All Activity

We'll have to see. Spirit only dropped 2 places when they didn't field for a year, and Vanguard is still a big draw due to their history and their accomplishments. While I do not think they will be fighting for a medal or beat any of last year's top 4, I do see a good possibility of them still being in the top 6. They still have a great staff, and while talent is certainly important the two single most important things are design and staff. We know they have the staff, we'll have to see how the design plays out.

yeah... i am not taking a prediction post as seriously as you mate... it's all in fun. Sorry to cause any struggles with any one person thinking about this. Just hoping they do bounce back... and continue with their amazing successes. One thing we do every year is seem to overrate certain "Other" corps... I am just trying to take a realistic.. and fun.. stab at it.

Ty, I'm aware, worked as admin and educator in nonprofit youth arts education for a legacy nonprofit. Also, again, it must be a fairly recent (as in the last decade) addition to some contracts, as the one I reviewed from 2013 had no such waiver that I have access to. I certainly didn't sign any such waiver when I marched. Acknowledging that you said "these days" for that reason, I presume. ✌🏽️ But my point, in acknowledging the bungee jumping example and including my own experience in NP community dance education, was that touring drum corps are incredibly different from nearly all other comparable situations in which such a liability waiver would exist... perhaps aside from Olympic sport, and even then, few entities are such large touring teams co-habitating and traveling in tight spaces for two plus months continuously. I'd be curious to see how insurance companies regard such a unique entity as a drum corps and how they justify such a waiver given the outlier, challenging logistics involved. I'll probably never see that info, but marching members should be able to. Hell, transparent nonprofits should provide that by request. And yes to your point about gross negligence, which in a fair world, would override culpability of a contract fraudulently entered-into by a minor and guardians. The DCI statement itself states that SOA:

It was. The only one I was a little iffy on was the mouse costumes one. 😂

wished I could have seen that one live

Almost every single youth activity in the country requires signing such a waiver these days. 9 times out of 10 it's required by insurance. They usually don't cover gross negligence though, so just because one exists doesn't mean it's a slam dunk case.

Good question. Outside the scope of my experience, so I really don't know. Technically sure, anybody could commit fraud. But what exactly constitutes "fraud" as they're laying it out, i've got no clue.

How about an "Unholy Mosaic Roundup"? Sounds like it could be a troopers show.

I'm old enough to have seen the Instagram post on Dec 6 where it's clearly titled Unholy... 😄 I mean they can walk it back, doesn't matter right now until they get it out there and do something with it...

Great story...never knew about that!

Thank you for staying in this point. This is the best I could find on the ethics of non profits and NDAs: https://new-harvest.org/why-we-dont-sign-ndas/ It also occurs to me that if what Spirit is alleging is true and if she signed the member contract herself, as a minor, rather than her parents, that contract is null and void. SOA alleges this is fraud on the part of the Plaintiff. Can minors commit fraud? Or does that liability extend to the guardians?

It also occurs to me that if what Spirit is alleging is true and if she signed the member contract herself, as a minor, rather than her parents, that contract is null and void.

Would it even be legal for a drum corps non-profit to use its funds for an NDA to cover up other illegal activity?

Speaking strictly of contracting your way out of civil penalties - one of the drum corps membership contracts that I recently saw had an entire page dedicated to the "Assumption & Waiver of Liability". By signing the contract, the member agreed to "waive, release, and agree to hold harmless" the drum corps, board of directors, staff, volunteers, sponsors and participants for just about any possible scenario that would result in "injury, illness, disability, death, or loss or damage to person or property". There was also a section of the contract that held the drum corps accountable and required the corps to abide by all policies outlined in their handbook and understand the consequences should they be violated. Not sure if that would override or void the contract if the drum corps didn't follow their own policies & procedures with respect to the handling of reported abuse, but I could see that being one area where the lawyers could argue something to that effect.

Yeah, it goes to show you how a show title is essentially meaningless. You could call it anything, back it up with a paragraph of fluff, and there’s your show announcement. Unholy. Mosaic. Roundup. Whatever.

The Casey Jones show was amazing.

Ty for explaining, both for myself and the community. Since our last exchange, I've viewed an old member handbook that had to be signed by members. It's dated, but I saw no such waiver of responsibilities. Just a bunch fluff that they expected from members that apparently JF was free to ignore. Different corps, different era though. So if SOA is bringing it up, I imagine they can back it up, whether it's a waiver policy or NDA. Young people may not know to avoid a youth education org with such a waiver and loved ones may not be reading over their shoulders. Bungee jumping, or even a 10 week series of youth dance classes are one thing, and I appreciate the example, but touring youth education waiver of responsibility? ICK. The closest I got to that was our corps director shaking my parent's hand an assuring them I'd be safe. That was a lie, but not enforceable. If we're talking NDAs in any case, well, I and others have already expressed how we feel about that.

Looks like Concert in the Park is June 22nd.

When I first glanced at the headline..I thought it said.....Leave it to Beaver.

Hope things work out okay for you!

Criminal and Civil are two totally separate areas of law, penalties, and enforcement. Criminal activities and consequences are not decided in lawsuits with private attorneys. They are solely in the scope of governmental authorities to bring and prosecute, i.e., police & states/district attorney offices. No contract can protect against criminality. In criminal cases, the burden of the Plaintiff against the Defendant is to prove "beyond a reasonable doubt". This case and the subject matter is not a criminal matter. The case is a civil matter that is compensatory at heart, an attempt to "make the Plaintiff whole" (which can never happen of course, but that's the theory). The burden of proof is not as strict as criminal cases but still tough, Plaintiff has to prove based on a "preponderance of the evidence that it is more likely than not" that SoA or DCI was negligent. When it comes to civil liability and negligence, you CAN contract your way out of civil penalties. Example: go Bungie jumping. I guarantee you have to sign forms that basically say if something terrible happens you waive any right to come after them for civil compensation. That's what I'm referring to here and that's the sort of thing they are referring to in their filed Answer.

Music City shows have improved so much over the years. However, I don't think they will ever be able to top "phantom of the grand ole opry"...

This sounds like a great show! Love the rep...

Followed some of her posts and responses here and on Reddit (when I could get it to work). Agree haven’t seen anything from her in quite a while. Hope she’s letting the lawyers handle the load and she is living her life as best as possible

They’ll need it. The activity has a way of turning survivors into pariahs. Tricia Nadolny wrote about it at length.