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Cadets 2017


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1 hour ago, onceuponatime said:

It would be nice if it was that simple. I assume that all the board members are on the board for the right reasons, but they in most cases are too far away for the day to day operations to grasp the problem. As long as they make their periodic contributions and leave other matters pertaining to the corps to George, no one complains...and if they do they are more likely to resign from the Board, rather than take on the unpleasant responsibility of cleaning house. In the past month I have been contacted by two recent board members who told me they had recently resigned from the board because they had become increasingly uncomfortable with the way the corps was being run. I have also been contacted by two parents, one of whom has a son marching Cadets2. She feels that the three day mini-tour that Cadets2 were scheduled to take, but was subsequently cancelled, constituted a breach of contract. A second parent who is himself an alumnus and long-term supporter of the corps has withdrawn his support and permitted his son to switch corps after the 2016 season. I don't know how many of our best and most talented Cadets moved on to other corps at the end of the 2016 season. The numbers were considerable, and that is something that has never before happened to The Cadets, other than a Cadet or two moving on in hopes of getting a ring elsewhere.

None of this is a reflection on our 2017 marching Cadets and Cadets2 who, though in most cases were somewhat younger and inexperienced, have turned themselves into Cadets in every sense of the word. None of this growing dissatisfaction with George's leadership  should be any of their concern. Their focus is is on the weeks ahead, and they have turned that into something that makes most of our alumni very, very proud. In most cases their parents who so generously give of their time and love, really have no conception of the struggle between George and many of our Alumni about the increasing number of red flags we see popping up all over the place. The marching Cadets are focused on the year at hand of course, and that is the way it should be. Many of them view alumni concerns from a competitive aspect, rather than a survival of the corps imperative.The alumni are concerned about the long term survival of The Cadets if George continues to believe that The Cadets are HIS drum corps to do with whatever he pleases, regardless of the growing negative effects his insular mentality is doing in destroying our great and universally respected drum corps. Our marching Cadets are concerned exclusively with the here and now, and we support them and have always supported them in their goals of the year. It is up to the alumni, however, to think about the generation after generation of brand new Cadets hoping for their chance to be a part of something so beloved and widely respected. It is our sacred obligation to ensure that our door is always open . for The Cadets yet to come, and our reputation as an experience apart will always be secure.  Dave Shaw 50-58 Let

The Cadets have thousands of alumni, most of which have no idea of the dead-end road that George has us traveling. Many others have personal lives that do not permit them the the luxury of keeping in touch with their fellow alumni on a regular basis. Fortunately we also have a large number of alumni for whom the well-being of The Cadets is a primary concern, and their numbers seem to be increasing on a weekly basis as evidenced by the increasing numbers of posts, and letters and messages received by me, entered around these concerns that are appearing more and more frequently.

We can never underestimate George and the impenetrable wall he has build around our corps. It is a bizarre, byzantine world of his own making fed by a mental process that is beyond the grasp of most people. For years now we have been asking why there have been no checks on his personalization of The Cadets under the umbrella of George's Youth Education in The Arts. George is a genius, but over the years his genius more often than not has increasingly been used destructively.


Most disturbing at all is that he has developed a cult of personality that a good number of our Cadets have bought into. We probably would as well if all our needs were bring met during the course of a season, and a fascade of individual caring has been indoctrinated into a large number of Cadets. I used to think that George was a natural teacher with a special talent for communication with young people. I wish it was that simple and less byzantine. Observing George very closely over many of years I have come to realize that George's primary talent is mind control over the young people he indoctrinates to see The George that he presents to them at his daily "Hop Talks," and in the many personal conversations he has both with individual Cadets and the corps as a group.

 

This conversation has been running for several years, without any progress whatsoever. A couple of weeks ago I posted a very innocuous post related to this issue. I immediately received two very irate replies from 2017 Cadets. Which started with the same sentence. "George is The Cadets." One was from a Cadet marching his very first year. He related how George ran with them, rehearsed with them, was out in the sun and rain with them, made sure they have good quality meals to eat. Therefore, in his mind, George was The Cadets, and he was very outspoken about "alumni who only cared about themselves." I wondered if that was the way I felt under my Corps Director at the time, Bill "The Chief" Kemmerer. I decided it probably was.  When you're young life is all about you. It takes a certain amount of maturity to reach the point when you start to think more about "the big picture," and the future yet to come for both yourself and for the corps we all love.

 

 

It's time for him to retire. He has too much influence over staff, design and he's obviously past his prime in those areas. He also has a poisonous relationship with the judging community. So much talent staff out there and even his current staff would be better able to produce without his constant presence and forced input. Cadets need a new independent BOD preferably with talent in finance, a new Cadets director with control of selecting staff but allowing design team to design. DIRECTORS DONT DESIGN. 

I guarantee, if above occurs, many star former staff and their loyal techs would consider coming back if that's a road we would want to consider. Most are alumni and true Cadets and want nothing more than to have the corps competitively successful again. Their flight to other groups en masse is almost a rebellious cry for change within the organization. Only one man now can dictate the future of the Cadets. 

Edited by Tobias
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2 minutes ago, Tobias said:

It's time for him to retire. He has too much influence over staff, design and he's obviously past his prime in those areas. So much talent staff out there and even his current staff would be better able to produce without his constant presence and forced input. Cadets need a new independent BOD preferably with talent in finance, a new Cadets director with control of selecting staff but allowing design team to design. DIRECTORS DONT DESIGN. 

I guarantee, if above occurs, many former staff would consider coming back if that's a road we would want to consider. Most are alumni and true Cadets and want nothing more than to have the corps competitively successful again.

"Bill The "Chief" Kemmerer":

Haven't heard or seen that name in quite a while..  I understand the entire family was involved with the Garfield Cadets "Back in the Day".

Elphaba    :flower:

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How is it Michael Lentz is available to help?  Was he not recently judging and was the judge in the midst of the CG caption uproar (seems like it was an uproar) in SA?  Was he not supposed to judge Allentown?  If he is available to teach or consult a corps he recently judged, is it because he was removed from judging?  Is the 1 year rull not applicable if that were the case?  Anyone know the poop?

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5 minutes ago, Terri Schehr said:

I got up this morning and came here for a little light reading and here's what happened.

3lOKyD9.jpg

posted from the DrumScorps app

I checked in to see how the Cadet thread was in light of the recent shows and their improvement and wow.  Tense to say the least.

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12 minutes ago, LabMaster said:

I checked in to see how the Cadet thread was in light of the recent shows and their improvement and wow.  Tense to say the least.

Today, there's more drama than a Mexican soap opera.  And I don't speak Spanish. 

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18 minutes ago, LabMaster said:

How is it Michael Lentz is available to help?  Was he not recently judging and was the judge in the midst of the CG caption uproar (seems like it was an uproar) in SA?  Was he not supposed to judge Allentown?  If he is available to teach or consult a corps he recently judged, is it because he was removed from judging?  Is the 1 year rull not applicable if that were the case?  Anyone know the poop?

Jeff Prosperie jumped in to consult the end of 2012 when his judging assignment was over for the season. It just gives another experienced set of eyes and commentary for small performance enhancements.

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20 minutes ago, Tobias said:

Jeff Prosperie jumped in to consult the end of 2012 when his judging assignment was over for the season. It just gives another experienced set of eyes and commentary for small performance enhancements.

Yeah but Lentz was supposed to still be judging.  I could be wrong but I thought I saw his name on a slate for a show this week.  I thought I read it had to be one year after judging before you could help.  That would seem appropriate.  I mean judge a corps and their competition one week and consult with them the next?

Edited by LabMaster
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8 hours ago, henry7184 said:

There's someone who is blinded by their bias in here. 

point being you keep putting the same post up over and over - do you type it the same time or do you just copy and paste?

I'm not blinded by my bias - I know exactly what needs to happen. I just chose to handle that differently than posting crap here annually that doesn't need "open discussion"

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