Finding people who want to march or support the idea by thought is easy. Finding people who will donate their time and effort is rare.

I have several fundraisers that are well thought out and solid. Some don't require many people at all. All have been researched and will be tailored to work in this area called West Michigan. One idea the organization will not even be attempting is bingo or gambling of any type. It has been my experience that the lottery has never been a solid source of income.

The ideas I have are the following:

• Running a food booth at the Van Andel Arena and keeping a number of the profits
• Running an all-you-can-eat pancake supper and charging five dollars a head
• Putting together a travel package for people who might want to travel to the World Championship Finals of DCI (Drum Corps International)
• Marching at community parades once the organization has the equipment purchased
• Running a local Drum Corps competition

These ideas are collected from other people or are my personal thoughts. I don't want to limit the organization's potential by limiting it to just these ideas. I am very interested in what ideas are coming from you. In this way, I would like you to become part of the organization.

The most important part of the organization is volunteers. Without these valuable assets, the Night Watchmen will never march. Instead, we will just be people watching for someone else to do what we can do.

I know, from my end, I have several immediate needs. I need to find four more people, in addition to myself and my friend Sara, for a total of six to run the food booth project at Van Andel Arena. I am still looking for people to whom to be financially responsible (directors of the board). Also, I would appreciate it if you would recruit volunteers and/or marchers for the Night Watchmen.

Please act on what I ask; I can only act on so much. If I could do it all, I would have the corps up and running by now!

Thank you for your time and your attention. I hope this will become a meaningful venture for all of us.

Matt Clouse