The corps set off late Wednesday evening leaving the Civic Hall car park at 10.30pm; they were in good spirits excited about the weekend that lay ahead. Our travel plans did not quite go as planned and our accommodation was dodgy! Losing out on Thursday’s rehearsal the Corps turned out at the Football club on Thursday evening to perform to an enthusiastic crowd of locals who enjoyed shows by ourselves and Northern Star. The local primary school came to our rescue and offered us their lovely school for the rest of the weekend. I would like to think that if a foreign corps came here that they would be given the same hospitality. Many of our supporters unable to make the trip with us were able to watch the performances live on the webcast. We had a good days rehearsal on Friday and travelled to Kerkrade well prepared for prelims. The weather was perfect - sunny, slight breeze. The stadium was magnificent. The final touches had been put in place and the corps waited back field to come on to the slave chant “Stewball�. It had a powerful effect, the atmosphere on field could be felt, there was a real energy there. The performance went well and we were all really happy coming off the field. A score of 72.90 secured us a place in finals. The corps enjoyed the bright sunshine and soaked up the great atmosphere. The evening Finals went really well and everyone came off the field happy that they had had a good show. When we stood on retreat I thought how amazing for our youngest members Izzy and Ben in their first season and our rookies James, Fran and Lib to be able to take part in DCE finals and come 8th, a great achievement. Many of our members marched 10 or 15 years before they got that opportunity. Drum corps is about the journey you make and the wonderful people that you make the journey with. This year’s memories will last a long time.