July 31, 2025 – Along the Mill Brook
9:00 AM
The forecast is grim. Heavy rain is expected in the Boston area all day and into the evening. This does not portend well for the match-up between the Boston Crusaders and the Bluecoats at the show in Lawrence, Massachusetts, tonight. These two corps are neck and neck in the rankings and 1:1 so far in the head-to-head matchups. The entire drum corps world will be watching. I know that every Boston fan is thinking positive thoughts and hoping the wall of rain on the radar lifts northward and bypasses the stadium. This is an optimistic bunch of folks who have endured much worse over the eight and a half decades. I am going anyway because we leave on Friday for Allentown to continue my drum corps odyssey for 2025. Meanwhile, I will be finishing the last-minute chores here at the Bohemian Chalet, my humble home along the Mill Brook, in preparation for the ten days away.
I am also busy preparing for the next phase of my project to save the old Number Nine Schoolhouse. Four years in the making, the Friends of the Number Nine Schoolhouse has reached a deal to purchase the old two-room schoolhouse along the Mill Brook for half the appraised value. Thanks to the generosity of the Burley family, my neighbors and I have come together to breathe new life into the iconic and historic Number Nine Schoolhouse at 831 Mill Brook Road. The circa 1903 two-room schoolhouse was the seat of education for the Town of Fayston School District #9 prior to the opening of the current Fayston Elementary School just up the road. In 1963, it became the offices of the Burley Partnership, a renowned architectural firm. Now, the building hosts two non-profit trail groups, the Northern Forest Canoe Trail and the Catamount Trail Association, sharing the lower classroom. The upper classroom will be transformed back in time, returning it to an open classroom as an environment for the community to learn, honor, celebrate, serve, and thrive. Now comes the heavy lifting, raising the money to pay off the loan and refurbish the building. My goal is to raise $25,000 this month for our down payment and closing costs by the end of the month. This comes at an awkward time as I will be focusing on my drum corps tour for through Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana.
4:00 PM – Lawrenece, Massachusetts
I have arrived at the Memorial Stadium in Lawrence, the location of the home show for the Boston Crusaders. It is raining steadily three hours before show time. This is another annual pilgrimage for me, and the beginning of my auto tour for drum corps. Taking the fast lane of the interstate highway through Vermont, New Hampshire, and into Massachusetts, I arrived here in this parking spot near the stadium in about three hours. This is usually a great opportunity to watch a rehearsal. For now, I am sitting in the car because it is raining cats and dogs outside. The BAC crew of volunteers is undeterred from the tasks necessary to host the avid Boston area drum corps fans. This is all hands on deck. This particular year will be exceptionally busy with BAC in the hunt for a medal again. What color it will be is yet to be determined, but gold is in their eyes. The rain is easing up some, so I will venture out and see if I can help. Not a note or beat is heard. My guests may not be up for a wet evening, so I checked with my friend Mary from Wakefield. We made a plan for dinner at 6:00 and will wait and see what happens.
10:00 PM – Somewhere in Southern New Hampshire
I am lodged comfortably at my friend Chuck’s house just north of Boston. We have returned from an abbreviated show in Lawrence. I enjoyed a nice dinner with my friend Mary in Wakefield while others persevered in the rain in Memorial Stadium. The call was made to cancel the competition and send the judges home. But the BAC organization, with the agreement of the visiting corps, performed standstill encores in the rain in front of the avid and eager Boston drum corps fans. I was torn between two lovers, with the option to stay with Mary in her beautiful and comfortable home in Wakefield or return to the stadium. I purchased an extra ticket for Mary’s neighbor’s daughter, but they decided to sit this one out. In the car, I immediately regretted making the decision to return. The lovely dinner and friendly time with Mary were wonderful. Drawn by the story and not wanting to miss out, I sped in the driving rain, hydroplaning back to Lawrence. Mary is the person responsible for my Steinway that I love. Her piano teacher had to sell one of his two pianos. She was helping him move into assisted living, where only one would fit. He graciously held the piano for four days for me to come and play it. One chord and I wrote him a check. Mary has carte blanche at the Russell Ranch for skiing and hiking trips to Vermont.
I arrived just as BAC’s drumline was warming up with “Spanks.” This ensemble draws huge crowds in the lot where even the simple (not so) warm-up pieces are applauded with enthusiasm and wonder. Next, the brass came in with their well-rehearsed renditions of Mahler’s Second Symphony, Game of Thrones Theme, Sweet Caroline, and Conquest. It was precious witnessing their grit and spirit in the rain and the sea of umbrella-covered drum corps fanatics eating it up.
Lights out. Miles to go tomorrow.
August 1, 2025 – Allentown, Pennsylvania
Hurray! Chuck, my drum corps associate and driver extraordinare, and I have arrived at the Hamilton Family Diner in Allentown, Pennsylvania, for the annual reunion and two amazing nights of drum and bugle corps competition. He honed his skills as a road warrior during our 2024 tour. We hit the high side of the left lane at a leisurely hour of 8:30 AM from the Boston area and kept the steady pace in the value, mid-sized SUV from the ‘We try harder’ folks in Burlington. The Silver Bullet is home alone.
These friends are like my family. How odd it is that I have some of the most dear friends that I see every summer, that I would not have known if it were not for my obsession with drum corps. My brothers and sisters from other mothers are a family that is growing and welcoming. There is such a passion and familiarity. No matter what corps one identifies with, the pathway to the heart is wide open among them. Fold-up chairs, coolers, and tailgates provide places to sit while stories are told, opinions are shared, and laughter abounds.
As we cavort, cajol, and carry on, the buses and trucks begin rolling in, carrying the entourage and regalia of the many corps that will perform this evening in the J Birney Crum stadium. Let the games begin!