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Team Band in Chicago

Monday, July 31st, 2006

I’m currently in northern Minnesota (near Emily, MN) at my parents’ cabin.  I came up here yesterday afternoon with my mom and dad and two of my nephews, Tony and Parker.  Jake also came with, but Dan stayed in Shakopee to attend a reception for his cousin, Kevin, who is showing his pottery at Normandale Community College in Bloomington, MN, and help his mom look for carpet.

We’re all in the cabin, resting after a hot and busy day of working and playing.  When the cabin was built last year, the 55 trees that were cleared to make way for the cabin were cut into sections and stacked in a LARGE pile.  When the whole family was up here for the reunion (or Family Camping Weekend – it’s original name, which doesn’t really fit anymore since nobody tents anymore unless they want to; there’s plenty of room in the cabin, bunkhouse, trailer and porch), we cut, split and stacked about ¾ of the pile.  My dad cut a few more of the sections when he and my mom were up here two weeks ago.  And, today, the five of us took another crack at the pile, cutting, splitting and stacking all but about a dozen log sections.  We’re all anxious to finish the project not only to have it taken care of, but also because the fire ring will be moved back to its original (almost), larger and more level location once all the sections are cleared.  UPDATE:  The following day, we moved the remaining log sections out of the way, leveled the area with shovels and rakes, dug the new fire pit, spread some wood chips around the pit and moved the kerosene torches to the new area.  While we certainly didn’t need a fire for warmth that evening, we started a small fire and made s’mores with roasted marshmallows.  The new location is just to one side of the cabin and has great views of the lake, cabin and bunkhouse; it’s going to work great!

After we called it quits for the day in early afternoon, we went down to the lake and went swimming.  We all swam out to the diving dock, even Jake.  Jake would jump off the dock after me, and I would lift him out of the water back onto the dock.  It was a lot of fun!  Dad, Mom, Jake and I swam back into shore after a bit, and shortly thereafter, I noticed three people swimming toward our dock, with one person paddling along side in a canoe.  The woman swimming in the water said “Hello!”  She and two of her grandchildren were doing their annual swim across the lake and back (about a quarter mile each way).  They rested a bit and, then, took off swimming back to the other side of the lake.  But, this gave Parker and Tony an idea: we should swim across the lake and back, too.  So, we recruited grandma (Mom) to follow us in the paddleboat, and we did just that.  We swam across the lake to the dock of the people who had swum over to us.  They were out on their dock, so we visited with them for a bit and rested.  Then, we turned around and swam back to our dock.  We had a big dinner and the boys went water skiing afterward.

OK, I’ll back up a bit… Dan and I returned home from our 12-day stay in Chicago last Sunday.  We participated in the Chicago Gay Games as members of Team Band, consisting of over 250 members of Gay and Lesbian Bands from around the world.  I played percussion (mostly snare drum), and Dan wore many hats, carrying a rainbow flag for the opening ceremonies, assisting in many ways for the band’s concert at Pritzger Pavilion at Chicago’s Millennium Park, and carrying our Minnesota Freedom Band banner for the closing ceremonies.  We both had an awesome time in Chicago for the games, meeting many other participants, including Team Band members and a few athletes, as well.

Chicago was extremely hot (in the 90’s) and humid for much of the time we were there.  We had a few long and hot days preparing our field show for the opening ceremonies.  Before arriving in Chicago, we had received online the music that we would perform and the charts for the field show.  Thursday morning was rehearsal at Soldier Field for the percussion feature that would begin the Opening Ceremonies.  And, the entire band first rehearsed Thursday afternoon, running until late in the evening.  We practiced marking time, carrying instruments, marching at an 8-5 interval (8 steps per 5 yards), doing turns, and yelling “GO, TEAM BAND!” after hearing “BAND, A-TEN-HUT!” from the director.  We also got into our step-off position and figured out our first movements onto the field.  We were a group of over 250 musicians with varying levels of marching experience – some with little or none.  Initially, we were in a large, hot gymnasium at the University of Illinois-Chicago.  Then, we moved outside to the baseball field.  After rehearsal ended after 11 pm, Dan and I – having had little to eat today — took the Red Line north to the Fullerton stop, where we had some excellent burritos at a little Mexican hole-in-the-wall and, then, walked back to our room at Arlington International Hostel.

On Friday, we had rehearsal at the UIC ball fields in the morning/afternoon and then the run-through at Soldier Field in the evening.  Our field show – which was simplified somewhat to better match the realities of putting a show together in two days — was beginning to come together, but we still needed the “optional” rehearsal Saturday morning to clean up the rough edges.  The time and location hadn’t been determined, so we were told to call the Team Band Hotline for that information later in the day.  The Hotline informed us Friday evening that rehearsal would begin at 10 am at a yet-to-be-determined location.  We set the alarm for 8 am and learned that we would reach the rehearsal location by taking the Brown Line to its terminus, where members of Lakeside Pride (Chicago’s Gay/Lesbian Band) would be waiting to shuttle us the remaining few miles to a nearby prep school.  The morning sun was shining, and we were in for another hot and humid day.  Bottles and bottles of water were consumed, sunscreen was applied and shirts came off.  A few minor changes were made to the field show, we practiced keeping our lines straight by “guiding center,” and we ran the entire show a couple times before taking cover from the extreme heat.

Dan and I went back to our hostel room, stopping for lunch at the Bourgeois Pig Café for lunch.  We took a short nap, showered and dressed for the Opening Ceremonies and took the Red Line and a bus to Soldier Field.  The security at Soldier Field was very tight, and we were required to be accompanied by our “wrangler” to move to our “holding area”, go down to the loading dock to unload/unload instruments and move to our performance positions.  Fortunately, for us, our wrangler, whose sole responsibility was keeping track of all 250 of us, had a great sense of humor.  Her name was E.J., and she had a high, squeaky voice like Karen on Will and Grace; in fact, she was very much like Karen, and we appreciated her ability to keep tabs on when and where we needed to be and do it with sharp wit.

To open the ceremonies, the percussion section and other members Team Band with various percussion instruments were positioned in groups all throughout the stadium in the stands, with each group consisting of a cymbal player, two snare drum players, a quad-toms player and a bass drum player.  On cue from Christy, our director, the snares began a drum roll very softly, as if it was coming from far away.  The sound grew louder, and the toms joined, followed by the bass drums, after which the sound grew to a great crescendo, ending with a cymbal crash and a great big chord of sound from the chorus, who were seated in the stands behind the main stage where the torch was located.  It sounded pretty cool, and we definitely got the attention of the crowd.

We watched the first part of the opening ceremonies from our designated seating section in Soldier Field.  After the athletes from around the world paraded into the stadium, they held up rainbow-colored lights to create a huge rainbow flag on the field.  Then we watched and listened to a bevy of gay and gay-friendly celebrities, including Megan Mullaly (Karen of “Will and Grace”), Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, singers Jody Watley and Erasure’s Andy Bell, comedians Margaret Cho and Kate Clinton, former Olympian Greg Louganis, Star Trek’s George Takei, former Major Leaguer Billy Bean and former Minnesota Viking Esera Tuaolo.

Then, E.J. announced that it was time for us to make our way down to our prep area behind the north “end zone.”  We retrieved and tuned our instruments, put our colored sashes on, talked through the field show one last time and moved into our positions to march out onto the field.  We just had to wait until the current speaker (I didn’t catch his name.) was finished and we would be up.

Our “handler” told us to stand by.  We were ready to go.  Then she gave our director the “go ahead.”  Our director, Christy Zurcher (from Lakeside Pride Band), gave us four counts with her hands, and we marched out through the plastic-strip curtain and onto the field to clicks (drumsticks striking the rims of the drums on counts 1 and 3).  The crowd was apparently growing weary of the many speeches and seemed to come to life with a roar that echoed throughout the stadium.  We reached our starting point at the “goal line” and played a rousing arrangement of Copland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man.”  Then we moved onto the field and moved into the formation of a roman numeral seven (VII – for the Seventh Gay Games), first displaying it facing one side of the stadium and, then, the other – all of this while playing our next number “Everybody’s Everything.”  Then, we scattered from our VII formation into a formation displaying the Gay Games logo and played “Artistry in Rhythm.”  Once again, we scattered, but this time into our original lineup, faced the stands on either side and played “Somewhere” from “West Side Story.”  Having completed our show, we marched off to clicks again.  We did it!  We put together a field show in three days with a band consisting of musicians from all over the world, and we performed it on Soldier Field in front of the 12,000 participants and many more spectators.  It sure was a thrill.

Now, we had a concert to prepare.  We rehearsed Sunday, Monday and Tuesday morning for our concert at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Chicago’s new Millennium Park.  We got a chance to see and play at the Pritzker during our run-through on Monday; wow, what a beautiful facility this was that we would perform in the next day!

My parents and my brother, Mark, as well as two of Mark’s co-workers from the University of Montana, would be attending the concert.  My mom and dad drove to Rock Falls, Illinois on Monday to visit my grandma and her daughter and son-in-law.  They stayed overnight and, then, drove to a suburb of Chicago, where they caught a train into downtown.  By a strike of luck and coincidence, Mark was scheduled to be in Chicago for work this week and would be able to attend my concert as well.

After our rehearsal on Tuesday morning, Dan and I met up with my parents, had a bite to eat, went back to the hostel to change into concert dress and took the train back downtown for the concert.

The concert went very well, performing at Pritzker Pavilion was a lot of fun, and having my parents and brother there for the concert was extra special!  Here is the program we performed.

“Call of the Champions” (The Official Theme of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games) – John Williams
“To The Summit! (Strive for the Highest)” – Robert W. Smith
“Fantasia in G” – Timothy Mahr
“Simple Gifts” from “The Lord of the Dance” – Traditional/Roland Smeets
“Blues in the Night” – Johnny Mercer & Harold Arlen/Paul Jennings
“Cloudburst” – Eric Whitacre
“Suo-Gan” – James Curnow
“Africa: Ceremony, Song and Ritual” – Robert W. Smith
“Pop and Rock Legends: Chicago” – John Wasson
“Imagine” – John Lennon/Richard Saucedo

After the concert we went with my parents and brother to a nearby restaurant for some appetizers and Sangria.  On Wednesday, Dan and I went with my parents to the Shedd Aquarium during the day and, in the evening, we attended the event put together by Mark and his University of Montana co-workers for UM alumni now living in the Chicago area.  It was a neat opportunity to get a glimpse into the work Mark does for the UM.  Afterwards, my mom and dad and Dan and I walked a couple blocks to Johnny Rockets, where we sat in their sidewalk seating and had apple pie or a malt and coffee.  The weather both yesterday and today was cooler than it had been over the weekend and it was a beautiful evening.  It was a fun end to a great day!

Mark, Mom and Dad took the Red Line out to meet me and Dan at the Bourgeois Pig Café for breakfast.  It was raining this morning; so, we took our time over breakfast, coffee, and the newspaper to wait for the rain to slow.  We all took the train back into downtown, where Dan and I said goodbye to Mark, Mom and Dad, who would be on their way home shortly.

Dan and I went to the Clarinet Choir performance at noon and, then, visited the Art Institute of Chicago.

On Friday, we had rehearsal for the Closing Ceremonies.  This performance would be less demanding, in terms of field formations.  We would march onto the field in four lines – two from left field and two from right field.  The lines would separate to allow the athletes to file between us and, then, up into their seats in the stands.  We would take turns with the chorus to accompany the procession of athletes into the stadium, play one more selection standing in place (Sweet Home Chicago) and, then, march off.

Friday afternoon Dan and I walked out to Navy Pier and took an architectural boat tour down the Chicago Canal.  Saturday morning was the run-through for that afternoon’s ceremonies.  Between the run-through and the actual show, Dan and I had lunch at the Chicago Diner, a great vegetarian restaurant on North Halstead, and then, walked over to Lincoln Park for a quick nap in the shade.  We performed our part of the ceremonies as planned and then, watched the rest from the stands, including a couple numbers by Cyndi Lauper.  We also went to the “after-concert” gathering at a downtown bar to visit with – and say goodbye to — other members of “Team Band.”  Sunday morning we took an Orange Line to Midway Airport for our flight back to the Twin Cities.

Heading Back

Monday, July 31st, 2006

It seems strange.  We are on the last leg of this part of the trip.  Next week, we will be at the family camping weekend and we won’t have to set up the tent or take stuff out of the back of the truck (at least after the family camping weekend).  Jake wont be in back of us looking over our shoulder.  We won’t be living out of the truck anymore.  It’s odd how I now equate home with the truck, not a building.  I also equate home with our tent.  Well, it’s not over yet.

From Montreal, we drove to Sault Saint Marie.  It is a fairly boring drive; many ups and downs and a lot of the same old sights to see.  It is different than driving in Minnesota.  Minnesota is fairly flat and you can see “far away”.  If there is any interesting buildings or sights, you are likely to see them.  This drive was hilly with some rock outcroppings next to the road.  At times, you could see pretty far, other times it was like driving in a green walled tunnel with only more road to look at.  As a side note on this drive, we did see a “new” sign we haven’t seen before.  The road was turning into a one laner from a two laner and the sign said “squeeze right”.  It was like a “merge” sign.  We laughed about it and still occasionally bring it up if we see a “merge” sign.

Sault Saint Marie border crossing was looming.  We were a tad nervous because we had Jake.  We had heard stories regarding pets coming back into the U.S. — bad stories of being turned away because of improper papers regarding doggy shots (I could have used a “shot” at that moment).  So I had the vaccination papers ready.  We also didn’t know what to expect at the border for security.  Last time we had crossed back into the U.S. from Canada or Mexico, it was before 9/11/2001.  We get to the guy after waiting a little in a car line.  He says “did you get the dog in Canada?” No.  “Have any alcoholic beverages or….(can’t remember because I was nervous and you can’t look nervous or they will think you are a terrorist or something.  I just wanted to get back without any problems)?”  No.  “Okay, go ahead”.  That was it?  That was easy.  He didn’t even look at dog papers or passports (or he may have looked at passports but I blanked it out in a nervous tizzy). 

We made it back to the U.S.
We then stopped at the locks to watch a big barge go through.  It took awhile for it to make it into the lock because if it went too fast, it would “barge” right through it.  Once it was in there, it was fun to see it “sink” to the other level of the east side of the lock.  We then stopped for some fudge before going further.  The last time we were here, we got some fudge at the same place (across the street and to the left if looking away from the locks) and we put it into a container and then put it in a cooler.  The container had a leak so the fudge turned into sugar water.  This time, we made sure that wouldn’t happen.

We drove to Pictured Rocks National Park.  On the way there, they were having road construction.  It was a little confusing trying to decide which way to go to get to the campsite.  We figured it out and on the way; we saw not only forests but big areas of old stumps.  We later found out that these stumps were over 100 years old.  The area was logged way back when and then there was a fire.  They (meaning whoever/whatever type of scientist, ecologist, etc) haven’t yet figured out why the forest hasn’t reclaimed the area yet but it is slowly working on it.  One possible reason given was the bio-organisms in the soil normally there after a forest is chopped down, got burned up in the fire so the natural cycle involving them has been taken away.  Who knows?  I know I haven’t got the whole story written down here but I tried.  We stayed at a nice, uncrowded, open and natural Michigan State Forest campground.  We were next to a lake.  It was beautiful.  We decided to stay for 2 nights.  The next day, we went into Pictured Rocks.  We did a 10-mile hike.  The day started very sunny and we found out when we got there, Jake couldn’t go on the trail.  He would have to stay in the truck.  We parked in the shade.  The initial part of the hike brought us through a nice and “airy” forest.  We saw a water fall.  We then kept hiking and passed a really neat rock structure with a White pine on it called “Chapel Rock”.  Very cool.  It was the kind of rock structure thing you would see in a fish tank only way bigger and real.  Also, as is our luck in most places (Crater lake-previous trip, White Mountains, New Hampshire to name a few examples) it got foggy.  The sun was gone.  At least we wouldn’t have to worry about Jake being too hot.  Chapel Rock was on the shoreline of Lake Superior.  We went along the beach for a small while.  Then we continued on.  The trail went up high along the “cliffs” of Pictured Rocks.  It was very cool to see these.  The water has carved out “caves” or what looks like caves from up high.  Big arches of what could be sandstone colored rocks.  The forests we were walking through changed into close dense forest and the trail narrowed considerably.  It got even foggier.  We could hear the waves crashing on the lake and gulls calling but we couldn’t see them.  Some areas of the foggy forest were surreal, dreamlike as we walked through them.  Eventually we started nearing the end and the day started to clear.  We saw another falls (Mosquito falls- aptly named).  When we reached the truck it was sunny again.  It was a great hike even if the views were fogged out.  Tim wants to go back when it is sunny.  I agree.  The next day, we went to the lighthouse at Pictured Rocks.  There are some remains of some sunken ships that have washed ashore — mostly just wood frames of the bottoms of the ships.  Very cool to look at but of course I wanted to see masts half sticking out of the water in the “classic” view of a sunken ship as shown in the movies.  Still all around neato.  The light house was fun to hike to since it was a short hike out and back.  I recommend going along the beach when you go.  The trail is rather plain but nice. 

We then drove on to our next campsite, Twin Bear County Campground just south of Iron River, Wisconsin.  This was our last campsite before family camping weekend – a somewhat sad event.  So we went out for a drink at Judy’s Bar.  It was a fun little dive and a guy there talked about Al Capone.  He had a different view than what we have been taught about the big, tough gangster who kills people with a bat occasionally.  He said people loved him because he took care of them and looked out for their jobs (not illegal ones).  If they needed something, he made sure they got it.  Also, the towns he controlled had an extremely low crime rate (probably if a crook crossed him, it would be all over).  It was a different side of Capone I had never heard.  The nice side.

Next morning, we headed to Minnesota.  We stopped at Duluth to pick up some groceries.  Then we arrived at “home” for a little while at family camping weekend lake lot, owned by Tim’s parents, ‘til we go back to Shakopee, MN.

Write more another time,

Dan

Time for Some French

Monday, July 31st, 2006
Je mappellez Dan. Ce va? Comment allez vous?  (who knows if I did this right but it is supposed to mean “My name is Dan.  And you?  How are you?)  This very much sums up our trip through Quebec.  English ... [Continue reading this entry]

We’re Home

Thursday, July 6th, 2006
Just a quick post to let you all know that we made it home -- well, to our temporary home in Shakopee, MN with my parents.  Last Friday we drove from Iron River, WI to my parents' cabin near Emily, ... [Continue reading this entry]