Day 9 -14, New England Loop

So there was a short rehearsal block in Van Buren after the corps slept in. After rehearsal, laundry day and a mall visit was the day end before another long drive into New York. The kids got done with the laundry quickly and had several hours to visit Wal-Mart and a number of restaurants. Spirits were high as we all began the 490 miles to Fort Edwards, NY. We are holding the spread in points to several high rated corps and the New England loop continued that trend.

As soon as we hit home turf, the Boston board and volunteer machine spooled up and gave the kitchen staff a well deserved break. The corps was treated to home-baked goods, desserts, and main courses of grilled burges, BBQ'd chicken, coos-coos, muffins, and the works.


The home shows were also a real boost for the energy level on the field--spontaneous standing "O's" and cheering erupting at every show--and not just at the end either! This show is gathering alot of buzz and it keeps getting cleaner.

In Nashua, NH, we got a food delivery. The corps uses a food supply service and gets several deliveries throughout the summer. It is off-loaded from the delivery truck and must be packed away on the kitchen truck. This was a large order--419 cases of frozen, cold, and dry goods. It took several hours of hard work to get it packed away but we made the show departure time of 4:00PM. The Nashua show was mainly for open division corps but the crowd was extremely enthusiastic to have the Crusaders entertain them. Several old time alums and fans offered that this was the best BAC show they had ever seen---ever! That is so cool!

Endicott College near Beverly was an amazing show site--high-end homes (estates) right on the shore with spectacular views and steep hills. We used the pit gator to shuttle ALL of the pit equipment up and down the steep hills.

Today, Friday, July 4th, we are in Manchester by the Sea for parades. This morning, the corps divided into two parade units and went off in the pouring rain to march the routes. They are both back now and having some down time and food prior to departure at 3:00PM for another parade and then our drive down to NJ. We will be temporarily leaving behind the home show crowds and supporters for our East Coast loop down the coast, Orlando, then Texas before returning to Lawrence, for the East Coast Classic.

I hope to again be more regular with the pix. Enjoy!

Sorry for the blurred pictures..it has been quite dark and my camera just isn't fast enough to stop the motion.

Curt