 Therefore, Nite Express was a new corps in many respects, with few connections to the Emerald Knights.Among these connections, however, was Dean Bassett, a man who had marched timpani in the Emerald Knights in the late 1970s and had remained with the corps as equipment manager until his death in 1994.He was highly respected in the Emerald Knights organization, and the Emerald Knights equipment trailer in emerald and white with its very loud sound system was the envy of many corps.