DCA Elects New President

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Drum Corps Associates held a meeting of all corps directors last month to elect a new President following the resignation of Allen Buell By a unanimous vote John Carr was elected as the new President of DCA. Previously, John has served the last three years as DCA Treasurer and Compliance Officer.

John Carr can honestly say that he was born into drum corps. His mom was a drum majorette with the Saint Lucy’s Cadets while his dad was a soprano player in Blessed Sacrament both from Newark, N.J. They married and a year later John, while his dad was now marching with the Hawthorne Caballeros, attended his first drum corps show. In 1968, at the young age of eleven, John joined the Hawthorne Muchachos as a soprano player and remained with them until they disbanded in 1978. In 1979 John was part of a team who merged the Imperial Knights, The Dynamic Royal Aires, and the Valley Grenadiers together. John helped secure corporate sponsorship from Burger King and created Fantasia III drum & bugle corps where John served as their show designer and marching instructor during their formative years.

DCA President John Carr

Drum corps fans should recognize the name of John Carr as he has been involved with the drum corps show in Kingston, N.Y. for over twenty-five years. It was around that time when the Children’s Home of Kingston was looking for a fund raising idea. The Boy Scouts and the Kingston Indians drum corps had long sponsored the “Pow Wow”,a DCI show in Kingston but the required finances were becoming prohibitive. John suggested that the Children’s Home of Kingston continue the proud tradition of a drum corps competition in Kingston. He then approached DCA President Michael Petrone with the idea and the annual event ” March of Champions ” show continues to this day. This show has always been one of DCA’s most popular and well attended shows each year.

John has been involved with the Children’s Home of Kingston for over twenty-five years. He is on the Board of Directors and serves as the Board Treasurer, assisting them with financing, development, and fund raising. The Children’s Home of Kingston serves boys between the ages of six to eighteen, and offers both residential and outpatient clinical care. On campus they have a New York State approved school, the Grove Street Academy, serving both residential boys as well as those sent to them from other school districts and courts.

John is married to his soul mate Leslie who is a retired HS science teacher. They have four children between them and seven beautiful grandchildren. John is a former banker who worked for the wholesale division of Sun Trust Banks. He currently works as VP of Business Development for a national title agency servicing numerous banks and law firms nationwide. In his spare time he enjoys playing the trumpet, photography, and collecting art.

John Carr brings a great deal of knowledge of the drum corps activity to his new position as President of DCA. The entire DCA family wishes him the best of luck with all of his future leadership decisions.

Posted by on Tuesday, August 25th, 2020. Filed under Current News, DCA News, FrontPage Feature.