Well, That Was a Saturday Night That Added Horns and Drumsticks To The Rhythm of My Weekend in Stratford

Yesterday, when I went for my afternoon run, I went by Bunnell High School where several high school marching bands were stretching, playing scales, and warming up for what I guess was a marching band competition in Connecticut. I appreciated the cadences as I climbed up the hills of the southern part of the state by the Long Island Sound, and I had to smile at in reflection of all the Saturdays spend in football field stadiums cheering on my sister during CNS's age of competitive music play against the powerhouses of West Genesee, Webster, and Liverpool. Those years kept my family busy (with stories of when my father marched with the Syracuse Brigadiers and Sherburne Marauders. 

(Blue Devils, 2014 DCI Champions)

Fast forward twenty years and it was like my family hit the replay button and, suddenly, we found ourselves back in the stand cheering on Nikki, although the Northstars have lost their might since the glory days from when my sister marched. I remember Thanksgivings where we couldn't wait to finish our dinner and catch the taped Dome Championship on PBS or other celebrations where Cynde's Pontiac Dome experience was played over and over again. On special occasions, too, we'd catch the DCI championships and watch in awe and amazement at the talent of older individuals who march.

Every year, too, while walking the shoreline and Seaside Park in Bridgeport, Pam and I have been lucky to be there on a day when the Fanfare show is on and groups are in the parks warming up for a DCA show. 

Hurricane Joquain is out to sea, but the winds are definitely being felt in souther Connecticut so I felt sort of bad for the groups having to perform in Stratford. Even so, I took Glamis for a walk through our neighborhood later in the evening and the competition had started so cadences and horns could be heard loudly through the winds. Needless to say, the evening triggered multiple memories of the way it once was, the way it currently is, and most likely it will always be for performers, musicians, drum majors, and program directors across the United States. 

Here's to all who put so much time into their entertainment and art!