July 22, 2026 – Along the Mill Brook
As much as I have been enjoying my travels to the far reaches of the country during my annual summertime drum corps tour, I am always very happy to come home. Nestled in the bosom of the Green Mountains, the Mad River Valley is a multi-town community with one big heart. I am proud to be a contributing resident of one, the Town of Fayston. The neighboring towns of Waitsfield, Warren, Moretown, Duxbury, and Waterbury all send their students to schools in the Harwood Union Unified School District. I am a guest teacher at Fayston and Warren Elementary Schools and at Harwood Middle School and High School. This season will be my tenth year as a teacher and as assistant coach for the Highlander Golf Team, 2025 Vermont State Champions. This is a lucky draw for my semi-retirement job. However, ‘Schools Out for the Summer!”
The Green Mountains on the west side of the Valley host three unique and special lift-served ski areas: Sugarbush Lincoln Peak, Sugarbush Mount Ellen, and Mad River Glen. I have a 32-year legacy as a ski instructor and backcountry guide. Though this place may be more popular for skiing and wintertime activities, those who live here have discovered how awesome the summers are. I get to experience great hikes, fresh air, local foods, and most importantly, our local music scene.
Protecting wetlands for good water quality equals good beer.
This unique resort town has a very strong creative ethos, which is evident in our local schools, where a very high percentage of our kids are involved in the arts and music. Many local residents perform in area bands at a variety of venues, including our local brewery, Lawson’s Finest Liquids. Many play with friends in living rooms, barns, and basements. The Number Nine Schoolhouse, ca. 1903, will fill a need for rehearsal space and provide a place for musicians to gather, collaborate, mentor, and create. That is the vision. We are making progress. Tonight, one such local ensemble has commandeered my living (band) room. Ski buddies and friends have been invited here out of Chris’ basement. We took a stepping-stone route across the Mill Brook to tour the Schoolhouse, which they are considering as a future rehearsal space. In addition, the freshman breakout band at Harwood needs a well-supervised off-campus location for the burgeoning breakout bands. I’ll keep you posted on that. Meanwhile, time for some congas.
July 27, 2026
It has been a busy week in the Green Mountains. Thursday was a campout with friends in Fairlee, Vermont, and a concert by Trampled by Turtles at the Lake Morey Resort. Fast and frenetic acid-bluegrass at its finest. I woke up with turtle prints all over me. Deciding to shun the turnpikes was a drive through Vermont’s pastoral nooks and crannies, where each valley has a family farm that is a dairy of distinction. These farmers are outstanding in their fields.
A rehearsal by Toad Hall at the Russell Ranch.
If it’s Friday, it is a day to bag a peak. This week was the Long Trail from the Appalachian Gap to Stark’s Nest at the top of Mad River Glen Ski Area. You know you are alive when you are hiking over roots and rocks, up ladders, through the krumholtz of the Northern Green Mountains. The air is fresh and full of oxygen, purified by the abundant green as far as the eyes can see. This is the intersection of the Green Mountain National Forest, Vermont’s Camels Hump State Park, and the Mad River Glen Cooperative, a critical partner in the preservation and conservation of the forest lands along the spine of the Monroe Skyline. I have been a shareholder for over thirty years. A look west provides copious views of Lake Champlain and the Adirondack Mountains in New York.
The Silver Bullet is ready for another tour to Indy.
Saturday included building a new sustainable and accessible path to the brook. Benching it into the bank and utilizing a log for support along the downhill side, I built a 3-foot-wide path with 2″ of hard-packed, bank-run gravel at about a 10% incline for about 15 feet. That was 14 five-gallon buckets hauled. Yesterday was a total detail of the Volvo and watching the rebroadcast of the DCI Southeastern Championships on FloMarching. Both the car and I are ready for the long haul that will begin on Wednesday. I decided to leave a day early to catch up with my friend Ron, who has been a great mentor for my writing. That gives me two days to pack everything I will need and while away some time in between. Watching pirate videos, snippets, and other content is fodder for the fan but lacking in the life and in-person experiences to come. Once again, I found myself nodding off during the later corps, just not quite captivated by the broadcast version. Am I going to love drum corps this year? Certainly, the climax from last year was a large scratching of the itch. Goose bumps and tears may yet leap and well.
July 28, 2026 – Lawson’s Finest Brewery, Waitsfield, Vermont
I’m at Lawson’s Finest Brewery in Waitsfield, Vermont, my hometown. We are so proud of Sean and Karen Lawson for their hard work in building one of Vermont’s premier breweries and a great business in our humble community. Tuesday night is music night. We are so lucky here in the Mad River Valley to have live music each night somewhere. Tomorrow, General Starks Pub at Mad River Glen has wings and live music. Thursday is the Round-up Revival on the Mad River Green with food trucks. Friday and Saturday, the choices are many, including venues at Sugarbush Resort, Local Folk Smoke House, Afterthoughts Bar and more. You might find a great pick-up gig just about anywhere in the surrounding hills or my living room along the Mill Brook.
The time is getting short. One more good night’s sleep at the Russell Ranch before I leave for the long haul DCI tour in the Silver Bullet, my storied Volvo that has been my trusty steed for the past eight years. Based on car years, we are the same age and have the same frequency of wellness appointments. We are both ready, but hey, you never know. I could leave it on the side of the road and hitchhike to Indy. Providence will provide. That is the way that I roll. New brakes, good tires, fresh oil from Haps Garage, and a cooler full of Lawson’s Finest Liquids, and we are all set. Trepidation abounds taking a car in its eleventh year on a three-thousand-mile odyssey halfway across America and back. But no worries. Consider what it must have been like for the natives who made their annual trek and congregated around Indianapolis centuries ago. I digress.
Tonight, there is a Blue Grass band of the known kind. Their strings are the same, but their pace is slower than Tramping with Turtles the other night. It is the lazy Tuesday summer night when we go home at 7:00 and call it a day. I am trying to stay up late. Drum corps touring is on a different schedule: staying up late after the shows for the post-show merriment, sleeping with the air conditioner blasting and the curtain hermetically sealed. Or, getting up early, rolling up the sleeping bag and heading to the nearest McDonald’s for coffee, etc., if I am in the Volvo or hanging between two trees in the hammock instead of a hotel. I am a starving writer and tend to go on the cheap out of necessity. After all, I am just a ski bum looking for something as exciting to do in the summer. My second Hopzilla double IPA has now required me to clam up this computer for now. See you in Lawrence.
July 29, 2026 – Haps Garage, Waitsfield
I’m sitting at the mid-century modern table at Haps Garage. No need for shade today. It is raining. Today is a travel day. With great anticipation, I am about to begin my multi-state odyssey in the Silver Bullet with a wax job and a fresh belly of oil. Maybe a future tour will never require oil, but for now, it’s the piston engine going the long haul again. It is a beauty and serves the purpose well. Casa de Volvo is going to be the choice for a few nights on the road.
I have been watching the forecast and the radar. Ugh! Rain is the bane of drum corps. The Boston Crusaders have had their fair share of interruptions from Mother Nature, including last year’s cancellation of the marching programs, but the stands were full as they performed in the heavy rain, standing still in the arc. This year may be soggy, but hopefully not too soggy for marching. You know that the Boston kids will perform for the hometown, no matter what.
My first stop today will be with friends Ron and Nancy, just outside the city. Ron is a writer and has provided me with great advice and encouragement over the years. We will have a beer and share ideas on promoting my new blog. Then the plan is to meet up with members of the unaffiliated drum corps for a BAC rehearsal. Rain may change the plan. These are the friends who will caravan together to Indy over the next several days. My friend Chuck will head to Allentown separately and meet up again in Indianapolis. He will be my co-pilot home on Sunday following the finals. So far, I will be solo. That means every decision will be unanimous on route, hotels, and other venues along the way. Flying by the seat of my pants and meeting up with the caravan along the way.
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