Saturday was the East Kentwood Invitational Marching Band event.
It was, in a word, exhausting.
Twenty-three bands from around the state converged on our little school to play their hearts out, put their best foot forward, and totally wow the judges with their amazing prowess. In the rain. And wind. From 3 pm all the way until 10 pm.
As for yours truly and my merry little band (!) of pit crew folks, we arrived before noon to get everything set up, then stood out on the track and marketed our wares to any and all bands who passed our way: "Anyone need a big podium? Anyone need a generator? Anyone need an umbrella?"
Several bands borrowed our podiums. A few needed to use our generator to power their portable electronics (basses, keyboards, amps). And one of the bands borrowed our tractor and cart. But we didn't really have umbrellas. And they wouldn't have borrowed them if we did, because Marching Band kids are tough; they just laugh at rain! (Or was it crying? I couldn't tell ... it was raining too hard.)
We had a few challenges. The rain caused ponds to appear on the field, which we had to drain, or at least sweep off into the drains along the outer edge of the field. We couldn't use the built-in field power plugs, because they were mostly underwater. And our generator was being stubborn about staying on.
But we survived all the way up til the final performance at 9:30, which was our very own EK Marching Band. The generator picked that very moment to die a horrible death (or at least choose not to live anymore), so one of the directors had to grab the extension cord from the front line and plug it into the field power box, which by this time was dry and functional.
After all, the show must go on!
===
Now the big question remains: How many more shows will there be? It all depends on the football team. If they win their next game on Friday, we'll have another home game and the Marching Band will need to perform again. And we'll have to pull out all our podiums and ladders and generators and tractors and carts.
But if they don't win, we're done for the season and we can put away all these fine, wonderful toys and focus on winterizing our homes before the snow starts falling.
Naturally, I don't want to wish ill of the team ... but I also am tired and ready to hunker down in front of my warm fireplace and read a good book.
Oh, what a dilemma!
It was, in a word, exhausting.
Twenty-three bands from around the state converged on our little school to play their hearts out, put their best foot forward, and totally wow the judges with their amazing prowess. In the rain. And wind. From 3 pm all the way until 10 pm.
As for yours truly and my merry little band (!) of pit crew folks, we arrived before noon to get everything set up, then stood out on the track and marketed our wares to any and all bands who passed our way: "Anyone need a big podium? Anyone need a generator? Anyone need an umbrella?"
Several bands borrowed our podiums. A few needed to use our generator to power their portable electronics (basses, keyboards, amps). And one of the bands borrowed our tractor and cart. But we didn't really have umbrellas. And they wouldn't have borrowed them if we did, because Marching Band kids are tough; they just laugh at rain! (Or was it crying? I couldn't tell ... it was raining too hard.)
We had a few challenges. The rain caused ponds to appear on the field, which we had to drain, or at least sweep off into the drains along the outer edge of the field. We couldn't use the built-in field power plugs, because they were mostly underwater. And our generator was being stubborn about staying on.
But we survived all the way up til the final performance at 9:30, which was our very own EK Marching Band. The generator picked that very moment to die a horrible death (or at least choose not to live anymore), so one of the directors had to grab the extension cord from the front line and plug it into the field power box, which by this time was dry and functional.
After all, the show must go on!
===
Now the big question remains: How many more shows will there be? It all depends on the football team. If they win their next game on Friday, we'll have another home game and the Marching Band will need to perform again. And we'll have to pull out all our podiums and ladders and generators and tractors and carts.
But if they don't win, we're done for the season and we can put away all these fine, wonderful toys and focus on winterizing our homes before the snow starts falling.
Naturally, I don't want to wish ill of the team ... but I also am tired and ready to hunker down in front of my warm fireplace and read a good book.
Oh, what a dilemma!
2 comments:
No one deserves the warm fire and good book more than you do.
Oooh, warm fire and good book!!!! Excellent idea.
Post a Comment