In 2008, I got to be a Renegade.

No, not that kind of Renegade.

THIS kind:

That’s me in the honor guard of the San Francisco Renegades all-age drum and bugle corps. During the 2008 DCA World Championships, the Renegades put out a call to anybody interested in participating in their honor guard. Notice how smart they were not to give me a weapon. Ironically, I was carrying the Renegades flag in my very first participation of the corps, but it made more sense than carrying the California state flag since I’m an Ohioan, don’t you think?

Now, almost a decade later, I’m going to be a Renegade once again, at least for a day.

On February 11, the Renegades will take part in the 2017 Southwest Airlines Chinese New Year Parade. Taking place in downtown San Francisco, the corps will march past over one million spectators with many more people viewing the corps in action on television. As with their 2008 honor guard, the Renegades have put the call out to anybody interested in performing with them in the parade. I’ve been wanting to join in for years but schedules and budgets have not always lined up. What’s more, the 2016 parade looked like the last time the Renegades would take part, so I’m definitely not going to throw away my shot this year!

If you’ll be in San Francsico from February 10-13, let me know. I’ll be in the parade on the 11th, of course, and I’m flying on the 10th and 13th, but I made sure I had the 12th to enjoy my first visit to The City By The Bay. I’ll also be visiting my sister and her family, but would love to see people I normally don’t get to see because we’re in different parts of the country.