Member Diary – July 31st, 2015 by Harrison Nelson

Hi there, Harrison here I’m a member of the color guard with Minnesota Brass. After snoozing through my first three alarms on Friday, I finally decided it was about time to get ready to leave for rehearsal. With my white t-shirt in hand and fanny pack at my side, I knew I was ready to take on whatever the day had in store for me! Practice was at Brooklyn Center High School, a quick twenty minute drive from my house. The color guard was assigned to the middle field and we worked towards refining work throughout the show. The weather had other plans for us as we spent most of morning block chasing after runaway flags due to extreme wind.

Lunch was on our own at noon, so my car immediately headed towards the nearest Jimmy Johns for some fresh, healthy fare. Unfortunately my GPS guided us right into the parking lot of a local Holiday gas station (thanks, Obama) In desperation our car decided to give Checkers a try. To our dismay Checkers was overwhelmed with the Brass lunch rush, so I decided to make a trip over to Super Market across the parking lot. One Icee and an avacado turkey wrap later we hastily drove back to Brooklyn Center High School to begin our afternoon block. Coordination was trying but our final full run of the show proved to make it all worth it; after all, you only get out of this activity what you put into it! Between loading up the trailers and heading to the show, some members stopped at my house to get ready. A quick shower helped soothe my pre-show nerves and then we were off to St. Paul.

Corps were already performing as we rolled up to Harding High School and after getting caught up in some traffic, I ran to warm up. Good vibes were aplenty and I knew we were going to have a great show. Walking off of the field I was proud to showcase our kooky circus to the welcoming hometown audience. After the show, as we were taking the props off the field when the tire on our chest  prop blew up! The guard was then rescued by the truck (after taking a quick selfie with the flat tire of course!) and ended the night with our oh so familiar, “you’re good to go, color guard!”