Moonlight Classic June 24th, 2012

For any of you who know me very well, ol' Eric cut his teeth on drum corps back in the 1960's when my sister Karen and my Brother-in-law Mike were marching in the Anaheim Kingsmen. I've had Drum Corps in my blood ever since those faithful days when I would hang out on the track of the foot ball stadium as Karen and Mike practiced with the corps. It really was a great up bringing!

Even 45 years later, I'm still going to Drum Corps shows, frequently with Karen and Mike and of course with the love of my life Carol, who now enjoys drum corps in her own right! :-) Because the stadium at UOP in Stockton is now closed, they have moved the Moonlight classic to Sac State, a very nice venue. This years event had all the makings of a great show. We had on the agenda, roughly in this order. Blue Devils 'C', Sacramento Freelancers Alumni corps, The Mandarines, Pacific Crest, Blue Devils B, The Santa Clara Vanguard Cadets, The Boston Crusaders, The Blue Knights from Colorado, the Phantom Regiment from Rockford Illinois, The Blue Devils and the Santa Clara Vanguard.

There was a large crowed at the event and there were even a number of old Kingsmen members that Karen and Mike ran into at the show this evening. It was weird, Karen and Mike were closer to Anaheim two nights earlier at a show in Clovis, and they ran into only one old Kingsmen alumni. But, Sacramento, with the history of the Freelancers, is more of a Drum Corps town, so I guess it was to be expected.

The evening started off with a 'Park and Blow' performance by the Freelancers Alumni corps. Their respectable performance, was enjoyed by everyone.
Everyone of the corps that we got to see this evening were vastly improved over previous years. Somehow, they get better every year. We really, really enjoyed the 'Boston Crusaders' as they were the most like 'Old style drum corps' which is what we all really enjoy, even my wife Carol who is relatively new to the activity. This evening held up to it's name litterally. It truely was a Moonlight Classic. You see, Sac state couldn't seem to get the stadium lights turned on. As a result, the last corps to perform was the Boston Crusaders. And they were 'ON'. Even the color guard stuck the catches on all of their rifle tosses, despite the dusky lighting.

The competition director had to call and end to the evening so as to ensure everyone could get out of the stadium safely.

After the Boston corps finished and we left the stadium. We went with Karen and Mike to get some desert. Wouldn't you know it, as we drove passed sac state about 2 hours after the competition was cancelled, the lights were on, but not a corps to be found.

Thats ok, we still had a wonderful evening!

Happy camping! - Eric and Carol -