mdsnsctfan

Southwind was never a "feeder corps" for the Scouts. They were simply part of the same organization! Much like Crossman and Cadets once were.

Is anyone else as excited as I am about the Pit wearing hats?!?! YAY!! I'm not a huge fan of the uniform yet, but hopefully that will grow on me in time!! I can't wait to see them live!!!

We just bought a new Yamaha Marimba for my school. A 4.3 octave, with Acoustalon Bars, on the Multi Frame II. Great board, will last a life time, and the frame is durable and looks great. We got it for $3400. Brand New!! Just have to find the right dealer! You could easily get a 4.5 octave for around $5000. The Acoustalon bars are amazing, even with the lower register!!! Definitely go yamaha.

Capital Sound folded after the 2003 season and was back on the field by the 2004 season!

Oh heck ya! I'm excited. I can't march, but finally an Independent DL in the cities area!!! It's about time!! :) Good Luck to TCAI!!!!

MWBCA??? And you are a member? Unless I'm REALLY CONFUSED, aren't you talking about the MDBCA?

DCI has been planning on CA for quite some time and it's been announced for over a year. Your corps usually, almost always starts tour your final tour 7-10 days before 2/3 Prelims. I don't see the big deal here, in fact for someone who is on the board of directors for your corps, you would think you wouldn't bring this up on DCP, but rather with DCI. Hmmm.... Obviously, DCI is going to have shows on the way out west. There will most likely be some II/III Focus shows along the way as well. You may have to plan two - three days extra to get out to CA. So, perhaps CS leaves Madison 12 days before II/III finals. How can DCI expect this kind of blind committment to finals week if corps have no idea where it's going to be... OK, I really don't understand this statement. Finals are in Pasadena, CA. Of course there is the possibility that II/III will be at a smaller stadium, but most likely not far from Pasadena. I'm sure DCI can give you a good idea of where II/III is going to take place. Perhaps it's just me, but it really sounds like you are over-reacting.

Where did you get your information from? Who told you the retention rate was high? Do you know what it is exactly, I'm very curious. If it is high, I'm glad to hear that, and I'm also very glad to hear that the average age was back to 19.5. I never once said that Sal was the reason for the financial struggles, and I commend Sal for getting the corps back on it's financial feet. It was Bob Wall and the BoD that spent all the money. On what, you ask? Trivial things...new uniforms, redesign of logo, letterhead, signage, new designs on trucks and busses, new cook truck (Semi) and the expenses that go along with them, a new Staff Vehicle which was used for 1 year before they used a converted bus, a staff that doesn't understand what it's like to be a Scout, and I'm sure a lot more. If they cut their budget this year in half, then a big congrats, but I KNOW FOR A FACT from Scott Stewart himself along with the BoD following the 2003 season that the corps went from nearly 1,000,000 dollars in the bank to more than 500,000 dollars in debt. The staff did not change much in 2003, it was in 2004 after the corps/director?!?/BoD decided that they needed to completely change everything that was the previous Scouts. Previous staff left, Chris Harmon, because they felt they needed to become the Cavies instead of keep a marching style that Chris had helped develop into one of the most popular marching styles in Drum Corps History. Were some staff changes necessary?!?! OF COURSE! Was Colin McNutt a good addition, yes, but that doesn't mean that some of the old staff would not have been successful. (I of course, really didn't say much about the staff anyways, but since you got me going!!) The Fluer-de-Lis is different. vs. The first design was used for many many years, and is only a slight variation of what was used in the 70's and 80's. The new design seemed to only come around when the BoD deemed it necessary to change everything that was the old Scouts. This is what I know! From who you ask...Members, Alumni, Corps Directors, BoD and MDBCA Meeting Minutes. Seems like a pretty good source to me?!?

In another post (I think from the Scouts website Forum) it said that both Cody the Asst. Dir. and Barb the office Manager have resigned.

Here is what needs to happen!! Exec. Director = Pat Seidling Corps Director = Mike Leofelholz (sp?) Brass Arrangeer = Matt Gregg (obviously Scott Boerma would be first choice!) Brass Captionhead = Van Matthews Percussion Arrangers and Captionheads = Chris Theo and Taras Nahirniak (Jeff Moore?!) Color Guard Designer and Captionhead = Scott Chandler Visual Disigner = Todd Ryan Visual Captionhead = Chris Harmon

Didn't the whole "team" thing come from when there were 3 corps in the MDBCA?!?! It also worked well with the stoplight theme. Green Team = Madison Scouts Yellow Team = Southwind Red Team = Capital Sound ?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?

Thank you for clarifying who the president is right now. However, I was hoping that the 200 new Alumni that would mean that those new voting members would vote and choose someone who was exactly what the fans and alumni are looking for. According to what you said, how does someone new get onto the board? Marty, I know we haven't been in agreeance over a lot of things in the past, (The Scouts pit wearing aussies!!!!) however it is sad to see you go. It sounds like you did understand the corps and the members and everyone really respected you. Can you shed any light on the subject, or are you not in a position to make a statement? Thanks!

Who is left on the board?? If Marty Redmann and Missy Whitman have resigned, who is the current board president?!? Who is making these decisions?!?! Obviously the board President is not if he resigned when they didn't renew Sal's contract. I'm confused! Is Jeff Manion making all the choices?!?!? Perhaps with everything going on, this is the time for the Scouts to bring in the guys who truly understand the organization...and with more than 200 new voting members (Thanks Alumni Project!) the board will be made up of people who understand the history and tradition!!!

That is a very fair statement. I have also heard those rumors about the staff and what not, and of course it was devastating for all to see the corps falling in placement, especially out of finals...however, I am the first to admit that I am an example of your last sentance. My big thing is that the board of directors and new director went to the very extreme and changed EVERYTHING in less than a year...and in doing so took one of the largest bank accounts in DCI and turned it into a debt. Shame on them. I had a friend who became a band director and the first thing that he was told was....you can make changes, just don't do it all in the first year. To me, that makes perfect sense...and I think a lot of fans and alumni would be more ok with the changes if they all didn't happen so abrubtly.

I never said you were saying exactly that. All I said was that those things happened, and was wondering if not making finals in their home city (the statement you made) meant that the board could do those things?!?!? And in response to the following... *Is not the logo still the Fluer de Lis? Yes it is. Yes, it is still the Fluer de Lis, but a much much different one. As if the board wanted to change everything about the current day/Scott Stewert Scouts. Mean while, spending all the money on trivial things......taking one of the most stable corps in DCI (nearly 1,000,000 in the bank) to becoming another struggling corps with nearly 500,000 in debt *Was this the first uniform change? No it wasn't, it has changed several times. Like EVERY other corps. No it wasn't, but did it come at a time when it seemed like the board wanted to change everthing about the current day/Scott Stewart Scouts...the answer to that is yes. Mean while, spending all the money on trivial things......taking one of the most stable corps in DCI (nearly 1,000,000 in the bank) to becoming another struggling corps with nearly 500,000 in debt *Did they move their home city? No, they moved their office. The corps is still the Madison Scouts. I saw the corps MANY times over the past 4 years. Not once did I hear them announced as being from Sun Prairie. Of course some of their "printed material" has Sun Prairie on it. That's where the mail gets delivered. And how many other corps have changed their mailing address over the years? Yes, plenty of corps move, but very few have their home city in their name. (And yes, after reading more and doing some research, I do realize that they moved prior to the 2003 season.) I must retract this Statement. *8th place in 2006? No, I believe they were 9th, but who cares. Oops, lets change everything next year because they almost didn't make finals this year. 9th is much worse than 8th...change the uniform and spend all the money they have saved. *Retention rate of 95% now down to 30-20%? No, wrong on both ends. I don't think you'll find ANY corps with retention rates approaching 95%. Even the defending World Champions from '05 had, according to Hop's blog, had over 80 first year members. I talked to a friend who marched the corps in 2000-2002, and he varified that they did infact have nearly 90% of possible returning members back. The drop off in 2003 was dramatic. And to top it off, they had an average age of 19-20 and now if I remember reading correctly the average age is barely 18. *Bring back "our" Scouts. Funny, but "my" Scouts never left. The Scouts I know and loved have not been present since 2003 (when they still had much of the same staff on board!). And I'm sure plenty of fans, and also alumni will agree.