2008 Empire Statesmen West Haven Report
Rochester’s Empire Statesmen are heading into the Drum Corps Associates championship tournament weekend on a high note, winning Fanfare 2008 in West Haven, Connecticut, on August 23 with a score 94.213, including high caption scores in music effect, field and ensemble brass, music composite, ensemble percussion and field visual.
Hawthorne Caballeros were second with a score of 93.413, including a 0.3 penalty. Hometown Connecticut Hurricanes were third, with 92.975. Bushwackers rounded out the scoring with 89.688 to finish fourth.
Statesmen have gained ground against the top DCA corps in August, outscoring both Caballeros and Hurricanes two weeks in a row after finishing behind both corps several times since their competitive season began at home in Rochester on July 5, two weeks after the DCA season opened on June 21. Much of June was taken up with special exhibition appearances locally and on the road, marking the Empire Statesmen’s 25th anniversary season. The only corps that Empire Statesmen have not defeated this summer is the defending DCA champion Reading Buccaneers, winners of eight straight contests since June 21.
The 2008 contest season winds up with Empire Statesmen sponsoring the DCA championship tournament in Rochester for the third year in a row, running from Friday evening August 29 to Sunday evening August 31 on Labor Day weekend.
The preliminaries for Class A and Open Class corps will take place Saturday afternoon and evening at PAETEC Park stadium, just a few blocks north of the downtown business district. A total of 24 corps will compete in the prelims, with the top four Class A and top 10 Open Class corps advancing to the Sunday evening finals to determine the winners in each category.
The weekend events will begin Friday evening at 5:30, with Individual and Ensemble and popular Mini-Corps contests at two downtown locations, Riverside Convention Center and the Clarion Hotel, and an old-fashioned outdoor street party between the two locations. All Friday evening events are free of charge, and have been attracting larger crowds each year.
The World Drum Corps Hall of Fame, founded in 1976 by the late Vince Bruni, who also founded the Empire Statesmen in 1983, will hold its 33rd annual induction ceremonies Saturday August 30 during a noon luncheon at the downtown Rochester Plaza Hotel. Members of the public are welcome to attend the social hour beginning at 11 am on the mezzanine level, to mingle with members and new inductees and to view memorabilia dating back to the 1940s.
Starting Sunday morning at 10 am, nine of the most popular alumni drum and bugle corps from Canada and the United States will participate in the Alumni Spectacular concert and field show at PAETEC Park.
Since first competing in 1983, the Empire Statesmen have won five DCA world championships, four American Legion national titles, and the triple crown: the DCA and American Legion titles and the World Show Band championship in London, England all in the same year in 1998, when the field show featured music from West Side Story. Empire Statesmen have finished in the top four during DCA championship tournaments for 20 consecutive years.
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.
For more information about any aspect of the Empire Statesmen organization, call (585) 266-2232 or visit the Empire Statesmen Web site at: www.statesmen.org
