Gulf Coast Sound Drum & Bugle Corps
January 28th & 29th, 2005
The Word Around the Corps
2005 Mardi Gras All-Star Drum Corps Parade - Galveston, Texas
Mardi Gras weekend, January 29, 2005, was one of the best parades Gulf Coast Sound has organized yet. The Corps participated in the day parade on the Strand and the night parade on the Sea Wall. Both parades were great and ran quite smoothly. We had several people from different Corps join us in the parades. We also were able to spend some time with the Mardi Gras raffle winners, Donna and John. They had a FANTASTIC time and are planning to come back on their own next year.
The day parade on the Strand was short, but well worth it. Marching from block to block and seeing the kids and parents dancing to the drumline’s street beat was a sight to see. The excited looks from the rowdy crowd only encouraged hornline to play louder. It was great to see the Color-guard dancing and having a great time to the music being played and helping pump up the crowd. We were able to convince Donna (one of the raffle winners) to join the Color Guard for the day. She had a great time while her husband, John, danced along side the Corps. It was awesome watching the crowds go crazy to the music we were playing and knowing that they were having a great time in Galveston in part due to our being there.
After spending several hours partying on the Strand and getting some much needed lunch it was time to get ready to do the Night Parade on the Sea Wall. We lined up on 10th and the Sea Wall about 5 PM. To start with we were behind a fire truck and next to a Spanish group that had drum racks mounted on wheels and lady's dancing in big frilly purple, green and gold dress. Just before dusk we did an impromptu concert with the Houston Shriners Drum & Bugle Corps. There were several familiar faces from Bayou City Blues with the Shriners and the massed hornline had about 60 horns. As night began to fall we were moved towards to start of the parade. Before it was time to step off onto the parade route a big float was put in front of us and off we went. Marching down the Sea Wall and throwing beads to kids and seeing the crowd getting into the music was as much FUN as it was tiring. I had the time of my life and everyone did an awesome job.
I want to say thank you to everyone who participated in the parade and also to the raffle winners for their great attitude and infectious enthusiasm. Also a special big thanks to Marc Sanders and David Breitwieser for putting the 2005 Mardi Gras All-Star Drum Corps Parade together.
Stacie Parsley
GCS Reporter
