The Thanksgiving Weekend brought the start of the 18th season for The Jersey Surf, with the warm sights and sounds of summer in full bloom inside the walls of the corps rehearsal facility in Berlin, NJ. More than 280 returning and new members packed the Camden County Technical School for the weekend's events, participating in hands-on workshops and enjoying their introduction to the drum corps lifestyle.
Some 75 members returning from the 2007 corps arrived on Friday evening, and assisted with the setup for the weekend prior to holding a corps meeting with Executive Director Bob Jacobs. The evening was capped with the debut of the 2007 season tour video which chronicled the Surf's transcontinental journey, culminating in a silver medal performance at the Drum Corps International Division II/III World Championships in Pasadena, California.
Prospective new members and their parents arrived on Saturday morning, with a line forming nearly an hour prior to the opening of the registration desk at 8:00 AM. The line was seemingly endless, as corps veterans provided directions and guidance around the school complex in preparation for the new season's first rehearsal sessions.
A parents' orientation session began at 10:00 AM with over 150 in attendance, featuring a multi-media presentation from members of the organization's administrative team outlining the corps philosophies, operational format, financial, rehearsal and touring requirements, followed by a question and answer session with the Executive Director, Bob Jacobs. 2008 Jersey Surf hopefuls were introduced to their respective instructional staff members and began sectional meetings and rehearsals.
More than 1850 meals and snacks were prepared and served flawlessly by the Surf's legendary food service team over the course of the weekend, and prospective corps members were treated to several Jersey Surf member-favorite meals (and desserts!).
The rehearsal camp ended with the Surf's first public performance of the 2008 season, the traditional "2:00 Sunday Show and Tell." A crowd of over 350 parents, alumni, friends and supporters of the corps were obviously impressed by the number of performers filling the gymnasium floor to capacity, and by the quality of the performance after only slightly more than 24 hours together.
Brass Staff member, Harrison Horowitz, was pleased with the turnout this weekend. "We were incredibly impressed with the amount of talent that came to audition for the hornline. There were more than 90 auditionees for the brassline this weekend, with even more expected at our next camp. Thanks to the down-to-business attitude from our returning veterans and the high level of ability of the entire ensemble we were able to accomplish a huge amount of progress in a very short amount of time. This is sure to be an incredible summer for the Jersey Surf brass program!"
Corps Operations Director Brian Prato echoed Harrison's comments. "Every year we talk about how proud we are to have increased our first camp attendance and to introduce more young people to the unique world of The Jersey Surf. This year is certainly no exception, and even though it's starting to sound like a broken record, we're just amazed at the level of talent and preparation of the incoming students at this first camp. It's really remarkable that we're once again able to say that this is the best group yet," Prato added. "We expect that over 350 students will audition for membership in our organization this year between the November and December weekends. That is a tremendous honor for us, and a tribute to the more than 1300 members and countless adult volunteers who have contributed to the first 17 years of our success."
The corps' next rehearsal weekend is December 14-16 (Directions can be found on the home page of the web site). A photo gallery of this weekend's events can be found by
clicking here.
