NORTH PORT —
After a great weekend at their first competition in Jamestown, N.Y., in July and an exhausting 36-hour trip, the Sun Devils Drum and Bugle Corps finally made it back to Florida, but members are missing one thing — their equipment truck.

Based out of North Port High School, the Sun Devils is Florida’s only all-ages competitive drum and bugle corps, with many members local high school students. Members also come around the state, including Lemon Bay, Southeast, Gainesville, Baldwin and Sante Fe high schools.

According to John Johnson, a drum major who serves on the corps’ board of directors, after last month’s competition in Jamestown, the Sun Devils placed second in their division and fourth overall in their class, with a score of 71.562 out
of 100.

“This is the highest first show score from a class A corps and is three points higher from where we ended the season last year in Rochester,” Johnson wrote in an e-mail.

Johnson says the Sun Devils usually compete in states such as Georgia and New York in the Drum Corps Associates circuit, and were the DCA South Class A champions last year as well as the North Port 2009 Freedom Fest champions.

According to Johnson, the competition in Jamestown was their first for this year, and could possibly be their last.

On the way back from the show in Jamestown, the truck that carries all of the front ensemble equipment, as well as uniforms and instruments, broke down. It is currently in West Virginia and is not drivable.

“The truck itself we inherited from another drum corps and it was about 15 to 16 years old,” said Mark Cole, program coordinator and North Port High School band director, adding that after they hooked up one of their trailers to the truck, they realized it didn’t have enough power to drive through the West Virginia mountains.

By the time the truck got through the mountains, it was only going about 20 mph. Luckily, a U-Haul rental shop was open at the time. After getting the truck off the road, members rented a U-Haul truck, and the equipment was moved from one trailer to the
U-Haul. A mechanic onsite said repairs to the Sun Devils’ truck would be expensive.

“We aren’t going to spend the money to fix it, so we are probably going to have to donate it,” Cole said.

Although the Sun Devils are currently using NPHS equipment and facilities, the unexpected truck failure and costs could keep the corps from competing for the rest of the season.

“We are a not-for-profit organization that exists on dues and donations,” Johnson wrote. “We are hoping that someone ... could possibly donate a truck or their time to help the corps finish our championship run for the 2010 season.”

The Sun Devils currently have a 30-foot trailer that can carry all of the equipment, but are in need of a truck to tow it.

“We are looking for somebody who has a pickup truck with enough towing power who would either want to do some driving or would let us drive it to competitions,” Cole said, adding that
any help would be
appreciated.

For more information on how you can help, contact Mark Cole at 904-669-5649 or visit the corps’ website at www.sundevilscorps.org.