Proud KS Scout: Turn back time

Drum Corps Europe will follow the Kidsgrove Scouts during their DCA tour. We will post the 'Proud KS Scout' blog updates by Helen Daniels on our website. Helen a Kidsgrove Scouts member and will write a blog about the American adventure. Here are her first two blog entries.

ABOUT HELEN

My name is Helen, I was born in Kidsgrove and have been part of the scouts ever since. I am an invested scout and now sit on our Group Executive Committee. I enjoy ‘giving back’ as I experienced many happy years and extraordinary opportunities with Kidsgrove Scouts. I first joined the corps in 1986 and played the glockenspiel and later the mellophone. I have performed winter guard seasons twice (97 and 00). In 2009 I joined the instructing team for Kidsgrove Scouts Juniors. I work full time and I am a mother of three children (four if you count the hubby!)

TURN BACK TIME
11-08-2015

Soon I will be setting off on my first DCA tour ever and as a 38 year old, mother of three it’s as daunting as it is exciting. I’ve not marched drum corps in 18 years or done anything this active for the last 14 of those years. What am I thinking? That’s a question I’ve asked myself repeatedly over the last six months.

Turn back time to a very wet and windy weekend in April this year and the first rehearsal is still very clear in my mind. I was so nervous to be back on the field after such a long absence and I’ve never marched a colour guard summer season (a winter guard in 1997 and 2000) and (as I was soon to find out) never ‘spun’ like this! But I needn’t have worried so much because I was made to feel so welcome and included from the outset. My fellow guardies have remained supportive ever since offering me friendship and encouragement that have never made me feel out of place, for which I am appreciative more than they could realise.

So why turn back time for me? After 14 years of devoting my life to my family I just felt like I needed to do something for me. I have the best family in the world; they not only understood this but have supported me. My children have biked, ran and scootered alongside me as I’ve tried to get fitter, they have waited (not always patiently) as I’ve practised in the garden and the rest of my family have listened to my doubts, insecurities and offered encouragement continually. They have also found it quite amusing watching me hobble about as my body has found muscles I didn’t know were there.

Why guard? That’s easy – they make it look so much fun! Throughout my younger years I thoroughly enjoyed dance classes and being a member of the British gymnastic society plus I’ve done amateur dramatics so you could say I was best placed here plus I like to set myself difficult challenges. I still like it when I’m near the mellophone section (my old haunt) and I often get goosebumps from hearing their parts.

Why drum corps? After a long absence for me, my son joined Kidsgrove Scouts Juniors in 2009. Within a week I couldn’t help myself and I was instructing visually. Fast forward five years and we had taken the juniors to the championships numerous times and DCE twice. In 2014 we integrated the junior corps into the senior corps and in turn watched them come of age. What a privilege that was. I’ve heard and read comments this year about Kidsgrove Scouts being ‘oldies’ well there’s no denying we have some silver tops (me included) but we have lots of youngsters who keep us all young and in our place. That’s the real magic; marching with my son and his friends, not just watching them experience the same feelings I did back in the 90’s but experiencing alongside them, with them and because of them.

SOMETHING'S IN THE AIR
17-08-2015

Something felt different this weekend at rehearsal. If wasn’t tangible but there was definitely something in the air. It’s excitement! Imagine putting 121 children in the same room waiting for Santa Claus; that’s how it felt being on the field this weekend. The talk has changed from ‘when we get to DCA…’ to ‘next week at DCA…’

We spent all day Saturday on our own sectional fields piecing our show back together, recapping changes and making more fine adjustments. At one point our guard section was split in four large sub groups (four lines of work) cleaning our closing number, Medea. It’s such a great feeling to watch each other like this. At one point we were running and re-running a chunk of ensemble flag work which ends in a toss when we heard screams of appreciation from back field ‘Go Team Green, yeah!’ which made us all smile a lot. I feel lucky to be with a group of people who are so supportive and appreciative of each other.

On Sunday we worked with the whole corps. I personally had to tackle new drill and several cross throughs with the horn line and drum line, new flag work for a mini guard segment and a monster tempo in the closer with guard work faster than a Zanussi spin cycle which left my shoulders burning.

Normally at some point during every rehearsal I hit a wall, I’ve had enough and I want timeout but this weekend was different. Now I’m standing at the top of the hill and I can see the end of the season hurtling towards me at break neck speed. There’s a lump in my stomach that now wants time to slow down. I’ve made new friends and grown closer to old friends. This is the feeling which will take me through this adventure, this opportunity and leave me with no regrets.