The award-winning Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corps stopped in Great Bend on Monday on a cross-country tour.

Kristen Lichtenthal with the management team said the 179 performers come from all over the world, with a few from Japan and England. Most are from California, where the Blue Devils are based, but there are members from coast to coast. Lichtenthal herself is from Florida.

“We started working together as a group at the end of May when we moved into the dorms at the University of Wyoming in Laramie to begin our rehearsal process. We spent two weeks there learning our show and then we hit the road on June 16, to begin our cross-country tour,” she said.

The Blue Devils are part of a larger organization called Drum Corps International. By the time this tour a done on Aug. 10, they will have competed with DCI teams from all over the United States. “We’ve been in competition pretty much since we hit the road.”

At any time, the corps is traveling with 30-45 staff members, meaning more than 200 Blue Devils are on the road. They form a 16-vehicle convoy that includes charter buses for performers and staff, a mobile kitchen and trucks for all of the equipment.

Lichtenthal was aware that Great Bend once had its own DCI team, the now-defunct Argonne Rebels. “I’m hoping they’ll make an appearance to come see us while we’re staying here,” she said.

A few former Argonne Rebels were seated in the stands Monday morning for the first rehearsal time on the football field. June White said he played soprano bugle with the Rebels from 1976-1979.

“I loved it,” he said. “I had it in my blood.” To raise money for their trips, members such as White joined the Rent a Rebel program. “They rented us out to people.” Pulling weeds in a soybean patch helped him have money for souvenirs on the road.

Although the Blue Devils planned to run through their full routine after their 7:30 p.m. rehearsal time, they would not be in uniform. They planned to depart at 11:55 p.m. on Monday, for this next stop, Tulsa, Oklahoma.