Dayton Memoirs: Headquarters

The shows are done. They have been toiled over and cleaned. They have been judged. Kids have quit. Parents have raised funds. Some shows were successful. Some were not. Some...you will never forget. There were instructors who thought they were better than they were. There were kids who thought they knew they more than their staff. Many tried to find meaning in their journey. Many were too busy to care and lost the meaning along the way. Lessons were learned. Some of those lessons were hard. Tears, cheers, happiness, sadness, anxiety, and depression. This all happened in the course of a season. January to April was what it was. We saw the season change from winter to spring; from football to baseball. The world kept going round while we spun our flags. January seemed like a lifetime ago and many of us ignored other aspects of our lives while family, friends, and employers stood idly by waiting for our return from the vortex called winter guard. For some of us with kids the song, "Cats in the Cradle," holds a special meaning as we jotted off from rehearsal to show to airport.

It's done. The season is over. They showed their local circuit who they were and now it's time for the Big Dance. Dayton...It's time for Dayton. No other city, with such little to offer has ever been held on such a high pedestal. The week starts on Wednesday and from then on through Saturday they arrive; the guards and the fans; performers, judges, instructors, parents. They all arrive and regardless of their task, many of them end up in the nexus called Headquarters.

Ahhhh...headquarters. Never has such one word brought so much energy to it. It's the place where people are sought out and star sightings are reported. It's the place where court is held and the season culminates into a festival of hugs, conversation, friendship, and alcohol. Memories are made at headquarters and to be spotted there with the right people is the pageantry equivalent to Studio 54.

It's the adult party of the year and many of us never miss it. This place, this oasis from the arena is a little like the bar scene from Star Wars.




When people say, "Headquarters," we all know what they mean. It's the cocktail party of the year. Some of the hi-jinks and events that occur there are talked about for years to come. People move from bar to lobby to bar stool to table, as they see old friends from years back and new ones made just within the few show weekends we had with each other.  Pageantry is a place where lifelong friendships are be formed as we travel the journey of a winter season and headquarters is the place where those friendships are rekindled.  As the week of nationals goes on and more and more people arrive, the place to be is in the lobby to watch the double doors open from the outside, just to see who is walking in next. In our world, it truly mirrors, "star sightings."

"Oh, look. There's such and such. He's judging world finals."

"OMG...it's the Pride staff."

"Oh look who the cat drug in."

"Girl, did you see his show this year? What was that?"

Headquarters has its share of love, hugs and sometimes even its share of cattiness. It's not always perfect and people aren't always as nice as they should be, but those moments are rare and those people are few and far between.

Headquarters is the place where the instructors and judges pass each other in the lobby on the way to one of the shows. The instructor and judge will look at each other. Acknowledge each other's presence and maybe even try to attempt a slight hug, but not to show instructor/judge impropriety, but just enough for the judge to say, "I'm done judging Friday night. We'll hang out then."

Headquarters. It's the place where on Friday night you start to see the first sign of the medals worn by the deserving staff's from A finals. They're so happy and many of us just want to get close enough to them to say, "Congratulations. It was well deserved."

In the course of a week, this Marriott goes from average Midwest hotel to something that brings together a world of people separated by miles, but not passion and a world that brings a level of craziness that one doesn't often see outside of Dayton, Oh. If you are lucky, you get to see Sebastienne St. Jacque wearing blue tights and doing a routine that can only be described as "special." He is the proud director of the worst guard in the activity...Convalescence. Sebastienne spends his season adding humor to our lives by taking jabs at himself and the activity. He says what many of us want to say as we sit secretly behind our computer screens laughing at his Facebook posts. Will there be a Sebastienne sighting this year?


Headquarters. It's the place where people open their rooms to old friends they haven't seen in a year and the place where regular hotel rooms become a place of the antics of pageantry. My great friend Mikey asked once if the business travelers throughout the year who stayed at the Marriott had any clue what this hotel looks like during the week of WGI. It's the place that just the week before hosted the NCAA tournament. The Dayton arena goes from basketball jock to pageantry queen in a week and the Marriott see's it all.

Many people put much thought into what they will wear as the week goes on. They get their hair coiffed, nails done, and shop just for the right "look."

Headquarters is all of this. It's absurd. It's insane and at times is wickedly funny. What I like most about it is that it's ours. When we return from our lives in Dayton and Monday morning comes, there is a general sense of pride we all share that we just had a week that can't be explained. Through our exhaustion we smile just a little bit more knowing that our Dayton experience would truly be envied by people who lead ordinary lives. In all of what headquarters is, it is mostly a place where friends meet and memories are shared from years spent doing pageantry together. For 72 hours, we put our differences aside and find our common ground inside of the nexus of friendship and shared passion. Headquarters...sometimes I like to refer to it by using a quote I once heard in Star Trek, "...a doorway to a paradisaical place."  Headquarters is not Hawaii or a cruise to the Caribbean. It isn't anything the media would ever report on and we don't have a red carpet to walk down. What we have is each other and a place where we can find our lifetime friends that we haven't seen in years. It's ours and it's our place to celebrate the work we put into the season that helped those young performers have the moments of their lives. It's for the instructors, the judges, the parents, and the staffs of each circuit and each guard. 

For me, it is the place where I get to see Mikey and Ron and Jolie and Kurt. It's the place where I get to thank the people who gave me so many great memories throughout the year. It's the place where I get to laugh until my sides ache and the place that if I don't leave exhausted and with a full heart, means I didn't do it right. It's Headquarters and it's ours.

See you in the bar!