Was yesterday a dream? it must be a British thing but I was waiting for the kick in the teeth that always seem to happen.

We left for UD Arena on time, the excitement in camp Mayflower clearly evident. The supporter van had to park away from the other 3 vans but we managed to drive the perimeter of the arena and be about 200 meters away from each other. I went into the arena briefly before going to start the unloading process, Scholastic Finals was still in progress and the arena was absolutely rammed.

Getting the equipment unloaded and into the holding area went smoothly as expected as we had been through the same process twice already (never change a good plan but it did feel like groundhog day). After what seemed like a day we were down the bottom part of the tunnel looking at the 15th placed guard performing from the back. The lady that 'controls' (and she did control) the tunnel, informed me that only the people with the neck passes could go to the sectioned off part to watch (we had all gone there in quarters and semis) so only Barry and Rob. To say I was upset was a minor understatement. She (and WGI) did not realise what the 8 parent had been through to get here, I almost thought I was back in the UK. I negotiated our cause and managed to get Lisa and Krissie in with Barry and Rob.

I am not going to describe the feelings of watching MF perform because you either were watching of doing the performing and if you are none of the above then you are not reading this. The only thing I will say, and this is not a dig, but what we did must surely silence any doubters.

Following the performance there was a mixture of emotions, some members were a little unhappy with their performance and I guess a realisation that what they had just done was truly for the last time. For me personally I could not be a prouder dad but seeing 'O Captain, my Captain Dan' in the corner by himself, realising that MF 2010 was at the point of closure had me in bits.

Once the equipment van was packed we took to our seats to watch the rest of finals. I did enjoy it but I have to say that I must fundamentally have a lack of understanding. I am not going to critique each show as we have in the UK more than enough "experts" to do that already. My choice would with out a shadow of a doubt go to PoC, they walked in to a standing Ovation, tore up the arena and walked out to a standing Ovation, to quote one of my favorite sound bites, "they got is so right" I don't care that the judging system this, the judging system that, I don't look at criteria, I have feelings and emotions, and Pride touched those feelings.

Once SCV had been on, it seemed that the whole stadium was going somewhere (the toilets? sorry rest rooms) I needed to powder my nose so decided to join the party. I walked passed the exit and noticed that a lot of people were leaving. For retreat I (and Mrs S) decided to get involved and move nearer to the arena. I sat with MF Director Barrington Davis (of old London Town) about 40 feet from O Captain, my Captain Dan. Now, I thought that at this point the I thought this trip could not have got any better, but we go and move up a place, this is not supposed to happen.

In Andy's world of pessimism we are supposed to drop a place, I guess I will have to live it.One of my highlights is seeing and hearing the announcer from DCI in person but weeing him strut about with a strange hat on his head (was it a chicken?) somehow took away the magic, anyway enough of that.

So Pride drop a place, I am not surprised that SCV dropped, but I am a little disappointed about Pride. Still they get the text vote (at this point I have to say this was a little too much like X factor for me, but I am more of a clapometer man, where is Huey Green these days - ask your parents kids). There are a few boo's from the crowd but Pride take the result well and the arena are on the feet once again.
As the Guards are dismissed, 4 huge confetti cannons go off, the timing of this nearly went wrong as one of the photographers in the wrong place nearly takes it in the head, I had the camera ready you the You've Been Framed moment but the cannon operator moves him on.



Being on the floor with all the guards after dismissal is a special moment, it takes about 30 minutes to get the pictures etc and MF get a lot of attention form all guards.... more to follow.

Finals day afternoon.

14:00 - todays rehearsal is so much more relaxed than yesterday. Mayflower's objective has been achieved with making it to IW finals so the pressure is off. Anthony has been teaching Jess to do his shoulder stand so Barry is thinking cutting him in favour of Jess, you go girl! Snacks have been served by Barry from the balcony which resembeld feeding time at the zoo.

Andy and Barry went to the Mall to get Barry a shirt to wear at finals, to say he looks hot is an understatment (Andy "I wish I had his style")

It's now 16:15, most of the guard are eating, the weather is great so everyone is in high spirits. We are leaving for UD Arena at 18:15

Finals day is here!

It's 9am on finals day and people are just about starting to get up. Rehearsal starts at 11:00 and will go to 15:00/16:00. This means that we won't get to see NAPA so we would like to wish them all the best for a great show.

Friday, 16:00 - bed

Members left for the Nutter Centre to go and watch Tarpon Springs (Michael's other Guard) but it was still not confirmed whether or not we had made finals so Andy stayed at the hotel to keep track of updates. By about 17:20 the scores were confirmed and we were14th.

The Parents and supporters got back and were a little disappointed not to see the members but made up for it giving them huge cheers when the buses returned.
We went out en Mass for a nice meal but everywhere struggled to fit 40 people! Eventually we got into Bravo but had to waited about an hour to be seated, so we had a few cocktails (not the members). We got back at a sensible time, a few of the supporters drifted over to the bar for a short while whilst most people went to bed.

Tomorrow is World Finals day and we are the 14th best guard in the world right now so we had better get prepared.

What a day so far!

Rehearsal started at 8am after the 20 minute drive, the stress, lack of sleep and hard rehearsing really showing but everyone putting on a brave face. Most time was spent on chunking the show and clearly many members were having a hard time. The last part of rehearsal was a full run where EVERYONE pulled it out of the bag, the staff were happy.

Getting to the show and preparation went like clockwork apart from the detour through all the car parks. The support/floor crew now nes the system at the arena so had no problems. Waiting in the tunnel was very different from last night as everyone was so relaxed. And so to the show..........amazing is the only word that can describe it, with many of the staff shouiting, screaming and even a few tears, even Rob had a smile on his face!

Once the equipment was packed the members relaxed watching a few guards, a decision wasmade to leave after Pride of Cincinatti. Their show was a real crowd pleaser which had the whole arena on their feet.

On the way back to the hotel, Jon Bilby sends a text to Barry with the news we have beaten a guard that beat us last night, the van erupts with excitement.
The Members are now back at the hotel watching the scores come in and to say the tension tense is an extreme understatement.

No Time to update!

Got home at about midnight, up again at 6:30 to get ready for rehearsal. All members were sensible and got straight to bed last night. Heard that NAPA done great and are through to Semi's, looks like the Brits are holding their own all round. Word on the street is that we were not expected to be as good as we were, will give a longer account of last nights show later, but just to say we had the audience on thier feet. After we came off, a reporter from marching (dot com) followed us and spent about 30 minutes interviewing different members (he was extremely impressed)

On behalf of MF, a massive thanks for all the support from emails and facebook messages. Everyone feels extremely proud to be representing the UK and to currently be 15th in the world is mind blowing.

Andy (Proud Dad, supporter, floor crew)

Last minute update

We are leaving in 10 minutes, the vibe is electric in Mayflower, no energy drinks required tonight.

Thursday 12:00 - 19:00

Another great rehearsal with a Good solid last run.We have had another 7 people turn up to support the Guard. Here are some messages to everyone following the blog.

Tink is really excited, she met a lot of her friends last night at Centerville, she is really happy to be in Mayflower and all of her American friends loved the show, Mayflower are really happy that she is part of the World Guard and hope she can come back again one day.

Rachael is having agreat time, she has a few minor injuries but is hoping the energy drink will pull her through. Her Centerville show was good but thought the music was slow!

Kerrie, is a little tired but the jet lag has now worn off.

We had dinner at Perkins about 5 ish, everyone was in great spirts and really excited about the show tonight.

After dinner had a minor emergency when JT came running into Andy & Tracey's room asking for assistance. It seems that there was a blockage in their toilet, we believe that we know who the culprit is but we do not have enough evidence to prove it was Jess.

Well that's it for now. It'd 7pm and the members are getting things together ready to leave at 20:00

Good bye from Dayton for today

Thursday - quarter finals day

Just as we went to bed last night it started to rain very heavily, it's now 7:30 and it's still raining quite hard. The members are obviously extremely tired, Rachael Suett is still in her clothes from last night with a full set of make up. Rob, Tracey and Barry are just about to leave for the arena, to regiater and get the tickets.

12:00 - it's all quiet at the hotel, the guard would now just be setting up for rehearsal from 12:00 - 16:00 having just had a quick look at the arena. The support staff are getting ready to go to Walmart.

Video for Centerville Show

Centerville High School - 1st show

We pulled out of the hotel at 17:00 onto very busy roads to go to our first show in the USA. The equipment van was unloaded quickly and we have been loaned a flooring trolly for the rest of the week. Each guard had a 15 minutes time slot to get set up and perform, so there was no pressure. There was about 20 guards so needless to say that it was a long show. The facillities at Centerville are excellent with a main arena and 2 other huge sports halls to warm up in. We watched The Pride and NAPA and gave them lots of support.

Barry gave the guard about 30 minutes to get warmed up and prepared. The floor crew performance was up to the usual standard and had to spin the floor around which gained a few cheers from the crowd. Our show was very good but a few of the members did say they was very nervous.

There was 3 guards on after us but we only managed to see 2 of them, the standard was very good as expected. After the show finished we made a quick exit from the car park and got back to base at about 11pm. It is now 11:50 and all are in their rooms.

At 8 tomorrow Tracey, Rob and Barry are going to the arena to register and pick up tickets. The guard need to be ready at 10 to go to the arena and then onto rehearsal at 10:00

Today has been very long and tiring, but alot has been achieved, the staff and members have worked their socks off and are a credit to the organisation and WGUK. Tomorrow nights performance is the next stage of the adventure that will give us a good idea of expectation for the next couple of days - good luck to all!

Wednesday up until 17:00

Everyone was up early as we have a show tonight in Centreville and need to finish rehearsal at 2pm. The last run was incredible with NO drops and a very excited staff. The level of performance clearly has been raised to a new level. This was helped by Passiaic Guard coming in to watch before they started their rehearsal.


We now have 3 hours to get back, eat and get prepared before leaving att 15:00. Tracey and Barry went off to get Pizza from Walmart

Tuesday evening.

Most people went went over the road to 'The Tavern' and left soon after eat. Barry and Andy were ordered to stay in there until very late.

Tuesday - Rehearsal

The plan was to let members sleep for as long as possible but everyone drifted down Bob Evans earlier than required. By 11am the two members vans were on the road for the Beavercreek Basketball arena. Whilst the guard was warming up outside, the support team started to piece together the floor that was in shipped over in 7 pieces. The floor crew were left screwing new tables together whilst Tracey S, Nicky D, Barry James and Andy S went shopping for food and paint. We got back from shopping to a very sticky rehearsal and quickly prepare lunch.


Rehearsal finished rather abruptly when the local basketball team came into train but luckily the guard had there best run this year. We stopped off at Walmart on the way back to get provisions and breakfast as we have an early start in the morning. A quick meeting in Rob's when we got back and everyone now getting ready for dinner.

Not a very exciting day but this was expected. Everyone is extremely tired but still very upbeat. We are now going to meet at 20:30 for dinner.

No sleep

I managed about 3 hours sleep, it seems if you are over 30 (only just) trans-atlantic travel never agrees with the body clock. Note that the timestamps on here that appear automatically aree now in US Eastern time so add 5 hours to get UK time.

The staff are meeting at 8 to start taping the poles, Dougie Barry and Neil are off to get the equipment van, all of the members are still sleeping so hopefully will have a great rehearsal today.

Last night when we got to Dayton getting out of the airport and getting the (poeple) vans was stress free, the hire car people were really friendly and unbelieveably helpfull. The 3 Vans with 15 seats in each went in convoy for the 20 mile journey, with Rob leading with TomTom, Wayne in 2nd with me (Andy) riding shotgun, and Barry (and TomTom II) behind. Ron: I had your directions and they were spot on

Anyway the next 6 hours are goiing to be really busy so hopefully I can update you later. Oh and the best bit of news for me is we have free wifi at the hotel, I am starting to enjoy ColourGuard!

PS - I may get some photos today sowill try to work out how to get them on here,

We have arrived!

It is now 1am in Ohio, 6am uk time, we left home 24 hours ago. We now have all our rooms allocated and off to bed. Van being picked up at 9:45 and the guard are leaving for rehearsal at 11.

Good night/morning.


-- Post From My iPhone

Location:Byers Rd,Miamisburg,United States

Day 1, Billericay to Dayton

MONDAY

Billericay to Heathrow - We left Billericay almost on time, Ron came to say goodbye and was a little upset at not going with us on this adventure. Some nice words of encouragement were said and everyone although excited, a little disappointed that she was not going to share a great week with us.

Heathrow Airport - Well it started so well until we reached check-in and Lucy decides that she now doesn’t want to travel with us (she forgot her ESTA form) the use of Barry’s iPhone soon got the form number from Lucy’s email account. The next issue was with Tracey (Suett) and Krissie explaining to security why they had bolts, multi-coloured flags and an excessive amount of PVC tape.

We are now all sat in the Bridge pub air side just about to tuck into breakfast, so everyone is little happier.

Plane 1st leg - All safe and on the plane and heading for Atlanta, a little bit of trauma on the take off, it’s apparent that Jessica Brown really does not like flying, James does a good job of consoling her with a playful slap.

17:40 UK time, 4 hours into the first leg of air travel with 5 hours to go until we touch-down in Atlanta. The majority of the MF team are snoozing (except me) even Dougie and Jess are quiet. We have traveled 2049 miles at a speed of just over 500mph, outside temperature is -45F. Life in 1st class is great with my 2nd glass of champagne on its way (big thanks to Ron for getting us a great deal)

01:00 UK Time, 20:00 local time. Getting through USA security and border control was reasonably painless and we got all the luggage off to be transferred to our next flight. Being ordered to get the cases onto the escalator was an unnerving experience.

We are now sitting outside the gate waiting for the 2nd flight, very tired and longing for our beds, a few people have wandered off to get something to eat. I have just bought a fast meal from one of the many food outlets in the airport, I have to admit that I could not understand a thing they said to me apart from the last thing said as my order was handed over by a VERY large lady that resembled the washer woman from Tom and Jerry "there's your fries, hot and spicy just like you like them baby"  I think she likes me.

Wahoo! Michael Shapiro has just arrived and is on the same flight as us

Getting onto the plane was an absolute disaster after the plane was changed for a smaller one, all the seat allocations had to be redone.

It’s now 03:22 UK time and we have been on the go for nearly 22 hours. By the miracle of the electronic internet and the relief of $5.95 this blog has been updated at 25,000 feet at 3:34 UK time somewhere between Atlanta and Dayton, thank you and good night from all at Mayflower World Guard 2010.