The Velvet Knights, like space age Velcro, are stickin' around! The Velvet Knights are anxiously preparing for the second season of their rebirth.

Mayra Iraheta, secretary, reports, "Our members have now attended six camps and are gearing up for a great season. They have all been working hard to learn music, drill, dance, spinning and tossing those flags, sabers and rifles.

"Our staff has been working diligently in preparing our members, and themselves, for our second season on to the field. The Velvet Knights will hit the field June 21, at the DCInternational Brea Olinda High School show, in Brea, CA."

Iraheta ended, "After that, we will be traveling to Arizona, the Pacific Northwest, Southern California, the Midwest, culminating with the DCI(nternational) World Championships in Bloomington, IN. To view our entire schedule, you can visit our website at www.vkyao.org ."

Troy Emmons, a Ziggy Kanstul Instruments craftsmen, is VK's president.

Fiedler's Choice

More dervishly than a The Cadets drill circle Hopkinishly unspinning itself, Jeff Fiedler has shaken the cocoon of retirement. From bleeding green with the Rosemont, IL, Cavaliers, Fiedler now is the initial chief executive officer of the Santa Clara Vanguard, Marc Hebert, SCV board chairman, released April 27. Jeff Pearson remains, moving to program manager. Other officers include Kathy Serksnis, chief operating officer, and Sandra Adams, bingo manager. DCI Hall of Fame member Fiedler directed the Cavies for 17 phenomenal years, during which the Cavs took all 7 of their DCI Championships, until Fiedler shocked corpsdom with his retirement at the end of 2007. Welcome back, Jeff!

Cincy Tradition rollsteps closer to DCA Rochester

Tom Slade, Cincinnati Tradition director/founder, sent an update since the May 19 exclusive in DCA's "All-Age, All Good" posted here on DCP. Slade revealed and Don Deems concurs, "Don Deems, a DCA representative and DCI judge from northern Kentucky, came out to rehearsal for an official DCA evaluation and membership verification. He had many good things to say about the Cincinnati Tradition. He saw us last year at Fairfield and said if we would have competed at DCA Championships last year, we would likely have beaten some people and said this year we seem even better."

Deems was asked to evaluate Tradition by Amber Roeker, DCA Central coordinator.

Tradition puts the Buckeye State, Ohio, back in DCA. Like a fading mirage, it's been a while since DCA has seen Ohio corps like Ohio Brass Factory, Alliance, OH. Co-founder/Director Dr. Terren Frenz, folded the doors of a healthy, stable Ohio Brass Factory after 1983. Mirage Sr., Miamisburg, OH, made it to one DCA contest in western Pennsylvania in August 1995, and a host of DCMidwest contests in '95 and '96, scoring fifth place at their very first show in June '95.

Catch a titillating Tradition performance at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNntteMUJGs . Yep, 'tis Donny Allen's rendition of "Bully," also known to fan$ from Sully Sullivan's Mighty St. Joe's. I chose to play Allen's "Bully" in '95 with Mirage at DCMidwest and one DCA contest. Can't wait to hear it yet again! Bring out the red capes!

Cincinnati Tradition declaring Class A for DCA Rochester makes this Tradition vet beam. I'll always owe Tom Slade, CT founder and director since 1983, for helping me to get my chops back for corps. Later, Donny Allen, Jimmy Steele et al., Empire; Jim Sobacki, Bill Semeyn et al., Kilties; Hunter Moss, Bill Wear, David Henry and more, CorpsVets, all aided me.

Since Cincy has a corps again, this one DCA, let me give y'all a li'l spelling aid: Cincinnati has been compared to Rome, the city of seven hills; hence, the "nn" in Cincinnati is like rolling hills. Now that Cincy (sometimes shortened to Cinci) is planning to do DCA Rochester, it looks like we all need to expand our traditional geography knowledge. (Note: This paragraph was written two weeks before a recent public correction of "Cincinnati.")

Concerning DCA, President Gil Silva, VP Larry Hershman et al. are listening to what folks say here and elsewhere. DCA is keeping up with the times. Rest assured.

The Mini Corps Associates will host their first championships, including Individuals & Ensembles, Sep. 27 in Albany, NY. Slated to compete as this column stains hands with mimeograph ink:

Amoskeag Sound - Manchester, NHCapital Brass! - Albany, NY
Ghost Riders - Parts Unknown, NY
Mass Brass - South Boston, MA
Golden Eagles - West Sayville, NY
Windsor Regiment - West Windsor, NJ

MCA is too hip to be fractal. MCA's circuit honors the past; yet, MCA is as hip as anything going on in corpsdom to date. Get your advance discount tickets now for the inaugural championships and I&E Sep. 27.

Last year, DCA fan$ were awed by a record-setting 18 minicorps at DCA I&E/Minicorps. Expect more and you heard it here! Expect to see newcomers who will entertain like ol' newbies Derby City Knights, Excelsior, etc. One downer: Chris Nalls announced the Renegades, a fave minicorps for many fan$ and past champ, will not compete in aught eight. Sic vampires on 'em. What will Star United unveil at the Friday evening tea? In quick doses, one can take in a Star United wind concert and rip-your-face off in multiple sets tooting tsunamis of the Golden Eagles, Mass Brass, Ghost Riders, Minne Brass, Dream, Derby City Knights, et et et al., folks.

At the DCA Championships, Labor Day weekend, casually saunter freely from room to boom to sample individuals and hot ensembles, culminating that Friday night with minicorps on a large stage, 40' x 50' per I&E/Minicorps Co-Coordinator Dick Pronti. Honchos Dick Pronti and Barb Haring along with staff like Paul Chaffee, Dick Pomerleau, Hurc's Cupcakes Curran and more roll out the crimson carpet for fine percussion, guard, brass and chorus. It's a happening in DCA Rochester.

Joey Cavallaro, an empirish suave dude, has saddled a DCP thread that proposes to expand MCA's role with DCA. While it's certainly not a new idea, Cavallaro has already had numerous replies. Check it out in DCP Forums.

Per the Buccaneer Alumni newsletter and Fred Windish: "The 44th annual Drum Corps Associates competition season is about to begin. Lately, first scores have been earned at an indoor field show inside the Wildwood (NJ) Convention Center. For 2008, the event is being moved back outside to recently renovated Maxwell Field in that fifties-style resort town.

"The 'Cabs Beach Party' show, June 21, will feature (in order) Fusion Core, Buccaneers, Bushwackers, and Caballeros, all trying to set this year’s stage with victory. Wildwood Mayor Ernie Troiani (huge Caballeros fan) secured funds to add more bleacher seating at Maxwell, once home to the New Jersey State American Legion Championships. Once again, our Buccaneer Alumni Association will run a spectator bus to Wildwood."

Even in easy-going, laidback SoCal (??) life has its high and ebbing tides. Mike Nash, Dream president, announced recent staff changes: "Thom (Willett) has left us and went to VK fulltime as staff coordinator. Also, Seth (Gambetty) has stepped down, and is now an advisor. Our new director is Nate Lewis; he was our drum caption head back in '04-'05. I’m taking over program coordinator. Mac (McEntire) is staff coordinator."

SoCal Dream, like a young son who is "Ready, Freddy" to squeeze into tight leather pants and twitch afield with their Queen theme show, will be in drum corps rock concerts in California and DCA Rachacha pronto. The Queen show is as stylish as an Yves Saint Laurent lady's pants suit, as alluring as flirting Filipinas smiling sirenishly, as retro as a Chris Craft decked out Bristol. You'll find no oil spills in the drill. I can't wait to espy this show; albeit, I'm still wary of Tribbles.

McEntire has also been the visual caption head and still holds down viz.

Thanks to Darla Ball, a charter Dream, I can share Star Trek trivia. Ball said: "Joseph Pevney, 96, who directed some of the best-loved episodes of the original 'Star Trek' television series, died May 18.

"Pevney directed 14 episodes of the 1960s series, including 'The City on the Edge of Forever,' in which Capt. Kirk and Spock travel back in time to the Depression, and 'The Trouble With Tribbles,' in which the starship Enterprise is infested with Bob Briggs time-traveling across 'Merica in a truck...Oh, and cute, furry creatures." (Sorry, I took cozy "National Enquire"-ish liberties with soppish Bob Briggs.)

Catch Dream at an early matinee show like June 21, Brea Olinda High School, Brea, CA, which will also include VK.

Fred Windish, 2006 DCAssociates PR director, now devotes his attention to the Reading Buccaneers Alumni. Windish shared, "The key for me, with smaller corps, is in my appreciation of those corps who realize they are a smaller corps. Effective smaller corps are those who do not attempt to be 'Santa Clara Vanguard light.' Small corps need to present a balanced brass line, a drill that is basic, tight, upfront, and not too spread. A music book that doesn't rely on a big soprano sound (when you only have two of those), etc. Further, a book that is NOT new, original material, but rather easily recognized tunes we can follow, even if the performing ensemble has a void here and there.

"I have seen quite a few smaller groups ignore the above and have NO IMPACT whatsoever upon the audience. Sad, really."

Windish added, "(On May 10), I had the pleasure of being "blown away" by a small drum corps, St. Rita's Brassmen. I realized I would pay for an entire night of St. Rita's Brassmens. They understood the formula that works for me."

Regarding the Buccs Alumni, Windish stated, "Some observers think we had our best spring season ever."

Something possessed me to watch disestablishmentarianist Lee Rudnicki's 2006 DCA Individual & Ensemble snare "solo" on YouTube recently. Rudnicki, an 80s Santa Clara Vanguard snare, who marched competitively as recently as 2006 with the San Francisco Renegades, typically is known as a staff person for the Renegades. Catch this weird video. I was there; were you?

This is not news, not a rumor, just eerie -- Rudnicki has posted a DCP poll about the return of Crunchy Frogs at DCA Rochester. Beware, culture lovers.

Signorelli is the Fencing Master 

Attempting to expand horizons, I just read "The Fencing Master" by Arturo Perez-Reverte. Now, I have a deeper appreciation when Sam Signorelli, fencing guru, makes comparisons of fencing to corpsdom. Googling, I found there is a Rudnicki in fencing, but I digress.

Ya' can't fence Signorelli in. Sam is establishing a new age...uh, all-age corps in SoCal.

John Zaragoza, fit Atlanta CorpsVets sop, shared, "Hunter (Moss, sop soloist and former Spirit of Altanta sop) and I are honoring you this year by taking over the "Cozy Baker's set 39 position." Yes, it takes two of us to replace you! we start the show out around the 10-yd. line and as of two weeks ago we had two holes between us and the next person. so we were out in no-man's land, which looks pretty odd, especially towards the end of rehearsal in the twilight - almost like we were spectators watching from the end zone."

Racing back to Set 39 in 2006 sure kept me in good shape. My hat is off to all competitive corps folks, but just try a summer of rehearsing in places like Georgia, Alabama, Texas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Florida, California, etc. I've experienced New York, Ohio, Wisconsin and Georgia for summer rehearsals. While all can be quite torrid and humid, the Southern and Western experiences certainly challenge one's stamina and perseverance.

From an August 1999 "Cozy's Corner" in DCWorld: "After living for 12 years in the corps-drought area of Cowtown (Ft. Worth), this former urban cowpoke was pumped to see Legend of Texas in their initial season. Legend was everyone’s huckleberry. I was astounded. These Lubbockians may have the finest sub-ten horn line since Marion Cadets’ wailing ensemble of the early, mid-nineties."

Also from August 1999: "Two corps now reside on the ridges of Tennessee. The Knoxville Volunteers faithfully portray the heritage of this lovely state in new military unis. The navy blue jackets, white pants, maroon sash, black hats/plumes and the gauntlet gloves are dashing.

"In 1814, when Tennesseean Andrew Jackson took a li’l trip along the mighty Mississip’ to New Orleans, he got plenty of raccoon-capped men to go. Later, in the Mexican-American War, we all know of the Davy Crockett-led contingent that fought bravely at the Alamo, by Betsy!. The Civil War split the state’s patriotism and for the first time the volunteer nickname was questioned. More prisoners died at the Andersonville, GA, prisoner-of-war camp from Tennessee than any other state; Ohio was second. The Ridge Runner volunteers who joined the Union were tortured by the Confederates for “betraying” the South. Ergo, in 1898, Teddy Roosevelt was not alone. Tennessee provided more volunteers for the Spanish-American War than any other state. “Remember the Maine!”…and Tennessee, too.

"The other first-season corps to represent the near Smoky Mountain area is only a choo-choo ride away in Chattanooga, Scenic City. Their members enjoyed themselves on the field at the August 2 II/III show at the Marion Cadets’ Upper Sandusky show. Afterwards, they chowed down relishingly on their ham sandwiches; well, at least the ones they didn’t offer to our sheltie drum corps dog, Shadow, adorned with her Troopers bandanna."

Subscribe to DCWorld, www.drumcorpsworld.com .

Show your perseverance like an antique "Velvet Knights" bus retired in the desert and send news. I'm off to get it on with long tones on my Ziggy Kanstul.

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: \n This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it .