Happy holidays to all. Since the holidays, to me, mean Christmas, I'ma gonna say: Merry Christmas. Ho ho ho! Happy New Year, whether it's Jan. 1, Feb. 23, or otherwise for you and yours.

Stewart Law, WI...To get into the corps holiday spirit, Steve "Hairbear" Masters and I Ipassed up to Racine, WI, through the Windy City, uphill both ways, for the Kilties open house and banquet Dec. 1-2. Well, actually, I forgot my Ipass, leaving it in my trusty Cowboy Cadillac, pickup. Thanks to a pirate's chest full of 80 cent doubloons, we made it pronto.

As Scott Stewart, the famed Madison Scouts director, had taken the reins of the Mad Plaid, we were anxious to experience the Stewart Stage of the Kilties firsthand. Enduring a snowstorm that began at the Wisconsin state line, we trudged through the sludge to attend Stewart's initial Kiltie open house. I'd be remiss to not mention that Jerry Kelsey, '06 Hall of Famer, had done a phenomenal job with the Kilties as program coordinator, horn arranger and brass cap head. Kelsey continues to do a fine job for the Empire Statesmen.

105 Mad Plaid march the big parade

"And ther's a hand, my trusty friend, And gie's a hand o' thine; We'll talk a right good willie-waught, For auld lang syne." ~ From "Auld Lang Syne"

Scott Stewart shared his thoughts with me about the aught eight Kilties.

Color guard – “We’re going to put out a guard that’s bigger than in the past. We expect 18 to 24. We’ll have it set by the end of January." (For the total corps), we expect a minimum of 105."

105 would make the largest Kiltie corps ever.

"Jeff Thomas is doing all the percussion. Dave Koelz is doing all the dots. It's a great staff, a world-class staff."

Considering that Barry Oosterwaal is from The Netherlands, where he staffed Jubal along with DCWorld's photographer Hans Kloppert, www.drumcorpsworld.com, the Kilties definitely have an international staff.

The Kilties are featuring the music of Michael Schulze, a 16th Century Renaissance composer. Actually, Schulze became known in the music world as Michael Praetorius, when he chose to use the Latin version of his name. The Mad Plaid are not playing latin, fan$; they're showcasing Scott Boerma/Rick Kirby arrangements with Jeff Moore's percussion book. The show fits the Mad Plaid, Stewart being a Renaissance in drum corps.

Chuck Norris jokes aside, Scott Stewart is an icon in drum corps. 'Tis fantastic to have Stewart back in the fold as a director. Stewart worked behind the scenes with DCMidwest and with other endeavors, but leading is his call as director. On December 8, a bottle of rare Scotch went for a record $54,000. The blend of Mad Plaid and Stewart is an equally rare fine Scottish corps. Cheers!

Junko Yamauchi, Kilties bari, appeared resplendent in her kimono and formal obi at the Kilties banquet. Yamauchi, an experienced guard lady, who is now playing in a brass line for the first time, kept asking if anyone needed anything as she shared, "I wanted to march Kilties. I knew the horn line is good. I'm really having a good time."

Russ Bjork, skilled Kilties snare, stated, "I'm just trying to make it through with the influx of younger talent, spoken from a 15-year (charter Kilties' all-age) vet. It's good to see all this youth!"

J.C. Caspers, Kilties at-large mello soloist/scribe supremo, summed up the Kilties open house, "Life is great! With Scott Stewart, a new era begins."

Bob Doran, when you keep him off his Harley, has been an active horn player, from the McHenry Viscounts, Kilties, Royal Airs and more. Doran spoke during the Mad Plaid weekend, recalling the past season with the Caballeros Alumni, "I'm in awe of the family atmosphere, how they treat you as important. Larry Kerchner (Hall of Fame arranger) -- His music is exciting to play."

Doran and others have made difficult sacrifices to travel long distances to march alumni like the Cabs, St. Joe's, Sky, Les Diplomates, et cetera.

Inspires nab the Drum Corps Japanese Finals

Google YouTube.com to see the magnificent latin performance by our Oriental brethren and sisters, the Yokohama Inspires, who topped the Yokohama Scouts and others at the recent indoor finals. Hirokatsu Ohigashi, program coordinator for Inspires, and another member of Inspires have been sharing private thoughts and links with me lately. Seeing the 2004 Inspires live at the DCA Championships was memorable. Catch this jaw-dropping, bell-bottom, bell-topping corps!

North American corpsdom once had a lot of indoor competitions like the format in Japan and parts of Europe. An anonymous corps vet who attended the Kilties open house spoke of starting an indoor competitive circuit. Please do. 'Tis far from a new idea. It worked quite well decades ago and can again.

Donny Allen is the Man in Brass

Chris Ferrara, soprano extraordinaire with Kilties and Royal Airs on his resume, told me at the Kilties Dec. 1-2 rehearsals, "Donny Allen is going to arrange and work with the Men of Brass (in Chicago). He's doing the Pioneer horn line and will work with us when he can."

Donny Allen stated regarding Men of Brass, "Yeah that was certainly different! Working with the guys I competed against in the 60's and early 70's. They had and still have respect for St. Joes even back then and now with the alumni. Larry Nelson got me in there through urging from Roman (Blenski). I had fun. Chris is a really nice guy and a great player."

Allen added, "Pioneer could be off to a great winter based on the first camp. Over 40 brass, lots of drummers and a good guard turn out. Roman finally went for the Bb's and got a good deal from King on the new horns. The kids I had were many from last year, and many new faces as well. We are actively recruiting and got a couple of cut lists from other Midwest corps. The King horns sound wonderful!

"St. Joe's has returned to its roots with some old music redone to the 2000's by yours truly. A nice first rehearsal with about 40 brass...most of those that said they were done after last year...LOL, returning. Larry Darch is still doing the drum line and he also had a good turnout."

Donny Allen is top drawer talent as an arranger, cap head and soloist. Who can forget Allen's white tux penguin walk that won the '94 DCAssociates Showmanship award with the Empire Statesmen? Frank Ponzo walked off with the Soloist trophy in '94 with the Hawthorne Caballeros. I recall that year that I got to do 10 pushups followed by 10 more under Allen's "caring tutoring" after playing an unscripted high-C "solo." I still don't know what possessed me. I'd blame it on Mistress Kelli and "The Immortals," but Mistress Kelli was not much more than a twinkle in a vampire's eyes then.

Make plans to celebrate the Chinese New Year's Feb. 23, by wearing black and red and marching with the Renegades during the annual parade in San Francisco, www.renegades.org.

Bob and Annie Sullivan, "Super Fan$," moved in November from the suburbs of Atlanta to Alpharetta, GA, just north of "Hotlanta." The Sullivans wish to thank their personal CorpsVets movers who included Big Ken Huff, Marvin Fontaine, Casey Dryden, Brad Hood, Nicole, Dr. Dave Stollberg and many others. With a "Caravan" of trucks and SUVs, Bob and Annie were moved in one trip, much like a junior corps traveling on the interstate. The Sullivans have their tickets for Blast! on Jan. 11 in Columbia, SC.

Buy your DCI tickets at www.dci.org, and DCA all-age corps tickets at www.dcacorps.org.

"Law," as referenced in the first paragraph, is Scottish for "mountain," an apt description of the goals the Kilties hope to scale. All drum corps have their own challenges, their own targets.

To all, a good night. Here's to a grandiose year. Induct Moe Knox into the Halls of Fame...Now!

Publisher's Note: Cozy's Corpsdom features updates from the world of drum corps as only Cozy Baker can deliver ..... in his own unique style and presentation. A featured Drum Corps World reporter and contributing columnist for many years, Cozy travels the country as a competitive marching member, instructor, observer, and commentator on the state-of-the-activity. The opinions expressed in this column are strictly those of the author. (Cozy mug photo by Christina Mavroudis-Dempsey.) You may write to Cozy directly at mailto: This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it .