Results Of July 21 Lewisburg DCA Contest
Rochester’s Empire Statesmen are still climbing steadily on contest score sheets, moving up to 82.663 at the Cavalcade of Champions in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania on July 21, but Reading Buccaneers are moving up even faster, winning with a score of 85.525.
Hawthorne Caballeros finished second, with 84.463. The Bushwackers, of Harrison, New Jersey finished fourth with 81.200. Syracuse Brigadiers scored 79.150 to finish fifth.
The Buccaneers, Caballeros and Empire Statesmen have finished one-two-three against each other three times so far this season: in Wildwood, New Jersey; Bridgeport, Connecticut and again in Lewisburg. Statesmen and Cabs have each won once this season: Caballeros at the Vince Bruni Preview of Champions in Rochester, and Statesmen at the Drums in the Square contest last week in Central Square, New York.
Statesmen and Buccaneers will meet again in Binghamton, New York on August 4. The Statesmen and Caballeros will meet on the field the following week, in Kingston, New York. However, the three corps won’t appear on the same field together again until the Drum Corps Associates (DCA) championship tournament on Labor Day weekend.
Statesmen will take the field against several of the top corps from the Midwest, making a rare early-season eastern appearance, in Salem, Ohio on July 28. The Empire Statesmen will be the host corps for the first Champions of Sound contest, organized by the Salem Chamber of Commerce. The Empire Statesmen were the featured performers in Salem’s bicentennial celebrations last summer, marching in the Grand Parade and performing on the field in an evening exhibition.
In addition to the Statesmen, the Salem contest will feature Minnesota Brass, Racine Kilties, St. Peter Govenaires and Atlanta CorpsVets. The Erie Thunderbirds, six-time DCA mini-corps champions, and the Salem High School Band will perform in exhibition. Salem is located in northeastern Ohio, about 65 miles from both Pittsburgh and Cleveland.
Ticket information about the Champions of Sound contest is available from the Salem Chamber of Commerce, at http://www.salemohiochamber.org/
The Statesmen are also sponsoring the DCA world championship tournament on Labor Day weekend. The weekend schedule includes the popular Individual and Ensemble competition on Friday evening, August 31 in downtown Rochester, the 32nd annual banquet and induction ceremony of the World Drum Corps Hall of Fame, the DCA Class A and Open Class preliminaries beginning at 2 pm and running through the evening of Saturday, August 1, the Alumni Classic field show exhibition starting at 10 am on Sunday, September 2 and the DCA finals beginning at 5:30 pm on Sunday evening to determine the 2007 DCA world champions.
Ten of the 42 DCA championships from 1965 to 2006 have been held in Rochester: four from 1968 to 1971; four from 1973 to 1976; in 1996 and 2006. Ticket information about the 2007 championship weekend is available through the DCA website, at http://www.dcacorps.org/
The Empire Statesmen organization offers opportunities for involvement beyond participating as a performer or support staff volunteer in one of North America’s most popular drum and bugle corps. The Statesmen also operate the Empire Cadets marching band for area boys and girls as a community outreach program. Both groups regularly perform in winter concerts, at no cost to organizers, to help support various school and community music programs.
The Empire Statesmen drum and bugle corps is a self-supporting independent group that represents the city of Rochester across the United States and Canada and as far abroad as Europe, the Caribbean and South America.
The organization kicked off a major capital fund raising campaign during the 2006 DCA tournament. Funds will be used to support the operations of the Empire Statesmen and Empire Cadets and other charitable and education activities.
For information, call (585) 266-2232 or visit the Empire Statesmen Web site at: www.statesmen.org
