2012 Dallas eXperience Camp November 18-20, 2011
2012 Here we Go!
Daniel Pennington and I meet at the local Penske Friday morning at 10. We are outfitted with two white Freightliner sleeper cabs for the trip north to Forney. We stop at the yard to grab the Kitchen Trailer (Crossmen Catering) and the Equipment Truck (Music Store). Six hours later we pull into the Forney HS. It is good to see our host Mario again. The campus has changed a bunch since our visit last November. The new facilities for the band and athletics are spectacular.
It is hard to believe that we are underway for the new season! The design team has been hard at work since Championships. The 2011 season was a great one for the Crossmen. Standing ovations every night. The challenge for the new season is to top that! Ed Devlin, Chuck Naffier, Andrew Markworth, Lee Beddis, John Leonard and Al Chez have come up with a great concept and wonderful music selections for 2012.
This weekend is the official start of the new season with the first eXperience Camp for 2012 in the Dallas area at the Forney HS. Attendance is up over last year. This is a good omen for 2012. The interest and buzz about the Crossmen in TX and around the country is greater than ever. The brass attending this camp is in for a real treat. They have the honor of being the first to play the opening 2 minutes of the 2012 show music.
Friday night's meeting in the auditorium was a nice get together. We introduced the captionheads to the attendees and Joe introduced the vets to the crowd. After the festivities we went right to work teaching those in attendance what is means to be a Crossmen.
Saturday was filled with sectionals, split visual block and caption ensemble rehearsals for the brass and percussion. The guard had a day filled with dance and work involving the various equipment.
We like to have a "Fireside Chat" after dinner in order to get to know everyone a little better, give a little Crossmen history and to answer any questions that arise. Most in attendance are from north Texas and Oklahoma. The distance award goes to a young man from Wall, NJ. A few other states were represented also.
Sunday morning after breakfast and a short block we conduct our "Show and Tell" for the families and friends of the camp attendees. It was a pretty good sized crowd. After the pit and battery performance the guard performed the indoor show that John taught to the guard eXperience Camp attendees. Hearing the brass perform the corps song "Russian Christmas Music" for the first time of the young season gave me goosebumps like always. We have adopted "Hallelujah" as an additon to our traditional music. It was a thrill to hear it again. The new music's debut was well received. I think that it wil have people on their feet in the first two minutes of the show!
We pack up and load out after the performance. We are able to get on the road 15 minutes earlier that scheduled. Joe rides back to Sa with me in the Music Store tractor. The Penningtons are in the Food tractor. We are back to the Penske yard by nine Sunday Night. another great camp under our belts. One eXperience Camp down, two to go!
Posted by Fred Morrison on 20th November, 2011 | Comments | Trackbacks
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