Thanks for a great Spring Debut!

Thank you to everyone who helped make the 2008 Colts Spring Debut camp and performance such a wonderful time. But this time the biggest thanks go out to all the young people who performed Sunday at Senior High. What a great afternoon!

Of course, the performers could not have done it without all you wonderful Colts volunteers who cooked, painted, sewed, cleaned, and did so much more to make the weekend camp a success.

But remember. We still need YOUR HELP FOR SUMMER. There continue to be weeks on the summer cooktruck schedule that are so thin you could strain soup through them. Please get in contact with Bill to get on the summer schedule. You'll help! You'll have fun! You'll get to share a little part of the summer with your Colt and 149 other great young people!

Bill's email is listed at the right and you can download the summer schedule while you're over there looking around. Check out the DCI news about the Colts and just generally hang out and have a good time.

But don't forget to get on the schedule.

Josh Turner on dci.org

Josh Turner of the Colts was featured in the DC-Eye feature on dci.org.

Camp today!

Spring debut means tour is right around the corner. Looking forward to seeing everyone at camp. Make sure you read the April camp entry over at the official Colts website for all the details.

Be sure to check colts.org before you leave for any last-minute news. Don't check here. We'll be gone.

DCI Field Pass: Bianca Vocke - Echoes of Morning

This is now available on the DCI website. By the way, there is also a beautiful picture of Bianca in the DCI wall calendar I got the other day (as Greg mentions in the interview).

Interview with Greg Orwoll

Tuesday's DCI field pass was an interview of Greg Orwoll by Dan Potter about his career in Drum Corps and his recent election to the DCI 2008 Hall of Fame. The interview provides some insight into the early days of Drum Corps, DCI, Greg's experiences, and a very accurate description of the Colts' way of running a Drum Corps. Here is the link: http://www.dci.org/audio/2008/field_pass/042208_fieldpass.mp3

I believe I heard Thursday's DCI field pass will preview "Echoes of Morning" - the Colts commissioned work in memory of Bianca Vocke.

CONGRATULATIONS, GREG!! You deserve the recognition and accolades. See all of you at camp this weekend.

New cook calendar

An updated cook calendar is available for download by clicking the link in the right sidebar. Bill says everything is looking good except for the first two weeks of cornfield (Memorial Day camp to June 7) and the week from Natalia, TX, (San Antonio) to Atlanta (July 20-26).

That doesn't mean there aren't still plenty of openings and opportunities for you to help. Contact Bill before Spring Debut Camp this weekend to get your spot on tour. His contact information is in the right sidebar.

Congratulations Greg Orwoll!

As you can hear for yourself if you go to dci.org and listen to Dan Potter's exclusive announcement in his Field Pass podcast, Greg Orwoll has been selected as one of the people to be inducted in 2008 into the Drum Corps International Hall of Fame. (I was tipped off to the announcement by one of my staff spies.)


Yipeeeeeeeeeeee!

The entire Virtual Cooktruck Staff and volunteer operation of the Colts sends out a gigantic "way to go, Greg." A heartfelt personal thanks from us for the support and encouragement Greg has given to our efforts over the past few years. We love you, Greg, and we're not ashamed to say so! Can't wait for Greg's official induction at DCI finals in Bloomington.

In the same 2008 class is Jenny Acheson's dad -- DCI executive director Dan Acheson. Congratulations, Dan!

Questions

Photo by Rod R.

Eyes

Photo by Rod R.

Updated Cook Calendar

An updated cook calendar for the Colts' summer tour has been posted. Click on the link in the right sidebar that says Cook Calendar 2008 to download it to your desktop.

Even though some weeks are filled (yes!), we still need your help to make this summer a success for the 2008 Colts. Email Bill (his address is listed in the right sidebar) and get your spot on tour.

Thanks again to everyone who has signed up already. Let's see if we can complete the calendar before April camp!

The Colts Virtual Cooktruck Cheerleaders

Big move

In case you haven't heard (how could you not have heard?), DCI Finals will not be in Indy after all, but a few miles down the road in Bloomington. Go to dci.org for details.

More drill camp photos

Rod's batch of photos from March drill camp are up. There's a link in the gallery area in the right sidebar.

Drill camp photos

Dan B. has submitted the first set of drill camp photos. The link is in the 2008 Photo section at the right.

Still time to sign up for tour

Help!

We still need LOTS of volunteer help for summer tour.

If you haven't got your summer completely planned already (How hard can that be? Just look at the tour schedule and you'll see where you need to be every weekend....), at least get in touch with Bill and get your tentative dates on the calendar. There's a link to his email in the right sidebar.

If you've already signed up for a week in the kitchen truck, thank you so much. It really helps to get the plan together early. Now, when is your second week on tour going to be? Everybody can share an extra day or two. :)

If you are a parent and you haven't signed up yet, let me share a little secret. You'll really be missing something special with your Colt if you don't spend some time on tour with him or her this summer. It is a special time for your Colt, and the dirty little secret only the volunteers know (well, one of the dirty little secrets only the volunteers know...come on tour to hear some of the others) is that it means as much or more to you as it does to your kid. It is really a "life peak" for many of the volunteers who go along with the Colts for a week or two during the summer. And it makes the incredible "life peak" your Colt will experience this summer that much higher when you're there to share it with them. (Come on parents and volunteers. Here's your opening to share your own incredible summer moments with the corps and what it's meant to you. Post a comment.)

Not a parent? We've had aunts, uncles, grandmas, grandpas, friends, and former Colts join us for at least a week during the summer. If you love the Colts and have reached the age where you're too old to march, you're welcome.

Get in touch with Bill. Get on the truck. Let's have fun.

The Virtual Cooktruck Marketing and Promotions Staff

Where you staying in Indy?

Mr. Orwoll suggested that it might be useful to have a central place for Colts parents and fans to say where they plan to stay in Indianapolis for finals.

For hotel rooms for finals, he's recommending that you go through the DCI web site. (Although he also says the Embassy Suites downtown is getting some Dubuque traffic.)

There will be drum corps people crawling all over downtown Indy for finals week, so if you want to let the Virtual Cooktruck know by emailing David (use the link in the right sidebar), we'll start keeping a list and posting it here.

My technical people will no doubt come up with a really cool way to do this. (Won't you Cheeks?)