New England in the middle of winter is the last place you'd expect a hurricane to hit, but the Connecticut Hurricanes proved this wrong with an exciting and especially strong standstill exhibition at the Southern New England Regional Indoor Color Guard Championships.

The 2002 Hurricane program, "A Tribute to American Composers," includes Symphony No. 3, Fanfare For the Common Man, by Aaron Copeland, excerpts from "The Mass" by Leonard Bernstein and Ballet Sacra by David Holsinger.

The number of members was the first thing that caught the fans' eyes. The corps has expanded to 49 buglers, nine snares, five quads, five bass and seven in the auxiliary. The drum major and music arranger David Dion had the corps ready to make a strong opening statement, and they delivered with a wall of sound at the first hit.

The corps this year seems to be more focused and determined to move up the ranks on the Drum Corps Associates senior corps ladder this season. As usual, the corps' trademark rendition of The Magnificent Seven brought a large standing "O" from the packed house...