MOUNT RUSHMORE STATE

One of the places in the States that's still pretty high on my priority list to go and see is MOUNT RUSHMORE in South Dakota.
Well today we actually ARE in South Dakota,... but unfortunately nowhere close to it.
It will have to wait till another visit of this state. In fact, I think this is the first time i actually visited South Dakota.
There are only 7 states out of all 50 I haven't been to yet, including Hawaii and Alaska.

At a truck stop I had a good laugh at seeing a postcard of Mount Rushmore!
I have to share this with you all !



The weather here in Sioux Falls (SD) is way better than the two stops we had before this. Still a little warm, but not as humid, and no moqsuitos.

The board with the daily schedule for the corps always shows who our host is at the school. This is usually the band director. Today it was "Dean Versteeg". Second time in only a few days I thought I'd run into someone from the "old country",.. but no... He didn't speak Dutch either unfortunately.

Our food truck was parked right next to the practice field, so we enjoyed listening to the music all afternoon. Took a bunch of pictures for the BD website again. Am uploading them tomorrow.





Dinner was a Taco Salad Bar. That's always a hit among the members. They love it. There's so much out there on the table they could add to their tortillas. And believe me,... some plates are quite a piece of art!
We decided that next time we'll turn this Taco Salad Bar into a competition. The one with the best looking plate and the nicest name for his/her taco will win!



At the stadium I took some "behind the scenes" shots of the different corps getting ready for their warmup or ready to go on the field. I also saw Philip Schussler, who is marching Mellophone with The Cadets this season.



Tonight we saw The Colts in action. Met corps director Greg Orwell, who only joined tour today. Then The Troopers performed their show. So far I heard nothing but positive comments on The Troopers. The crowd seems to really like them a lot.







My buddy Viv was there again to give the Glassmen a big boost, waving his British flag. When i talked to him he said this was going to be his last season with the corps. Well,... he has said that the last five years I think... We'lll have to see about that!



I already wrote that I like the Blue Knights a lot more than in previous years. The color guard switches from bright orange to elegant blue dresses.



BD gets more and more crazy. lots of minor changes and additions have been made over the last week and seem to work well for them. You can see - among all top corps - that it's still pretty early in the season. The drill and set changes are still kind of dirty with both BD, Cavaliers and The Cadets.





The opening segment of The Cadets show features some Herald Trumpets. Well done!
Lots of fun stuff going on in their show too! This is a show I would like to see from high up in the stands one of these days. Well... that in fact counts for all of the shows. Cool drumsolo!



Cavaliers are the odd one out to me. So far I don't care much for their programme. The part where the whole hornline switches to rifles is spectacular though! And their unique marching style separates them from the rest of the corps. That's a fact!



Cadets did an encore after the show. Their rendition of "Rocky Point Holiday" has always been one of my favourites! Last year Cavaliers surprised everyone in San Antonio or Atlanta with Michael Jackson's "Thriller". The Cadets now play a version of the song as well. COOL!

We're on the road to Minneapolis, where a System Blue clinic has been going on since Wednesday night. Some 120+ high school marching band students have signed up for this 4-day "Marching Band Skills Camp". System Blue has sent the best of the best instructors to Minneapolis to teach these students.
Todd Ryan, John Bradford and Brent Turner for Visual; Van Mathews, John Meehan, Wayne Downey, Andre Feagi and Brandon Holt for Brass and Winds; Joel Matusak, Seve Fischer, Murray Gusseck and Scott Johnson for percussion; Scott Chandler, Jennifer Leseth for guard.
my long-time friend Patrick Seidling (formerly with The Madison Scouts, Southwind, and most recently corps director for Phantom Regiment from 2001-2006) is the System Blue live Events Manager.

Will try and catch some of the clinic activities tomorrow. The show in Minneapolis is going to be at the same venue: the beautiful stadium of the University of Minnesota.

We're now enjoying a few good rum & cokes (Bacardi Black!). I did some shopping at a local convenience store near the school. Posted some postcards as well.

Enjoy,

HK