The 1991 season began with Adolph De Grauwe stepping down as corps director and passing the torch on to Jeff Fiedler. Thankfully Adolph didn't leave us completely. He is still active on the Board and volunteers with the transportation department. Rob Wis was chosen as the new Drum Major this year. It seems like every year since I've been a part of the Cavaliers the new Drum Major makes his speech, accepts the cape at the banquet, and says the same thing, "well, I have some big shoes to fill". This year was no exception.

The show was entitled "Cavalier Anthems: An Advent Collection." The music was by Ron Nelson, Samuel Barber, John Rutter and Vaughn Williams. For many people this was just a Christmas show with songs like "0 Come, 0 Come Emmanuel" and "Men of Good Will." But for those who could look post the facade the music was fast paced and moving. We had another new addition to the uniforms, a sequin sash for the corps and a guard uniform that departed from the past with a silver and green sequined jackets that had white sleeves. The summer went well and like every other we had to work hard. The visual program was another stunning product of Steve Brubaker. We had gone to Allentown, Pennsylvania for a

regional show That night at finals it was a bit cloudy and when we went on the field to perform it began pouring rain. There is something about the rain brings out the adrenaline and that was one of the most electric performances we had that year. The scores were announced and we knew that we had done our best. We won that night and it felt great. I remember that show in particular because during the performance my nose had begun to bleed. After we walked off the field I looked like something out of a rock concert. This

time, I really did give blood, sweat and tears. We went on to win high drums and high visual. We also won D.C.I. South, which was in Birmingham, Alabama. Performing there was like marching on the sun, the humidity was always at 100 percent and the temperature was in the hundreds. We had one of the strongest percussion lines this year, winning high percussion and visual at that show.

When we finally arrived in Dallas, Texas for finals, the tension was high and we still had some work to do. There are always a few individuals who wanted to showcase their personal talents. The pit had been practicing their ensemble all summer long. Before every run through the pit would play their piece, which was written by Dave Samuals, it got so habitual we all were able to sing along with them. It came time for the performance of the ensemble and they performed without flaw. The sores were announced and they received a perfect 100. To my knowledge this had never been achieved. They went on to be featured in a percussion magazine that year. I'll never forget the first time we pulled up to the field where we were to practice for the week. I was expecting a small high school football field and to my amazement the field was like a professional stadium. The field was astro turf and the stadium had cement walls and hundreds of seats. The university that I attended didn't even have a stadium like this. I later found out that it was the stadium was for three area high schools and that Texas is big on high school football. I'll never forget the first morning in Texas when I was awakened by the high school girl's volleyball team standing around the gym looking at us like a bunch of freaks from a carnival side show what a way to wake up.