Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
ON A WATER BREAK BONUS: MARCHING BAND EQUIPMENT SCAMS & COMMUNITY SAFETY
130 Plays21 days ago
Bonus Episode • Equipment Scams • Buyer & Seller Best Practices
Ever encounter a “too-good-to-be-true” listing for marching band gear online? In this bonus episode, host Nicole Younger sits down with band educators Christine Ream (@guardcloset), Erica Owens (@urkuh_spins), and Rose Crow (@r0secr0w) to unpack firsthand accounts of attempted equipment fraud. They discuss the red-flag warning signs, share real victim experiences, and lay out practical steps every program can take to protect booster funds and ensure secure transactions. Whether you need used rifles, sabers, flags, or uniforms, learn how to spot scam listings, choose secure payment methods, and explore trustworthy alternatives so your students never miss a beat.
HOST & GUESTS
• Host: Nicole Younger — @o2bnpjs
• Guest: Christine Ream — @guardcloset
• Guest: Erica Owens — @urkuh_spins
• Guest: Rose Crow — @r0secr0w
EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS
• Scam Red Flags: How missing profile photos, refusal to use PayPal Goods & Services, and requests for Cash App signaled fraud.
• Community Response: Christine explains how Facebook-group admins removed the scammer, why vigilant moderation matters, and how to safeguard performers’ images.
• Real Victim Story: A band booster’s Apple Pay loss underscores the importance of protected payment channels.
• Tech Block Quick Tips:
– Blending brass on uneven turf surfaces
– Teaching tempo consistency without a metronome
– Drill-set pointers for complex field formations
• Water We Doing?!: Panel calls out:
– Lack of size inclusivity in off-the-rack dancewear
– Overuse of props and resulting class disparities in program budgets
– Neglecting Memorial Day observances by some groups
– Underfilled DCI corps tryouts (over 1,000 open spots in 2025)
• Gush & Go:
– Erica & Rose’s successful youth program recruitment at a community vendor fair
– Rose’s upcoming Community Spin event welcoming all ages to flag work
– Christine’s 25-year legacy helping schools nationwide with guard and band equipment
QUICK LINKS
• Guard Closet → https://guardcloset.com
• Peak Group Travel → https://peakgrouptravel.com
• Be Our Next Guest → https://forms.gle/7GcpYZLfY8Uo54pp9
• Host Questionnaire → https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1QHSqoUpMbUqhrCa5rNK8zRFgVB4BROjZBCQ4m6yd4aQ
• Follow Us:
– Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/onawaterbreak
– TikTok → https://www.tiktok.com/@onawaterbreak
– Link in Bio → https://linktree.com/onawaterbreak
SPONSORS
• Peak Group Travel – Ensuring your next competition trip is worry-free.
• Guard Closet – Trusted source for new and consignment guard and band equipment.
FOLLOW & SUBSCRIBE
Subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube. Drop a review, share with a friend, and tag us with your own gear-hunting wins or cautionary tales.
HASHTAGS
#OnAWaterBreak #MarchingBand #EquipmentScams #ColorGuard #DrumCorps #BuyerBeware #GuardCloset #PeakGroupTravel #MarchingArts #Podcast #SafetyFirst #CommunityEvents #MarchingLife
Recommended
Transcript
00:00:00
Speaker
Hi everyone, welcome to our On a Water Break bonus episode. I'm Nicole, and in this episode of On a Water Break, we're going to sit down with two of our guests and take a deep dive into the experience of what it's like to be scammed online when you're trying to buy guard equipment and what you can do to protect yourself when buying guard equipment on social media.
00:00:20
Speaker
a Take off the mess and go. Welcome to On a Water Break.
00:00:28
Speaker
Podcast where we talk everything marching arts. Everyone, bring it in. It's time for water break. Hi everyone and welcome back to On a Water Break bonus episode.
00:00:44
Speaker
just want to let everyone know who we're going to have on the sidelines. But before we do that, go and subscribe. Hit the notifications on your favorite listening app. Write us a review and share it with a friend.
00:00:55
Speaker
If you've got a question or a good topic, email us at onawaterbreakpodcast at gmail.com or just find us on social media. You can DM us if you want to be on the show, and we even have a form you can fill out now if you want to be a guest.
00:01:09
Speaker
We love hearing from people on the podcast, so check that out. Our link is in the bio on social media. Let's see who's joining me this week. Christine Reims. How are you?
00:01:21
Speaker
Hey, Nicole, I'm good. How are you? I'm great. I do want to thank you so much for coming on and being part of this bonus episode. i think that you would have a lot of input and a thought process behind it. So thank you so much.
00:01:33
Speaker
Sure. Of course, I have just a teeny tiny bit experience with buying and selling a guard equipment. So um glad to be here. Right. Okay. So we've kept them in the bleachers long enough. It's time for them to come down to the sidelines and welcome to the podcast. Please welcome Erica Owens and Rose Crow.
00:01:54
Speaker
Hello to both of you. We are so appreciative to have you on and joining us today. but The first thing we're going to do though, it's time for the 32 count life story. This is a part of the segment of the show where we give you 32 counts and you are going to tell us everything about you from birth to today.
00:02:12
Speaker
We will give you eight counts off the Met and then you're in. Let's see, Erica, are you free? You set to go? Let's do it. I don't know it's from birth till now, but I'll try and squeeze it all in.
00:02:25
Speaker
Okay. All right. So I'll give you eight counts off the mat and you're in. Okay. Hi y'all. I'm Erica. I'm just a big guard fan who's been obsessed in high school. Originally from Hainover, Pennsylvania. So shout out to the Southwestern marching Mustang.
00:02:41
Speaker
I learned everything from them under coach Kerry Crumlin, who is now retired. Kevin Wright, showing our drone stuck to the brain. We do the wire. And all of our amazing perks, thank y'all, because it's really y'all that really inspired me. And now I'm in Maryland and trying to set a youth program.
00:02:58
Speaker
And that's how met Rose. Very good. She understood the assignment, y'all. All right. but Rose, same thing, same meter.
00:03:11
Speaker
Ready? I'm ready. All right, here we go. Alright, my name is Rose. I'm the mom of two kids, 9 and 13, and I've been married for 17 years this week.
00:03:24
Speaker
I'm a color guard and marching band enthusiast. I did color guard growing up, and over the years I've taught at middle school and high school level, and I even started and ran a team at the college that I attended.
00:03:37
Speaker
I took a hiatus while pursuing school and work, but when I moved back to my hometown a few years ago, and became the local garden instructor. I'm going on my third year with the program.
00:03:49
Speaker
if You got it right down to the middle. She's like, let me hurry up and get in. It always knocks people off a little bit. I kind of like that.
00:04:00
Speaker
but I was afraid I'd go over. Right. but And you survived. You are here. All right. So as a guard director, especially in today's market, you look for budget-friendly equipment options.
00:04:12
Speaker
Facebook groups seem like a great place to connect directly with your sellers, often leading to cheaper prices than the brand new. But what happens when the seller isn't genuine? They don't have color guard equipment and now they have your money.
00:04:26
Speaker
Okay. So what steps do you take next? How can you prevent this from happening to others? And how do you go about getting your money back? So we're going to go ahead and discuss this together because this is the kind of thing that's actually happening right now. So I'm going to just dive into my first question.
00:04:43
Speaker
And I can, Rose, I'll ask this to you. Can you describe how your first encounter with the seller, the advertisement for the equipment went? Like, tell me about your story, the first party story, basically.
00:04:57
Speaker
Yeah. So Erica and I have been working together. Erica's working in a youth program in our community. I'm the high school instructor. So we've been collaborating on various things and she knew I was in the market to buy some used rifles.
00:05:13
Speaker
So Erica... I had been searching around and she found what looked like a really great deal, some used rifles. And she had had some initial conversations and Erica jump in if I'm getting any of this wrong. She had some initial conversations with the seller.
00:05:30
Speaker
seemed okay. He seemed very knowledgeable about the product. He friended her. Yeah. And they had this back and forth. And then she mentioned it to me. She's like, oh, I had this really great deal. Do you want to talk to this guy So she connected me to him. And i just was asking him some questions. Like, there's a lot of technicalities to purchasing, at least for my band program and probably for many band programs.
00:05:55
Speaker
You have to go through the band boosters, get it approved, make sure the director is on board before you purchase anything. You need an invoice. So I ah usually front the money on purchases. So I need an invoice so can get reimbursed.
00:06:09
Speaker
So there's like a whole process that goes into making a purchase. So I have been talking to him on and off. And in the back of my mind, I was like, this guy seems legit.
00:06:20
Speaker
But let me poke around a little bit to see whether or not like I get a weird feeling out of him. So I just did some Facebook stalking, as people do, right? I went to his page and I noticed the first thing that stood out to me is this guy didn't, his face is not shown in his profile picture and there's no other profile pictures. That's weird. Like who am I dealing with here?
00:06:43
Speaker
And then went on to his page. He only had a couple dozen friends and he didn't have any posts. And the other people that I purchased stuff off of these Facebook groups before the other people, they're clearly color guard instructors. They like have it listed in their profile. They have pictures of their teams and like, it's very obvious that they are part of the community.
00:07:06
Speaker
This guy didn't have any of that. So I went back to Erica and I was like, I don't know, Erica, this guy seems a little sketchy. Like I know he seems nice, but like he's just, there's just some red flags. Yeah.
00:07:17
Speaker
Yeah. And then erica was like, well, don't purchase anything. Like we were going back and forth about how I would get an invoice. And he even said he went so far to make up a band director. And like, Joe was the band director's name and Joe was going to get me the invoice. I was like, okay.
00:07:36
Speaker
And then Erica was like, well, make sure that when you make a purchase with him, and I think we're going to get into this later, that you go through PayPal goods and services because at least you can get your money back if you get scammed through something like that.
00:07:52
Speaker
By that point, I was like, so like, it was so obvious to me that this guy was like, like not legitimate that we didn't even, we didn't go so far as to give him money, but he, he really did come across genuinely like part of the community. And after we ended the transaction with him and I told him, sorry, this isn't going to work. Like,
00:08:15
Speaker
we're not doing this deal. He posted, he was back on the market with these products and it was all over like all the guard, community pages that he was trying to sell these again.
00:08:29
Speaker
and about a week within like a week, I would say, right, Erica, yeah all these people came forward and they were like, this guy's a total scammer. Like, and he had taken money from a lot of people. Now, uh,
00:08:43
Speaker
Erica, when we decided not to go forward with the transaction, she was like, oh, should we go public with this and say that this guy is a scammer? I was hesitant to do that because didn't want to falsely accuse someone because we didn't have anything to go off of, really, because we hadn't lost any money to him.
00:09:01
Speaker
But I mean, I feel terrible to this day that we didn't say something, right? So Rose... um' like I'm listening to your story and you're talking about a lot of layers to this process and kind of all the things that were going on.
00:09:15
Speaker
I think it's important to share, as you did a little bit before, but maybe kind of summarize. What was it that... What was it that you knew you had to like trust your gut or the red flag that was maybe kind of like the final straw, so to speak?
00:09:32
Speaker
Were there any specific things in particular that really stood out to you? Like, this is, there's something not right here. Yeah, I think the final straw was when you said...
00:09:44
Speaker
ah He wouldn't go with PayPal goods and services. Yeah. says he gave yeah He said he would. Then he changed his mind and he had like an excuse for why he can't do it. And he was like, let's do it through cash app. And I was like, no way. I messaged her right then. I'm like, no.
00:09:59
Speaker
Yeah. No. Because I was going to get two sabers as well. Because, you know, the Excalibur's aren't being made anymore. So I wanted to get some as well. Okay.
00:10:11
Speaker
Okay. Yeah. Oh, so, and so these were, so basically it's weapons that you're getting from them. It was like rifles and sabers. Yeah. Okay. yeah So, and mostly you communicated, how did you communicate with the seller?
00:10:26
Speaker
Through Facebook messenger. Okay. So it was never a conversation. Like there was never a phone call or like voice text or anything like that. Okay. um Yeah. I think it's smart too, that I know you pointed out too, that you did communicate, but I think, you know, also the fact that you went that extra step too, to take a look at their profile more carefully.
00:10:48
Speaker
I know that I have done that. you know Even sometimes if I'm just giving away something for free on Facebook marketplace, just to make sure that um you know, that the person you're dealing with also is, you know, a safe, hopefully a safe person and not, you know, somebody who is, you know, going to cause you other trouble besides, you know, connecting with you besides, you know, buying or selling something as well.
00:11:15
Speaker
There's so much more we want to get into talking with you both about this, but we're going to go to a commercial and then we'll be right back.
00:11:33
Speaker
Celebrating its 25th anniversary, Guard Closet was founded as a consignment shop in 2000. Since then, it has grown to become your one-stop shop for the marching arts. Do you need consignment uniforms and flags for your color guard, marching band, or drumline?
00:11:48
Speaker
We have thousands of sets of consignments in stock and ready to ship. Do you need show design and custom choreography? Our designers have years of experience in the marching arts. Do you need to sell your items and clear out your storage areas?
00:12:02
Speaker
We take in more than 600 sets of consignments each year and return hundreds of thousands of dollars to our consignors for their sales. Do you need to have your students order shoes, gloves, and other equipment?
00:12:14
Speaker
We can set up a microsite for easy student ordering of a wide variety of items. Do you need custom costumes or flags? We can help get you great designs from our team through top vendors like Show Day Designs.
00:12:26
Speaker
Have you listened to our podcast on a water break? Weekly episodes and bonus content keep you entertained and informed with what's going on in the marching arts. For over 25 years, Guard Closet has been here to help.
00:12:39
Speaker
Check us out at guardcloset.com or follow us on social media.
00:12:54
Speaker
And we are back. Thanks for joining us back on the sidelines after that last rep. Grab your water bottles and let's get back to it. So um coming back on the break, Christine and I were talking.
00:13:06
Speaker
So Christine, could you let the people know what we were talking about a little bit more about this on the side? Sure. I mean, you know, at this point, of course, Erica and Rose have related their story to us and their experience, their unfortunate experience with this.
00:13:20
Speaker
And one thing I think is good is the fact that others saw this happening online and others decided to respond in a helpful way to make sure that, you know, hopefully this doesn't happen to, again, to other people like Erica and Rose so that they can have good experiences like many people have had.
00:13:42
Speaker
buying and selling things from other groups or things like that. So I think that one thing I wanna point out is around the time that this was occurring,
00:13:54
Speaker
Recently, someone made sure that everyone knew in one of the more prominent color guard buy and sell groups is that the scammer had been removed from the group. And think it's important to remember, of course, that all of the groups have admins to keep an eye on some of these things. Of course, sometimes always things slip through the cracks very quickly and it can be hard to keep up with that.
00:14:19
Speaker
But, you know, the person said that the scammer has been removed. that it you know they're seeing that this type of thing is becoming more and more common, that there are more scammers sneaking their way into groups. And I not only see it in buy and sell groups, but I also see it in other groups that I'm a part of for different interests.
00:14:39
Speaker
People who are just trying to help each other professionally. Even um i belong to a group also that is for, you know, people who have a loved one with a particular medical condition.
00:14:52
Speaker
And, you know, that sneaks in there as well. People trying to sell things or give, you know, advice that's not, you know. too Yeah, I mean, it's really, really crazy. So back to some of the points that this person made, some kind of words of advice for everybody. If the seller claims they have had multiple offers fall through, 99% of the time, it's a scam.
00:15:18
Speaker
So if they're in a rush to sell, it's likely a scam. So sometimes we see... oh at least for this two be True. It's a really great deal. And we get very excited about it.
00:15:30
Speaker
And it's, you know, it's just, there it is. If you ever have a buyer ask you for pictures of costumes or uniforms on a person, be very hesitant about sending those more and more creepers are doing this on other pages.
00:15:46
Speaker
pageant pages, dance pages, etc. Stealing the pictures, reposting the items as their own. So that's another really terrible thing. We all know many of our students at school go through cyber safety instruction and education about what you do with your photos online and how you can safeguard yourself.
00:16:09
Speaker
from your photos, not, you know, going places where you don't want them to go. And, you know, that could happen also with your performers. If you are trying to sell your costumes or something like that, and you share a picture of your performers.
00:16:22
Speaker
Yeah. So, you know, this person recommended perhaps covering the faces of the performers that are wearing the costumes or something like that. You know, don't pay friends and family at any point. Cash app is not protected.
00:16:37
Speaker
PayPal goods and services is the way to go to ensure your purchase is protected. If commenting has been turned off and they ask you to DM them, it's probably a scam.
00:16:50
Speaker
So, you know, there is another one. yeah um And again, if it seems too good to be true, you know the rest. And I think really we can all admit that I believe all of us at some point somewhere have purchased something that turned out to be junk or, you know, too good to be junk or it just never, never materialized.
00:17:16
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. I've also talked with, well, Erica helped get me in touch with some of the victims of this scammer. And I talked with one of them and rightly so. They were like, I don't really want, they didn't want to be on for their, own and I said, that's okay. Can we just talk?
00:17:34
Speaker
So talking with one, and actually this wasn't even a guard director. This was a band booster parent. So they took it amongst themselves to do this.
00:17:45
Speaker
It was never, again, like how you both said that you never talked to them online. um Sorry, you never talked to them on the phone, but you just talked to them online and through messenger.
00:17:56
Speaker
That's exactly what happened with them. And then they wanted to, they paid them through Apple Pay, you know, which you never... No one ever does that, you know, like that.
00:18:07
Speaker
So that would be my first red flag. And after the payment was received... They cut off all communication. There was no more communication.
00:18:17
Speaker
There was no tracking number that was given. There was no more like, hey, this is how long this is going to take to get to you. Nothing. That same post, that's the other thing too. And Christine, I think you were saying this. And I think that Erica and Rose were that same post with the weapons in one, you know, on, uh, in two pictures.
00:18:39
Speaker
Is that what you saw as well? Okay. Yeah. That one had come up again in another group under another name. So these people who are doing these scams are pretty much using the same post, changing or and using like another profile that they have, you know, hacked, you know? So you have to be very vigilant when you're going through these.
00:19:04
Speaker
So I think, you know, as we kind of reach this point in the story, my question then for Erica and Rose is, I mean, you know, what... What do you, do you still feel like you two personally, do you two still feel comfortable purchasing or buying in the Facebook groups?
00:19:25
Speaker
Do you, I mean, think it personally would be hard for me to go back and try again. i can think is, I think I would be afraid to do that. I'm just curious to know what your feelings are at this point.
00:19:38
Speaker
Do you feel confident about doing it again? know. Um, I didn't have any issues. I mean, I've always had no issues before, and I think that's kind of why i felt so secure about it because Sure. Because I've never had issues with it, you know.
00:19:52
Speaker
The guard community is pretty small. and Most people... You know, we're all connected. You know, usually you can check pages and you'll see a lot of mutuals. So I'm not scared and I'm not put off, but I'm going to be, you know, visually with scammers, you know, you can tell like there are other signs like, you know, his punctuation. Normally like scammers when they come in, like I run a few groups myself and I've seen tons of scammers. i'm I'm really good at catching them. So I'm shocked he slipped through me, but
00:20:25
Speaker
His English was perfect. Like, he knew about the equipment. So I think he's in the community. Like, it really checked all the boxes. And, like, once he said, yeah, we can do goods and services. Like, that was, like, okay. As long as, like, it's protected, we're good. But I think from now on, I'll definitely be using a credit card.
00:20:44
Speaker
At the very least, because I know that's got a lot more protections in it. Or nothing less than goods and services, either on PayPal or business Venmo. That's another one that's got good protections as well.
00:20:57
Speaker
But I'm not going to be doing cash-up, none of that other stuff, ever. you know
00:21:07
Speaker
Rose, same question for you Does this like make you not want to do it, or... Like, does it give you pause in any way, shape, or form? So I've actually made a purchase since then.
00:21:19
Speaker
I've made purchases through the Facebook groups many times. And I've never had an issue. And this, I really feel like this is an anomaly. and we were able to suss it out, like, in the same evening. Like, we had this back and forth with him. Erica and I talked about him. We decided not to go with him.
00:21:39
Speaker
So we were able to sort it out. But like Erica... I am doing a lot more with the last purchase I made, looked into the school that the person said that they worked at to make sure that they were actually a staff member. Like I was like really going beyond what I would normally do just to make sure that this was like a legitimate person from a legitimate school, that their band boosters was involved.
00:22:05
Speaker
But it was all green lights with the last transaction. Like they couldn't do anything quickly because they also had to work with their band boosters. Like that was the first green flag. Like nothing happens quickly when you had to do a transaction. Like if you're not going through a band booster, like, I don't know how you're operating. Like,
00:22:24
Speaker
Well, I mean, and and before we get into this next segment, I just want to ask because like, you're going to always have, there's always a guard director that's out there who's just starting out and they don't have a big budget.
00:22:37
Speaker
And you know what I mean? They stumble onto, you know, these pages to buy equipment. What are, I would say three quick tips you could give them so they can safeguard themselves? Yeah.
00:22:51
Speaker
I say familiar familiarize with the group, you know, integrate with it. Get to know the amends, get to know the mods, get to know the main sellers. Usually repeat sellers ah you know, they're usually pretty good, you know.
00:23:07
Speaker
People aren't going to continue buying from them if they're going to scam. Usually, I mean, unless their page gets hacked and that's another worry you have to worry about. I would say just two things. One, look into the seller, around their page. If something feels wrong, go with your instinct.
00:23:25
Speaker
And two, PayPal goods and services will protect you. So you can get your money back. I think you get like 30 days or something. But if there's an issue, there's a way to get your money back through PayPal goods and services. So.
00:23:37
Speaker
These are all great, like honestly, and I know that's that's one way to do it too, but there's also another way to do it if you aren't going to ah Facebook groups and that's to go to the third closet, right, Christine?
00:23:53
Speaker
Yeah, how about that? So anyways, I think, you know, the Facebook groups are very, very good resource. They really are. And as we've said, you know, in our conversation, there's a lot of positive things happening in the Facebook groups with people helping each other to find things.
00:24:11
Speaker
and clearing out their areas and having a way to sell their items and also to get what they need. So there's a lot of positive things going on. I think it's important to remember, though, that that's not your only solution.
00:24:25
Speaker
if you need to sell things, you know, there are businesses that will help you to do that. And especially in some cases, you know, have to remember if you're going to sell the items yourself on a Facebook group, then you have to go through the process of listing the items clearly, making sure they're inventory, making sure that they're ready with a consistent amount of information for the buyers all that sort of thing.
00:24:54
Speaker
You're the one who has to handle the transaction and possibly have a scammer buy from you as well. OK, remember the flip side of that. So, you know, Erica and Rose were purchasers.
00:25:08
Speaker
But if you're selling, you can also get scammed as someone who's selling. So, you know, businesses like Guard Closet can take that weight off your shoulders and take care of that for you. And then you don't have to deal with it.
00:25:23
Speaker
You don't have to store the items anymore. You don't have to worry about the transactions or possibly running into a scammer who's purchasing. And then, you know, businesses like Guard Closet can just get that money back to you and then you can continue on and focus on your rehearsals, focus on your design, focus on getting things done and not have to worry about that.
00:25:48
Speaker
Yeah. but on into but yeah I mean, but you know, and you know, some organizations have the infrastructure also to sell their items on their own. They may have a large group of band parents that is willing to take, take that on.
00:26:04
Speaker
But in some smaller programs, you know, there may not be a large group of band parents that's willing to take on that responsibility. And it sounds kind of easy, but it's not all that easy sometimes to inventory things and, you know, send them out and get them out there and get them sold. So, you know, we've been doing it for 25 years now, and I personally been doing it for 15.
00:26:31
Speaker
There are some tricks to the trade. And, you know, we're really proud of the fact that we help schools all across the country and organizations all across the country with both buying and selling.
00:26:45
Speaker
So there's there's options out there. If you feel comfortable with the Facebook groups, that's great. If you need some extra assistance or if you just don't want to deal with it, then Let us deal with it and we'll take care it.
00:26:59
Speaker
Yeah. All right. We're going into the next segment now. And this is what are we doing? What are we doing?
00:27:15
Speaker
What are we doing? All right, ladies. So this is a part of the show where we want to let loose a bit, maybe even a lot. It's your chance to rant about something in the marching arts that's going on that doesn't make sense, or maybe even a tradition that needs to go away, or maybe a habit that performers seem to can't seem to break.
00:27:35
Speaker
Maybe it's something that you think needs to be happening, like why aren't we doing this more? So this is your moment to go ahead and call that out. It's all tongue in cheek, but it's all in good fun. So I'll say, Rose, what are we doing?
00:27:48
Speaker
So this is, I wanted to bring something that's kind of related to what we're talking about, just purchasing stuff. So what I hate, and I can rant on about this, is the lack of size inclusivity of dancewear, off-the-shelf dancewear.
00:28:05
Speaker
We have to buy, like, we can't pay for stuff to get designed for our We have to buy something that's off the shelf. And it's really difficult to find dancewear that fits all body shapes.
00:28:19
Speaker
And I feel like Color Guard really is... for the most part, it's very inclusive of like all body shapes, but it's, it makes it really hard as an instructor when i have to try to find uniforms that are going to work for everyone. It's going to flatter everyone. And there's these limitations on the sizes.
00:28:36
Speaker
So anyway, I could rant on about this, but that's, that's my, that's mine. Yeah. What are we doing? Yeah. Oh my goodness. Erica, what are we doing? Okay. So without sounding like a dinosaur, okay.
00:28:51
Speaker
I wish we could just go back to the traditional marching band uniforms. don't know if that's like a hot take. Maybe, but especially with like groups that are huge where it's like 200 kids on the floor, you got all these props.
00:29:05
Speaker
It can be a really overwhelming, you know? like you got 200 kids performing plus the guard, two different costumes. You've got all these colorful props that are moving, backdrops. And I understand it's great for smaller groups, but sometimes ah less is more.
00:29:24
Speaker
you know? Yeah. I feel like would work with younger groups, excuse me, not younger groups, smaller groups, just because of what you have. As long as it's done well, you know what I mean?
00:29:36
Speaker
Yeah. You know, as long as it's done well. I feel like props can be used great, but they can be also like too much. And there's another issue I think that's important that that kind of brings me into is kind of classism and marching band.
00:29:52
Speaker
And I'm not ripping on the kids because all the kids work hard, you know, it's not their fault. I just, it's kind of sad to see, you know, i mean, i feel like if all programs were able to afford the same things, like there'd be so many more opportunities, but I really don't know how to solve that.
00:30:10
Speaker
Unfortunately, ah wish I could, but it's just, yeah.
00:30:16
Speaker
Understandable. Understandable. Christine, what are we doing? I'm looking at the date and thinking about, you know, our recording right now, but also that our episode here will come out in the next couple of days.
00:30:31
Speaker
And, you know, something is and holiday is coming up. Okay. A holiday that often involves marching arts organizations. And that is Memorial Day.
00:30:42
Speaker
And I would like everybody in the marching arts and, you know, in general to please, please, please remember What is the intent of Memorial Day?
00:30:55
Speaker
Right? And if your group, whoever that may be, if it's your marching band, maybe if it's just an independent dance team, your color guard, whatever, has the opportunity to participate in a community event to, and I'm going to say this very carefully here, observe Memorial Day.
00:31:16
Speaker
Observe Memorial Day. You need to take that seriously and you need to be there. I get very disappointed when I hear, you know, or see, you know, online some discussions about, you know, none of my kids are going to be there because they're all going away or all kinds of things like this.
00:31:37
Speaker
Please, please, please remember, what is the intent of Memorial Day to begin with? And if you can take just that small amount of time out of your extended weekend to please remember why we observe Memorial Day and how your marching arts organization plays a very, very important role in that, you know, ah in that observance.
00:32:03
Speaker
Keep that in mind, because if you don't, it could be, you know, it's just it's it's a big mistake, so to speak. It's very disrespectful. And, you know, you need to remember the role that your marching arts organization plays in the greater community.
00:32:19
Speaker
Oh, yeah. Right. ah With my, what are we doing? Last week I did, and yeah, last week, I say last week and it feels, it's just a couple days ago, but I did an episode and we were talking about how many spots are still open in DCI cores. Over a thousand spots are still open in DCI cores.
00:32:45
Speaker
So what are we doing, you know, supporting our kids that we have, our students that we have to go forward and, you know, take that spot with a drum corps.
00:32:57
Speaker
Fill it, go see what you can do for the summer. So that's my, what are we doing? Why are we not trying to fill up these spots? and need to be there. Great job, everyone. Set your equipment down. Gush and go. Okay. So now that we've gotten that all off our chest, it's time to bring some positive energy into the room with the gush and go. So this is our chance to shout out something that's happening in your life, the marching arts related or not.
00:33:21
Speaker
Maybe you're excited about a performance, a student success, a big life event, or just something cool you want to brag about. No negativity here, just pure unfiltered hype. So who's got something they want to gush and go about?
00:33:34
Speaker
I'm going to go a little backwards this time. We're going to start with Erica. What do you want to gush and go about, Erica? Well, kind of with me and Rose, actually. I mean, yesterday we had our annual i ah um day where it's like a We celebrate this town's history. There's a lot of vendors, tables, and stuff like that.
00:33:57
Speaker
Of course, my puppy just had to do that. Apologies. Let me let her out. kit
00:34:09
Speaker
Thank you. So, basically, it's just a vendor event. We basically set up a table, brought some flags out, and we're just trying to recruit for the kids. And I thought it was a pretty good access. You know, we were passing out pixie stick flags.
00:34:24
Speaker
We brought out some flags, some wings, a an arc. And the kids were just having fun just playing with things, you know. And i really wouldn't, like i said, we really want to start of a youth program here just to kind of get the younger kids involved. So when they get to Rose, they're ready. She doesn't have to teach them drop spins or anything like that.
00:34:43
Speaker
They're ready to go. You know, so that was really successful. And if Rose wants to talk about next week, that'd be cool. Yeah, and so we have a community spin.
00:34:58
Speaker
We find that it's not just the kids who are interested in Color Guard in our community. We have a lot of adults who are interested who want to come and spin. So we're having a community spin event where we'll have an hour for kids, we'll have an hour for adults, and we're just going to chill out and have fun and swing flags and...
00:35:16
Speaker
yes four Yeah, really cool. I've always heard about like, hey, well, I mean, most clinics that people do and put on are, you know, for everyone, but like, you don't really hear about a community event for anyone that wants to just come out and do it, even though, you know.
00:35:33
Speaker
They're an adult. Hey, it's called Gush Go, not Gush Go. Let's go. We have a lot of retired people. All right. Well, I want to thank everyone here for a great rehearsal this week. Thank you to our guest clinicians, Erica and Rose this week.
00:35:50
Speaker
So tell us where they can find you on your socials, Rose. Sure. I'm at Rose Crow. The O's are zeros. Rose Crow.
00:36:00
Speaker
And that, where is that? Instagram. Okay. Erica, where can the people find you? So I am just Erica Owens, E-R-I-C-A-O-W-E-N-S from Maryland on Facebook.
00:36:13
Speaker
You can also find me on Instagram at U-R-K-U-H-H. Cool. Awesome. Awesome.
00:36:23
Speaker
Christine, it's always a pleasure to have you on. i we feel like we don't do this as much, but I love it when we do. And I've met so many times now. So, but it's been, i don't know. I get goosies thinking about it. I love that you wanted to come on.
00:36:38
Speaker
It was so cool. Well, this is my jam. So, you know, this is why I'm here. And I thank you for that. All right. So if you have a question or a good topic you want to talk about, please email us at onawaterbreakpodcast at gmail.com or find us on social media and DM us if you want to be on the show.
00:36:59
Speaker
We even have a form you can fill out if you want to be a guest. We love having people on the podcast, just like how we got Rose and Erica. So you can check out the link. It's in our bio. You just click on join us.
00:37:11
Speaker
Or you could just take out your phone, make a video and send that to us. You will find yourself on the podcast soon. One more thing. Don't forget, we have a YouTube channel, so go on there, subscribe, so you can see all of our lovely faces and our other shenanigans as we tell you about On a Water Break. Also, before you close out of your favorite podcast listening app, go subscribe, write us a review, and then share it with a friend.
00:37:36
Speaker
You can follow us on social media at On a Water Break, and we'll see you at rehearsal on the next Water Break. The On a Water Break podcast was produced by Jeremy Williams and Christine Ream.
00:37:50
Speaker
The intro and outro music was produced by Josh Lida. To learn more, visit LidaMusic.com. And until next time, thanks for tuning
00:38:03
Speaker
she