Paul Milano

Yes, he's from BK.

I was not part of this search process, in an official capacity. I did the last three or four executive searches for the Cavaliers, as that is part of my professional background, and since I didn't charge them for my services, it saved them a decent chunk of change each time. Anyway, I gave the new search committee leaders all my prior notes and search process information (time for younger blood to get these experiences!), and they kept me apprised as things progressed, though I truly did not have any real impact on the effort they undertook or the decisions they reached. The search committee leadership and members also have excellent professional background in these matters. There were a number of excellent candidates and Daniel continued to rise through the ranks until ultimately being offered the job. He is young(ish), all things considered, but has ample experience, especially since he will be coming into a situation with a strong support staff in place, and six months with the current Corps Director (and the current Executive Director) to help with the transition. He should be well-prepared to take it from there and have success. I've already talked with him and shared my experience being a new, young (24 years old at the time) Corps Manager for Spirit of Atlanta when I started with them in the fall of 1977. That was pretty much a brand new organization, and I, too, had the former Corps Director still involved to help with my transition. Spirit, at the time, did not have the infrastructure then that Cavaliers (or most corps nowadays) have now. Back in the 70s, for all corps, it was a couple volunteers helping to manage finances, tour logistics, food, insurance, etc., etc., etc. Daniel is set up for success with an excellent, engaged (but not meddlesome) Board of Directors, great office support staff (with continuity), strong parent and alumni support, a very solid financial situation, and plenty of people ready and willing to assist him. I have high hopes. P.S. The search for the Executive Director is still continuing, without any issues, and some creative solutions to that should be forthcoming soon. I also anticipate great hiring for that situation, based on current candidates, and all the aforementioned support and structure that the new hire(s) will be able to avail themselves of when they start.

Hello TASA, Yes, your corps' name is on the first page of the season ending National Championship program. The Guidon, from Wausau, WI, is listed as being in first place in the Twirling Corps division (there were many divisions back then and I don't recall what the criteria were to be in one versus the other). I had just turned 15 when we went down to Mississippi for the 1968 national championships. It was also in Mississippi in 1967, if I recall correctly. My final year, before joining the Cavaliers drum corps, we went to Syracuse, NY for the championships in 1969. There was always some fun surprise artists that performed on the big night for all of us kids. In 1967 it was the Madison Scouts drum corps, in the only year that they wore the West Point Cadet uniforms. The other group performing that night was an unknown, at the time, band with a tremendous girl drummer named... The Carpenters! The next year it was the Fuller Brothers (I think one of them married Goldie Hawn years later). In 1969, the main act was Bobby Vinton. Good times back then. After that, and until this day, I believe, it shifted to Notre Dame in Indiana. I don't recall a Sandra Walker, in particular, but I do recall competing against Betty's Rebels many times. They always seemed to have the cutest girls back then (important to a 15 year-old boy at the time!). Of course, nothing ever happened between any of us since we were all, quite frankly, too shy to even talk to them. Lot of excellent groups back then that I competed against, mainly from Illinois and Wisconsin. Great times and I was fortunate to have had excellent instructors who prepared me well to become a snare drummer in the Cavaliers. My group of marching mates, from the Velvet Vikings, has a Facebook page and we all talk regularly, 55 years later and get together for reunions every few years. Several of my dearest friends to this day, including my best man (both weddings!) were from baton corps. And I've been the best man for two baton corps friends. We're a close bunch still.

Go to rudimentaldrumming.com Facebook page and ask Rick Beckham. He will have most of the percussion information from DCI and from pre DCI contests going back to the 1940s or so.

In the worst parts of downtown Chicago, yes, many people feel unsafe, as with most of the large urban centers in the good ol' USA. But for the millions of people who live near, but not in the poor and violent areas of downtown Chicago, most of us love our metropolis and all it has to offer. And the rest of the Midwest (aka - white, suburban/rural, conservative Republican) may be safer from violent crime, but I personally wouldn't want to live in most of those places for many other reasons. There are many aspects to life and living. No one group has all the answers or all the problems.

Chris Lugo stayed three years, leaving when he had family with health issues in Atlanta, so he moved there. Monte Mast will have completed five full years when he leaves.

The Cavaliers have had open, national searches for the past two Executive Director's who were hired, and are doing so again this time. I led the search for the past two, as that is part of my professional background (though, as an alumnus of the Cavaliers, I, of course, did the searches pro bono, but no less thoroughly than if I had been paid). In each of the two searches, there were close to 100 candidates who applied from all walks of life (some of them exquisitely qualified and some of them hilariously unqualified!). They were narrowed down, email questionnaires were sent out to some, phone interviews were then held with those remaining. About eight or nine then had a follow-up phone interview. Next, five had additional phone interviews with multiple constituent groups (alumni board, admin/instructional staff, parents, search committee). The three finalists were then chosen by the search committee and interviewed in-person for hours. Those three candidate's information and the combined thoughts of the search committee and constituent groups were presented to the full board, without a recommendation for any one of the candidates in particular, simply that each of the three was fully qualified. The board then voted and made the offer. The final candidates in each of these searches included Cavalier alumni, people unaffiliated with the organization, and people with no marching arts background at all. Also, in both searches, despite every effort to get a diverse pool of candidates (I know how to do a search that will attract a diverse candidate pool, and I am a flaming liberal from the 1960s!!) of the hundreds of candidates who applied there were almost no females, or people of color (as best I could determine). We did, however, have a wide age range (20s to 70s). I have asked not to lead the search this time around, though I am helping once again. At age 70 now, I think newer leadership should take the reins of these things. A board member who also has professional experience in this area will lead the process. So, the effort will be largely the same, and I am looking forward to yet another excellent choice being made, as were the last two Executive Directors (Chris Lugo and Monte Mast). P.S. Similar national searches, though not quite as in-depth with the numerous interview processes, have been done for the last several fundraising and marketing directors at the Cavaliers organization.

Very kind of you to say. Thanks and be well.

The transition to a new Executive Director and new Corps Directors (after the 2024 season) has been in the planning stage for two years. It is clearly amicable and well thought out. A tremendous job has been done by both of these fine gentlemen (Monte Mast and Dr. Michael Vaugh). The Board of Directors also just elected new leadership roles, as has been planned for the last several years preparing for succession. They will now get to guide the selection and onboarding of their two new main executive staff members. And, the new ED and corps director will certainly be brought on with ample time to assimilate during the 2024 season so as to know the culture and be prepared for season-ending decision making responsibilities for the 2025 season. Proud to know all of these fine people, including the just exiting board president, Chris Hartowicz, who oversaw and shepherded the organization through some difficult, though publicly quiet challenges, with the help of many excellent partners. This, IMHO (with 40 years of non-profit management, fundraising, and board development professional background) is how transition and excellence can go hand in hand. Thanks to all involved for loving my corps as much as I do. Splooie!

The transition to a new Executive Director and new Corps Directors (after the 2024 season) has been in the planning stage for two years. It is clearly amicable and well thought out. A tremendous job has been done by both of these fine gentlemen (Monte Mast and Dr. Michael Vaugh). The Board of Directors also just elected new leadership roles, as has been planned for the last several years preparing for succession. They will now get to guide the selection and onboarding of their two new main executive staff members. And, the new ED and corps director will certainly be brought on with ample time to assimilate during the 2024 season so as to know the culture and be prepared for season-ending decision making responsibilities for the 2025 season. Proud to know all of these fine people, including the just exiting board president, Chris Hartowicz, who oversaw and shepherded the organization through some difficult, though publicly quiet challenges, with the help of many excellent partners. This, IMHO (with 40 years of non-profit management, fundraising, and board development professional background) is how transition and excellence can go hand in hand. Thanks to all involved for loving my corps as much as I do. Splooie!

I aged-out of the Cavaliers after my final season in 1974. When we switched to the aussie hats from the shakos (1975) I was on the management team when the new uniform design was being contemplated. If I recall correctly, we talked about which side the feather should be on and Don Warren said he thought that English Cavaliers wore the feather on the right side and French Cavaliers (musketeers) wore it on the left side. He wanted our hat to reference the English Cavaliers. Whether he was correct in his understanding of English versus French hat feathers or not, that was why the decision was made. Afterward we realized the contras (tubas) would have to switch sides, but it was already a done deal by then.

There is a three-year contract that has been renewed multiple, multiple times since the early 1980s. Some of the funds are restricted (a new bus or food truck) but most are for operational expenses and/or touring expenses. P.S. I'm trying to let this conversation die out of respect for the OP wanting to talk about Santa Clara Vanguard issues.

No need for it's own thread, IMHO. It shouldn't have been a conversation to begin with, if all the current facts had been known. Now that they are, I think highlighting it with it's own thread would be counterproductive to the Cavaliers. Thanks.

It's not my place, technically, to offer some guidance on Cavaliers financial situation. But, in an effort to lower the temperature on the speculation, here is what I know, having been a board member and still being used by them for occasional advice/assistance. The Cavaliers drum corps as well as CAPE (the overall organization) is in the best financial shape it's been in for decades. Several years ago, the organization created an "Investment Club", with the help of some counsel from the Blue Stars who already had done this as well. The Investment Club is a group of alumni who put money in a fund, in exchange for better interest earnings than they'd get with some of the their discretionary income monies they have sitting around getting virtually no earnings from their checking account or other short term investments. The Cavaliers then have access to those funds, as needed, for mid-year cash flow or equipment purchases/leases. Thus, no need to try to get bank loans for things, which is always difficult for drum corps to do. The Investment Fund does not create any true risk for the corps, since the lenders to the fund (alumni) would never "call in the loan" at a difficult time for the corps. A win/win for all involved. Financial statements (on line to be seen transparently) are always two or three years behind. Since then, the Cavaliers were able to secure very healthy PPA grants, as did many other drum corps and DCI itself. The most current financial status of the Cavaliers shows excellent debt to assets ratios. Was the corps carrying some six figure debts owed to bus lines, credit cards, etc., a few years ago? Yes, but not unlike most drum corps. The investment club monies helped to pay off those modest debts and with the new PPA grants, the corps is now very healthy! That doesn't mean stop donating when asked (!!, :)) but the board, suppliers, Rosemont, members, parents, etc., are all pleased today. Rosemont provides very helpful financial assistance (through their entertainment district funding mechanism, not so much the Village of Rosemont treasury itself). That help continues generously to this day also. Hope this clears up any concerns, because I can assure you, there are none and the organization is in excellent shape! Thanks for reading to the end. 🙂

Catherine Float - extraordinary front ensemble writer and instructor for the Blue Devils in the 80s and 90s, and one of the first females to do it, especially in such an excellent and innovative way.