This past weekend I moved in for the summer, to begin the process of learning and cleaning the show for approximately three weeks before our first show. At this point we are almost done with our first week.

Jason Kulak, Joe Smith and Paul Brakewell sport the new Santa Clara uniforms.
Throughout the entire weekend I had the chance to learn even more about the Vanguard organization and the traditions that the corps has. Since "Fiddler on the Roof" is a very integral part of the Vanguard history, I was reminded of something Tevye said during the opening part of the musical. He said, "Without our traditions our lives would be as shaky as a fiddler on the roof." After putting some thought into this, I realized just how true it is. We spent the weekend in Angels Camp, Calif., working on learning the show and cleaning it for a Sunday night performance. We had the perfect drum corps weather all weekend, sunny and not very hot. In fact, since I have moved in, we have had great weather in the Northern California area. Sunday night we put the uniforms on for the first time. It was an amazing feeling to put the Vanguard uniform on for the first time (especially a brand new one). We spent all of Sunday evening rehearsing in full uniform before a public performance for a small crowd. Sunday night I finally started to realize that I am actually a member of the Vanguard, especially since every time I looked down I could see the star on my chest. At this end of this week we will leave the Santa Clara area and head back up to Angels Camp to spend another week working on the show in preparation for our first show on June 18, in Stockton, Calif. I'm extremely excited to get start the actual shows with other drum corps. Well it's time for sleep, since we have rehearsal in the morning. Hopefully I'll be able to do another article soon.