Thoughts on Spring Training from our Volunteer Coordinator

​Hi!

AJ, your Volunteer Coordinator / Secretary of the Board here (I also march tuba this year)! March camp already feels like so long ago…and April so far has been flying by! One more camp to go this month, on the 20th! Who’s HYPE?

I would like to shout out to the selected volunteers who played Easter Brass for the United Methodist Church of the Dunes on….well, Easter of course. Community involvement in music is a big reason I love drum corps, and that love shined through on Easter service with everyone making it such a special day (brass, bells, singers, and organ, oh my!!!…and I got to play timpani!) Well done Mat, Mike, Rich, Kirby, Sage, Ryan, Kassandra, Mitchell, Brooklyn, and Doug!!

I also would like to congratulate all ‘Lights members who taught or participated, AND got medals, at the MCGC Championships (I’m proud of you but also missed you)!

One piece of feedback the members gave us at the conclusion of last season was that they didn’t feel like they had enough time with the corps. Initially this was by design, as 1) we thought the corps was just going to be a handful of music friends, and 2) we wanted to keep travel costs low as it became clear that there was more interest among the community. (This was a pleasant surprise!)

However, as stated earlier, this reduced schedule left our members hungry for more drum corps. And who could blame them! (That’s why we do this, isn’t it?)

So when designing this seasons schedule, we set out to have harmony between low travel costs and time with the corps. We helped achieve that with more rehearsals and performances, yes, but also with a special weekend we dubbed, “Spring Training”. And, despite the Michigan temperature FUN (30 degrees and frost in the morning, 50 degrees and hot and sunny by mid day), the ‘Lights found themselves outside once more! 

Now usually, the ‘Lights are “Saturdays are for The Corps”….but, with “Spring Training”, we wanted to give that “move-ins” feel. We rehearsed from Friday through Sunday, and when I say rehearsed, I mean rehearsed!

Friday was a short day, but it was a powerhouse - 4 hours of basics block and fundamentals! My calves and arms probably wished I had a different hobby (I do - DnD and other community music, but still…), and the corps would probably agree. Regardless, from veteran to rookie, the soreness gave way to feelings of pride as we made a ton of progress, especially for being away from marching for a couple months. By the end of rehearsal we were juuuuust about ready to do a box drill….

And the following Saturday was the day we did it! With no crashes! After our morning basics block, we went to lunch, and from there had sectionals. We refreshed Part 1 and worked with Part 2 of our show in preparation for ensemble on Sunday. Other than that it was a pretty boring dayOHWAITASECOND!!! We were honored to have Dr. John Martin, Director of the Grand Valley State University Laker Marching Band fame there to give us some pointers (as performers, and as staff). His ear helped us fine-tune several segments of Part 1 and Part 2, and we hope to see him again in the future (seriously, you’re awesome Jmar)!

Sunday was the culmination of our hard work - some sectional time to solidify what we learned Saturday, and then ensemble to add all the concepts together. After a hype two full runs of Part 1, we ended Spring Training with bonding activities in the gym.

With that, the seven rehearsals, blink-of-an-eye season structure was gone, now replaced with a corps that is closer than ever - more time with drum corps, more time with friends, more time together as THE Northern Lights Drum and Bugle Corps!