Drum corps holes up at Hoover High

For the first time in nearly three months, the Casper Troopers Drum and Bugle Corps has a temporary home — something they will need as they compete in the Drum Corps International World Championships 2007 at the Rose Bowl Stadium this weekend.

The Troopers arrived at Hoover High School at about 3 a.m. Monday, woke up shortly before 7 a.m. to have breakfast, then started their 10-hour practice session at 8 a.m.

They were taking it a little easy, corps Director Fred Morris said.

“We thought, they’ve been working so hard, we should give them some free time,” he said.

With blaring horns and crackling drums in the background, 21-year-old Kyle Trader explained how it felt to be sleeping on random gym floors and buses for the last three months.

“Honestly, you get so tired, you’ll sleep anywhere,” said Trader, the corps’ horn sergeant.

Hailing from Casper, Wyo., the 126-member marching band has been touring across the country participating in various regional competitions. They embarked on their journey June 18 and had their first competition the next day in Sioux Falls, S.D.

But for the next week, the corps will be stationed at Hoover High School, where members will sleep on the gym floor and corps leaders will crash in classrooms.

It’s a welcome change for the corps members, they said, because they have not had extended stays in towns they compete in. For the most part, they arrive in a town to compete, but pack up the day after the competition en route to the next destination.

“You learn to not really get settled down in one place,” drum major Mark Crimm said. “The bus really becomes your home. You learn to manage your space. And you let conflicts go.”

They are one of the 107 corps from around the country that are crisscrossing the nation, honing their skills for the culminating event — Drum Corps International World Championships 2007, a three-day drum-and-horn bonanza starting Thursday at the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena.

Competition is steep, but this is the comeback year for the Troopers, so any strong showing will be a positive step for the corps.

“We don’t want to push the first-place thing too much,” Morris said. “We’re not at that size yet or maturity level. We’ve beaten some good teams, but I’d say we’re middle of the back … This is a great springboard for next year.”

Financial and organizational troubles forced the team to close down for a season last year, Morris said. Morris, who took over as corps director in May 2006, said he did not know about the previous troubles. But he is trying to turn the team into a formidable competitor.

On Sunday, the team competed in Clovis, Calif., where they scored just above 80 on the standard 100-point scale — a first for the team in years.

The team boasts performers from 21 states, including six members from Japan. The 64-member horn section is the largest division. The percussion sections — the battery and the pit — has a combined 27 members. The rest are in the color guard.

About 30 people who serve as support staff or administrators that have been following the corps. A big part of that staff is the food services, which, by the end of the tour, will have served 54,000 meals, Morris said.

The team was on Hoover High’s baseball diamond and football field on Monday in the mid-afternoon. The sections lined up in sharp formation practicing their cues.

Beginning Thursday, they will be before thousands at the Rose Bowl.

Executive Director Mike Ottoes said after the competition the members will just scatter back to their respective home towns.

Color guard commander Victoria Romero said she will enjoy her home in Albuquerque, N.M.

“I’m probably going to lay in my own bed,” she said.