived in Minneapolis  with plenty of time to walk the 3 zip codes from F23 to G22 were we were to board flight 110 to Columbus. After boarding we couldn't help noticing a gentleman walking up and down the isle carrying a large object that looked alarmingly like it was part of our aircraft.

We were finally told by the pilot that there was a problem with the emergency door and we would have to change planes. Half an hour later,  now aboard a different plane we are told that the crew has been on shift for almost 14 hours and if we don't get moving in the next 2 minutes we would have to change crews. We left without a second to spare. Far too quickly as it turned out for the caterers to load any drinks on board.

We arrived at Dayton about 90 minutes late and very thirsty. Kevin and Michelle were waiting (with the truck) as we arrived at the hotel. Everyone had a chance for the annual visit to the now famous Dayton Walmart,  a quick bite to eat and go to bed in preparation for tomorrow.

p.s. I'm not even going to try to explain the picture on the left... drummers ! ... sigh.

As you can see from the picture, the weather in Dayton this morning is beautiful, our truck is parked outside of our hotel and all is right with the world... well... almost. One of our instructors called us when he arrived at the airport this morning asking for a ride. We sent someone to get him but somehow the message didn't get through that he was waiting at DAYTON and not COLUMBUS airport... 2 hours and much confusion later, everyone is now here at the practice site.

  The kids had their traditional morning run...

We had a productive rehearsal at the Middletown tennis courts although the kids were somewhat tired (I wonder why? :-).

Following dinner for 50 at Olive Garden we wrapped up the day with our nightly all hands meeting. Then its everyone in rooms with lights out at 10:00pm (that's EDT) so that everyone will be fresh for tomorrow.

Watching the kids today it really hit me that coming to Dayton is so much more than competing for medals. The kids love the traditions that they've created over the years and they simply enjoy just being with each other. The trip to Walmart, Olive Garden, and even the van rides with us parents are all part of the Dayton experience.  For the Freshmen who have been hearing stories about 'Dayton' for months, they are finally experiencing for themselves what is it all about.  Meanwhile, the Seniors seem to be treasuring every moment. This is the last time they'll experience being here with the friends that they've known for four (and in some cases many more) years.

Tomorrow the business of Dayton really starts with Mission's Prelims performance time at 11:56AM. Unfortunately, 'lot' time is restricted to 30 minutes to unload and a 1 hour warm-up, before the performance.  This will probably mean that we won't enjoy the huge crowds that we're used to seeing, but somehow I think we'll end up with more than a few 'in the lot' spectators anyway.

Its room check time so its good night from Dayton... much more tomorrow.

p.s. During room check we discovered that the air conditioning was broken in one of the kids rooms. Its now almost midnight (it was supposed to be lights out 2 hours ago... sigh) but the hotel was kind enough to move the kids to a bigger (and much cooler) room.

I know that the 8:00AM call time for breakfast arrived way to early for me this morning. Nevertheless, everyone else made it down to the lobby on time. The big news of the morning was that there had been an earthquake near Dayton !  Several people reported feeling it but most of the folks from California slept through it and only found out about it on the news.  It is actually your webmasters opinion that there was in fact no earthquake at all.  It was just Jim Wunderlich doing an early morning sound check with our recently repaired sub-woofer - its OK Jim, we won't tell USGS that it was you.

Following a quick breakfast we were off to the University of Dayton Arena  way ahead of schedule.

Since we arrived early and WGI were being strict with their rule enforcement, we had to wait a few minutes before we were allowed to start unloading our truck. We were also asked to park our vans about 2 zip codes away on the far side of the Arena.  It was at about the time that we were hiking from the vans back to the truck that we noticed the weather today in Dayton is actually HOT. I'm not sure what the exact temperature was but it was far too high to be running around the parking lot and pushing speakers and marimbas etc.

The kids had a great warm-up with a good sized gaggle of onlookers, including several industry representatives armed with cameras.  Unfortunately, due to the limited time available, the crowd was a much smaller than we've seen prior years at the Nutter Center.

With warm-up finished we had to throw all the bags, cases and other junk into the truck and head off to face the infamous University of Dayton Arena tunnel!

Having been here for 3 years with the Mission Color Guard, this was the part that I was dreading the most. Getting the floor and all the equipment and instruments down and then up the tunnel was sure to be problematic. As it turned out, it wasn't half as bad as I had expected. These are one tough bunch of kids and along with our wonderful parents helpers, they were able to get everything on and off the floor with apparent ease.

As a parent, I'm not the most qualified to comment on their performance. Worlds like WOW, AWESOME, FANTASTIC and AMAZING are often overused, but they all seem to fit quite well. The judges seemed to agree and we're going into Finals in 2nd place, just 0.6 points behind the current leader, Dartmouth.  The instructors and kids also agreed that is was their best run ever but there was certainly room for some improvement by tomorrow.

Our next stops were lunch, followed by a 4-hour rehearsal at Belmont High School. This is a somewhat misleading use of the word "lunch" since the kids in "The Saunders'" Vans (I'm now known as 'Our Saunders') insisted on us taking them to White Castle.  Now Kelley knew what to expect since she originates from this corner of the country, but neither the California kids nor this Englishman had ever experienced or tasted anything quite like it.  One local customer was somewhat amused at the kids' enthusiasm about visiting the place and even more amused about the possible consequences of practicing soon after consuming 10 (yes ten!) of the little gastronomic delights.  Needless to say, it will be some time before this particular Englishman is persuaded to visit a similar establishment again.

Saturday April 19th - Finals

The big day is finally here ! Following breakfast we headed off to "The Lions' Den" for a 3 hour rehearsal. This was a fairly casual affair where they worked on the final tweaks needed to be ready for tonight. Rehearsal ended with the full 'shirtless' run-thru with all the members, support team and instructional staff and members of RCC watching from the bleachers.

This is probably a good time to mention that the Dads have been making a few modifications to the band truck. We felt that it would benefit from having a little more horsepower. The newly modified trick is shown below...we're now a little concerned that it won't fit under some freeway over-passes... oops.

 Some of the kids got a chance to take a close look at RCC warming up...

 The next thing on the agenda is a BBQ provided by the parents at the hotel, then it is off to the Arena for the run of their lives.

Saturday April 20th - Looking back at Finals

It is now Sunday evening.  By the time you ready this, everyone (except the return leg truck drivers) should be safely home in California.

After a few showers earlier in the day, the weather stayed dry for Finals. As soon as our kids arrived,  a large crowd gathered around to watch them warm-up.

Following warm-up it's back down the tunnel and enter the Arena for the final run.

Unlike yesterday, the Arena is now packed with  people. The kids' performance was once again amazing and this time there was a huge ovation at the end from the huge crowd.

Following the performance, we head back up the tunnel, fold the floor, load for the trip home and give corsages to our Seniors.

 Back into the Arena to catch a few Independent World shows before awards - the kids went crazy watching the Japanese group, Aimachi.

Each group is announced as the walk down to the floor one last time for the Awards Ceremony.

The next few minutes seem like hours while we wait for all the corporate sponsors and the new Hall of Fame inductees to be honored.  We were sitting in the front and center and could see just catch a glimmer of disappointment on our kids faces when their score was announced and they realized that they had not "repeated" -- but that disappointment was short lived.

Following the formal ceremony, the entire Arena erupted in an ocean of celebration.

Our kids immediately went to congratulate our friends and fellow SCPA members from Claremont who's performance won the the Bronze Medal!  Congratulations, Claremont!

Thank you to everyone who made this week possible. Special thanks to our Drumline Managers, Jana and Randy, for organizing everything,  And to Michelle and Kevin Dumwoody for driving the truck and helping out in so many other ways.  Kudos and many thanks to Cindy, Mark & Andrew (not Alex) Manzanares; Anne & Rich Hicks; Susan Delehant; Kris Campoli; and Sam Zintgraff for driving our kids, feeding our kids, and generally making themselves available for whatever was needed.  And to Mr. Meeuwsen for his support, encouragement, and trumpet serenades this past week.

And, most importantly, THANK YOU to Mike, Jim, Jenny, Eileen, Jared, and Mike G. for writing and creating such an awesome show to showcase our kids' many talents!

YOU ARE ALL AWESOME!  

It has been our pleasure to bring you "Dayton Diary", both for Color Guard and Drumline, these last 4 years, and we hope you have enjoyed reading them! 

Richard and Kelley Saunders

 GO MISSION !

Sunday April 21st -Kelley & Richard's Big Adventure Starts

While everyone else had to meet in the hotel lobby at 4:30 AM to head to the airport, the Saunders' got to sleep in before setting off on their 2215.6 mile journey home in the big red truck.

The day got off to a bad start at the first gas stop. We were told by the people at the Pilot Station that we should take the truck through the lane where the cars go. Fill up one tank, back up, pull into the other side and fill up the other tank. We completed these maneuvers successfully but managed to come in contact with a 1 foot high concrete post that was next to the passenger door (hidden to the driver) when we pulled out. The result was some significant damage to one of the side bins. As I said... not a good start to the day.

The rest of the day was uneventful and we finally called it a night in Springfield, MO.

Monday April 22nd - We Feel Like We Are The Stars In a "B Movie.

A better start to the day - filled up with diesel at a Flying J Truck Stop. They have a lane for RVs with pumps on each side and you can pay at the pump - perfect.

Until now, all of the Weigh Stations have either been closed or we have been given the green light to proceed straight through. This all changed in Missouri. The nice Missouri State Highway Patrol Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Officer requested that we pull the truck around the back of his office and show him our papers. For some reason, we were missing one of the required permits. He then started listing all of the other rules that he thought we were breaking. Apparently one needs a DOT medical card to drive a truck our size (we weighed in at 27,000 lbs.)  He said that he could fine us for not carrying the permits, and the dollars he was talking about amounted to a several hundred. After pleading poverty and ignorance, he decided to do a vehicle inspection. Since all of the lights and the horn worked, and since we were carrying a fire extinguisher and caution reflectors, we passed the inspection.  He charged us a total of $20 for the permit and sent us on our merry way.

We have a little GPS that Mr. and Mrs. Dunwoody named Rosie. Rosie does a pretty good job, but we have noticed that she occasionally gets confused. She also gets very outspoken if you drive more than 70 MPH :-)

Now for some reason Rosie suddenly started to give us strange directions. We knew that we wanted the I-44, but Rosie had other ideas. She kept insisting that we take the next exit and head South. I finally realized that at some point I had programmed Rosie to avoid toll roads. She was dutifully doing her job and avoiding the Oklahoma Turn Pike. After reassuring Rosie that toll roads were actually okay, she agreed that the I-44 was our best bet.

So the visual highlights so far have been the beautiful purple trees that are everywhere, the world's biggest cross in Missouri, the trees broken by the ice storms of 2007, the Arch in St. Louis, the little farms with big red barns and the Flying J buffet.

 I knew that we had caution reflectors but never expected to have to use them. That all changed.

We were heading West on the I-40 in Oklahoma when we decided to put the air conditioner on for a few minutes to cool down.  It was 90 degrees!  It was on for a minute or so when there was a loud squealing accompanied by a strong burning smell -- the lights and the heater/air display went out.  I immediately pulled to the side of the road, popped open the hood to watch the fan belt melt around the air compressor.  The compressor had frozen and the heat from the friction had broken the belt.

After a few choice words, I consulted Rosie who knew of a diesel repair shop that was just 4 miles away.  I'll spare you all the technical details but suffice to say that the truck was towed to their shop, and a new air compressor should be delivered this morning.  Thank heaven we had a spare fan belt on the truck.

Everyone is very friendly and the guys from Diesel Works gave us a ride to the hotel. The town (using that term VERY loosely) of Weatherford, Oklahoma consists of the Holiday Inn Express, Lucille's Route 66 Diner (where we had the best steak dinner ever and the most incredible blackberry cobbler with ice cream!), a Phillips 66 Gas Station/Convenience Store, and our mechanics, Diesel Works -- that is it!  After double checking the weather to confirm that the tornadoes and thunderstorms were going to miss Weatherford (no joke!), we had an early night.  So, early to bed and early to rise, we are now anxiously awaiting a call from Diesel Works on the status of the truck repairs.  

We met some very colorful characters in Weatherford and given the circumstances it really felt like we were on the set of a cheap disaster movie. 

Wednesday April 24th - Home in Mission Viejo

The part arrived, the truck was repaired and we were back on the road. Apart from some strong winds and heat (the full repair to the air conditioner will have to wait until we get home) the remainder of the trip was uneventful.