Middlesex County Volunteers

2006 Season

Another year, another trip to Switzerland... And plenty of parades, musters, and special appearances.

	12 March 2006 - New Haven, CT St. Patrick's Day Parade Official Parade Web Site Once again, the season started off with a St. Patrick's day parade out of state. This time around the state was Connecticut and the parade was New Haven's 50th Anniversary St. Patrick's Day Parade. MCV was awarded First Place, Best Senior Fife & Drum Corps.
	1 April 2006 - World Men's Curling Championships - Opening Ceremony, Tsongas Arena, Lowell, MA Official Event Web Site - Satellite Map With the World Men's Curling Championships hosted by Massachusetts, MCV was the perfect choice to start off the opening ceremony. MCV escorted the championship trophy, led the ahletes into the arena, and performed again later in the ceremony.
	8 April 2006 - Bedford Liberty Pole Capping Satellite Map Despite some climbing difficulties, Bedford's Liberty Pole was capped once again.
	8 April 2006 - Concord: Meriam's Corner Satellite Map After the Liberty pole, it was off to Meriam's Corner for the second of the day's historical events.
	8 April 2006 - Lincoln: Paul Revere Capture Site Satellite Map The first day of 2006's Patriot's Day events ended at the Paul Revere Capture site in Lincoln.
	17 April 2006 - Concord Patriot's Day Parade With both 1st Michigan and Colonial Williamsburg in town, MCV wound up at the very end of the parade. The usual merge at the end included both of the out-of-state corps as well as a few other random people who felt like joining in.
	17 April 2006 - Lexington Patriot's Day parade As usual, the parade was preceded by a small gathering at a local residence, with plenty of entertainment in the form of music and slightly anachronistic bawdy drinking songs...
	6 May 2006 - William Diamond Muster It was another cloudy day in Lexington for the William Diamond Muster.
	21 May 2006 - Newton, MA Memorial Day Parade The clouds overhead threatened to open up on us and kids on minibikes ahead of us in the parade threatened to run us down, but we escaped without serious injury...
	29 May 2006 - Andover, MA Memorial Day Parade Last time it was candy thrown from a fire truck and kids on minibikes ahead of us, this time it was a medic throwing candy and a WWII Jeep doing donuts ahead of us... As usual, a lap around the block and on to Medford.
	29 May 2006 - Medford, MA Memorial Day Parade Medford unveiled its new shorter parade route, much to everyone's relief.
	6 June 2006 - Presidents at Pops 25th Anniversary MCV was invited to appear at the 25th anniversary performance of Presidents at Pops, a fund raising event that gathers many influential local people together in Symphony Hall.
	18 June 2006 - Brattleboro, VT: BUHS Alumni Parade Brattleboro was celebrating the 100th anniversary of its high school, complete with members of graduating classes from the 30s to the 70s. What about the other 25 years? That's the gap MCV was brought in to fill. The heat was brutal, and that was before we got to the hills. Still, this was just a warm-up for Switzerland...
	22 June 2006 - Switzerland Day 0: Departure Despite some last-minute baggage restrictions, we left more or less on time from Logan. Sure there was an hour delay on the ground waiting to take off, but that shouldn't be a problem...
	23 June 2006 - Switzerland Day 1: Basel Practice Before getting to Switzerland, we had to navigate through the unmarked corridors of Heathrow. But not before a half hour delay on the ground... The group going straight to Basel missed their connection, while the group going the long way through Zurich made it out only a little bit behind schedule. Both groups would be reunited in time for an evening practice in the lalli cellar, though one group had time to eat, rest, and bathe...
	24 June 2006 - Switzerland Day 2: Lucerne No time to get settled in, it's off to Lucerne for a radio broadcast taping. It was probably one of the most picturesque cities in Switzerland, but we only had about an hour to see the sights before it was back on the bus to Basel...
	25 June 2006 - Switzerland Day 3: Basel Muster It was all set to be a long day in brutal heat, and then came the rain... Lots of rain, enough to turn the sky black. Still, the show went on under cover. And back out of cover when we found out that our performance didn't count because it wasn't close enough to the concession stand...
	26 June 2006 - Switzerland Day 4: Bern Another bus trip, this time to Bern. We had some time this time around to see the sights, but before long we were marching uphill on a cobblestone road, dodging minivans full of insane and seemingly homicidal Italy fans as we went. Our trip back to Basel after dinner was delayed due to an unfinished World Cup match, which was not good for those of us who wanted to get some sleep before our early morning departure for the Alps...
	27 June 2006 - Switzerland Day 5: Brig and Visp
	28 June 2006 - Switzerland Day 6: Alps and Arosa
	29 June 2006 - Switzerland Day 7: Shaffhausen
	30 June 2006 - Switzerland Day 8: Basel Tattoo
	1 July 2006 - Switzerland Day 9: Basel Tattoo
	3 July 2006 - Harborfest Concert Satellite Map Straight off the plane and into a concert... Well, we got a few hours of rest at least. The Summer uniforms made their way out of storage to spare the spectators the horror of uniforms that just survived a long, hot, sweaty tour.
	4 July 2006 - Boston 4th of July Parade Another day in Boston for one of the most well-behaved parades in the state. Why can't they all be like this?
	4 July 2006 - Wakefield 4th of July Parade Apparently everyone wants to be in MCV, even police officers on bicycles who think the Drum Major's spot is meant for turning around... Between that and the parade organizers begging for money, I don't remember much from this parade.
	4 Seplember 2006 - Marlborough Labor Day Parade The politicians were out in force, some with their sights set on the Governor's seat, and others seemingly set on taking a color guard sword to the seat...
	23 September 2006 - Sudbury Colonial Faire & Muster Muster Web Site Satellite Map No sheep got loose this time around, though damp wool does sort of generate the same effect...
	19 October 2006 - Boston Bruins Home Opener MCV on ice... This is starting to become a recurring theme. While certain other Boston teams seem to have little interest in MCV, the Bruins wanted to start off the season with a good showing and had MCV perform before their home opener. The color guard also appeared during the singing of the national anthem. Oh yeah, they won the game too, scoring the first goal in just 19 seconds. Hey Celtics, just an idea for next year...
	29 October 2006 - Woburn Halloween Parade It was a windy day in Woburn, which wasn't good for the costumes and floats, pieces of which were scattered on the ground along the parade route. Thanks to the truck of candy-throwers ahead of us (who stopped for no apparent reason at the start of the parade and then sped down the road faster than any human being can march), MCV was blamed for creating a huge gap in the parade, despite setting a new Woburn speed record. And yes, the utility carts were trying to run us down again... Why do we still do this parade?
	19 November 2006 - Haverhill Santa Parade "And the streets were paved with candy" sounds like something out of a fairy tale, but in Haverhill, it's a sad reality. It's about time they send out sweepers to clean up after these guys, especially considering that it creates a serious hazard for candy-loving children.
	14 December 2006 - Holiday Pops Concert MCV was back in Symphony Hall with the Boston Pops for the 2006 Holiday Pops concert. Watch for it on television sometime in December 2007.