By William Plenk
Cadets drum major Another camp is finished, and the Cadets have grown a few more inches in their development towards adulthood. Before the camp, the onslaught of snow threatened to keep several southern members from making it to camp, but in the end the turnout was very close to what was expected.

William Plenk
The corps received the usual revisions of old music in addition to more of "Bouree" and the beginning of "Thick as a Brick." The battery charged through an awesome break at the end of "Bouree," leading into a section of completely new brass music. The drum solo ends in a dramatic retard that yours truly found impossible to follow. I don't know how the drummers do it. I finished in time with them once all camp, and it was the most triumphant moment of my weekend. Actually, I take that back. My most triumphant moment was driving 1,012 miles and sleeping a collective 5.5 hours the entire weekend. After driving to camp on Friday, Matt Haines and I had to return to Ithaca, N.Y., Saturday afternoon to play an orchestra concert that night. After the performance, we headed back down to New Jersey to finish up camp. Matt slept. I drove. It was ... fun. It's OK though, I'm not bitter, I'm just tougher than he is -- even though he could beat me into the ground any day of the week. Matt and I left the camp on Saturday to the sight of the corps taking their first marching and playing steps. It was a beautiful February day and the Cadets stepped outside to take advantage of the beautiful sunshine. It was almost like tour, except the visual staff was wearing clothes. We returned to New Jersey on Sunday morning at 5:17 and woke up the corps with a little Michael Jackson, which was no match for Saturday morning when we used a lamenting Andalusian cante hondo -- yea, exactly. Despite our lack of sleep it was not difficult to stay alert during Sunday's rehearsal. The horn line's brilliance, and the percussion's intensity, made rehearsal an incredibly exciting experience. Everything came together in ensemble. Much was done in an hour and a half, and the group is really starting to crank things out. I would personally like to thank all the volunteers, and anyone involved in the making of the chicken fingers and peach cobbler.