Thursday, May 29, 2003 - 4:59 PM
Hey Bill:For me it was a time just like now.......late May. We just finished marching in the Lombard Lilac Festival parade and my family saw me in my new Cavalier uniform. We went on to our first competition in some local show. It might as well have been Nationals; it was my first show as a Cavalier.
I think it was the Kenosha Round Up show or something like that but as we lined up I noticed my old corps, the Royal Airs coming in behind us. We filed out onto the starting line and Ernie Grossman brought us to attention, we dressed the line then parade rest.
Bruce Tietgen mentioned who would yell “Splooie” this time out then he turned and started his patented “Robot-Like” march out to the 50-yard line. The crowd was smallish but vocal and they started the familiar “Go Go Green Machine” in both English and Polish.
Ernie called; “Drum Corp Attention Shun” and we came to and made a half turn to the right toward the crowd to play the “Toyland” fanfare. I could see the crowd, the judges, Bruce starting to direct, and it hit me after five seasons of watching I was now a Cavalier. The man said, “On the starting Line, from Chicago Illinois, the Chicago Cavaliers” god what a sound.
I realized it was now, I’m a Cavalier and the feeling has never left me, not when I went into the service, when I built a career, built a family, and now as I enter old age. The sights and sounds, the thrills of being a Cavalier they are right there, right at the top.
Hey New Guys! Enjoy! If you listen to Jeff and the other old guys and savor your experience, your life will never be quite the same.
Conquer !
Splooie
Ken Nolan
