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I share this June 2011 letter sent to our church band's director about a snare performance I did during a regular Sunday service: not only as a possible incentive to some of you who've considered doing likewise --though haven't yet-- but also as a look into how one of the "rudimentally uninitiated" [my descriptor] interpret it: ------------------------------------------ "This is a belated thank-you note for part of a service I attended quite some time ago there: it must have been on an occasion of patriotic interest." [probably around Veterans Day] "The gentleman who plays the drums in your church band 'Breaded Fish' came from behind the scenes, playing a small drum..." [my Dynasty 'Wedge' snare] "...of the type we associate with the drummer boys who played for the army of George Washington. He was unaccompanied, and walked slowly out to face the congregation, playing what was obviously a martial rhythm as a stirring solo." [i opened the service with 'The Three Camps'[/i]] "I was surprised to be so thrilled! And so impressed. The drum music was loud, and commanding, and stirring, and somehow it conveyed very clearly how desperate and lonely and determined those men were, in their battle for freedom and independence and the whole American idea." [during the Offering I played a shortened version of 'Connecticut Halftime' which segued into the last third of my old competition snare solo 'Scorched Earth', which has part of an older-yet Boston Crusader solo and a brief run of backsticking] "I didn't have the opportunity to thank the drummer that day, but it has lingered so tenaciously in my mind that, as we approach the 4th of July, I must thank you for that wonderful occasion, and I hope sometime you will arrange it to happen again."

The best thing about this Chase Community Giving in my opinion. There are many people who love drum corps, who have participated in drum corps, who want to help drum corps, BUT, don't have a lot of money to spare. Chase Community Giving. You can go to your library and get a Facebook account for FREE. You can search for Chase Community Giving and download their app for FREE. You can Like the Chase Community Giving program for FREE and that gives you votes for up to 10 drum corps. Please use all 10! You can vote for FREE. If any of the drum corps competing for in the Chase Community Giving program reach the Top 100 charities as of 11/22/2011 when voting closes, they will win at least $25,000 and could win as much as $250,000! Please go to that Facebook thingy and download that Chase Community Giving app thingy and like Chase Community Giving and vote for 10 drum corps today. Does someone have a complete list of those in the competition...both DCI World/Open and DCA corps?

One year at band camp, the football team was getting on my kids, so I talked with the coach about it. We came up with the idea of having a friendly 7-on-7 flag football game between the band and the football team. The band won... I had some really athletic kids. The football team still hasn't lived that down.

I don't understand the reasoning behind this. The man had some success with the Vanguard, but he can't singlehandedly propel a corps into finals. What about the kids that stay loyal to the departed brass staff? I'm not saying that Feagin won't be an asset to the corps, but he'll definitely have a little bit of building to do in order to establish his own brass technique book.

It's only 2 weeks away! Looking forward to seeing you all there!

If they used the USPS this would be a problem. I am pretty sure UPS is running like normal today!

So is there anyone in the know about whether the discs started shipping yesterday or will today as was expected? Really anxious/excited drum corps fan here.

Best of luck to all the Bands in competition this weekend. I hope you all have your best show of the season! I also hope that many of the band members and band alumni in attendance stop by the Buccaneers Information table and get some info about the 2012 Reading Buccaneers. 2012 Reading Buccaneers Video

Thanks to all my drum corps brothers and sisters who served in the Military to protect our freedom ... 11-11-11 ... very fitting date for Veterans Day ... I salute you all ... Andy "rememberin' all the WAR stories at the Harry Condon Post #11" Lisko

Thanks to all veterans, and especially their families. And an extra special thanks to all who did not make it back.

HLD, TROOPERS!!!!! To Jim Jones, my undying gratitude for what you brought to life in Casper, Wyoming in 1957. To all Troopers who came before my time: your legacy is not forgotten. To all who marched with me: You are my second family, you have my back and I have yours, you and I share memories and experiences that have imprinted deeply on my soul. Thank you. To all who have come after me: I am honored to stand in the Long Blue Line with all of you!!!! Love, Your Troopers Alumni Association Committee President I will be visiting the Fan Network every chance I get today and watch some great Troopers footage. And at 7:30pm Mountain Time, it's 11th Chat time! PM me if you want to join the Trooper Family for chat on ULTIMATE TROOPER DAY! And then, if I have the energy, I think a viewing of America's Core: Hell Bent for Victory is in order. And thank you Trooper fans for supporting us through good times and bad. But... LET THE GOOD TIMES KEEP ROLLIN'!!!!

Bang the drum slowly and play the fife lowly.

Thank you, Andy Let's all pause at the eleventh hour this morning to reflect on the 93-year observance of the event that lead to the creation of Veteran's Day (Armistice Day). The treaty to end the Great War (WWI) was signed to take effect in the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918. Sadly, there were more casualties between the signing and the eleveth hour...... Originally known as "Remembrance Day," after WWII it was changed to Veteran's Day.....just as May 30 (traditional), now Memorial Day, was declared to be Decoration Day for decorating the graves of Civil War soldiers. My prayer this morning is that we no longer need to keep adding Remembrance Days like December 7 and September 11. Enough is enough. Joe Dz in NJ LTC, FA, Ret.

No one, until they offer front ensemble equipment.

Yeah the same kinda thing happened to me. I live in Huntsville Texas and I am a student at SHSU. I was wearing a Cavies shirt and went to the store with my mom to help her out and what not. And the pharmacist asked me if I marched with the Green Machine. I got all excited like because at the time I didn't attend school at SHSU but went to a junior college in Brenham Texas, so this was a whole new experience for me in Huntsville. He marched with Phantom Regiment back in the late 60's, early 70's if I can remember right. And sadly that man passed away from a car accident. Every time I went to that store I made sure I went to where he was working to talk drum corps. I learned a lot from that man, and knowing that Phantom Regiment's show title was "Into the Light" really fit the mood.

Those are the kind of crowds I remember/liked to see! Corner-to-corner packed houses. Awesome shot.

A better solution would have been to play the audio with a photo slide show from the performance. The audio and video aren't synced so there wouldn't be a problem with the rights. You still would get a sense of what was going on in the show.

This is always a great weekend to catch up with members of the Buccaneer family. It's also a wonderful time to find out about the Buccaneers. If you see someone in a black corps jacket, that means they have had the awesome experiencing of marching with the corps. Ask them about their experience, I'm sure they'd be glad to share it with you!!!! I hope the weather stays nice for the weekend, I hate the cold. Good luck to all the band members in competition this weekend.

I HATE Florida. Every time we beat them (which is pretty much every time), it makes me happy. And the whole NIU thing makes me laugh... Jock tries to beat up on nerds... then the higher nerd (the university president) fires the jock... priceless.

Three weeks to go!

Perhaps Bobby Knight might have disagreed with that. I believe he once said "If our kids worked that hard they would win a championship every year".

I'd put a DCI contra player against a LB in a test of endurance.

The NCAA should take some of their players and throw them in DCI for awhile just to see how long they would last. I'll bet that most of them wouldn't make two weeks.

We had this happen when I was in the Marching Sycamores at Indiana State University. So genius in ISU's athletic department decided to schedule the Sycamores AT U-Florida...in The Swamp. Their fans threw oranges and ice and their football players tackled a member or two of our color guard. The best part was, the 5th-ranked Gators won 17-14. We almost didn't make it out of Gainesville. To this day, I despise Florida.

I'm going to throw this out there. BK is always paaiinfully BORING to me. Like they play clean and have the parts and everything to deserve their placement, but have you noticed that the shows just don't get people excited? Madison deserves some of the hype but top 6 would be scary because you have such powerhouses like BD, Cadets, Crown, Cavies, Bloo, SCV, Phantom. That's 6 right there and they haven't moved in YEARS!! It would be fun but it's gonna be tough for any corps to get up there.

Although not an encounter I did have a sighting of a Bluecoats jacket in Spain, I wasn't close enough to engage in a conversation. That must be the most random of spots and a rare sighting for drum corps apparel as I don't know of any drum corps in Spain.

Sister had on a Cadets shirt at college and one prof asked her to stay after class (rut-roh). Turned out he marched IC Reveries. Called me about it and I asked if he was part of the "Sit In". She said she'd ask and didn't bother to ask what the Sit-In was (long distance call). Three days later the phone rings, first words I hear where "What the HELL was the Sit In, his jaw hit the floor when I asked". Turned out he aged out the year before.... And what WAS the Sit In you ask??? http://historical-drum-corps-publications.blogspot.com/2008/03/troopers-win-vfw-reveries-protest.html And THE pic... http://www.thefog.com/reveries/sitdown2.jpg

Just remembered this one from spring. Driving north on I95 on the Girard Point Bridge near Philly. I was stuck in traffic and noticed a Crossmen and a Cadet window sticker ahead of me in the left lane. My lane crawled ahead and I motioned for the driver to put down his window. I yelled "did you march?". He said he marched Crossmen and Cadets and I responded that both corps were looking to have a great summer and he agreed. Traffic started moving and we zoomed off.

I'm sure SCV isn't the only one upset about this. Who knows how things are going to turn out next year for either corps. SCV is really changing, and they may be building up to get a championship in the future. Probably not this year though. But it seems to be that's what they're planning for. For Bluecoats? They can either do poorly, or fantastic. It really depends on how many vets return, and who the replacement staff is as I'm sure you all know. One thing I am going to say though. How often do you hear about BD staff changes (honest question)? I personally never hear about it, so I feel that they keep most of their staff for a long while. And they're consistently top two. Coincidence?

Since camps don't start for almost 3 months, and most corps managements have their hands full closing out the just-ended season and prepping for next year, it doesn't seem unreasonable for all involved to be professional, and give their former and future corps a chance to announce the information in such a way that minimizes the sensationalism.

I'm just curious whether DCI needs to have a class at the next staff weekend where they discuss the finer points of "How to Be a Professional". Step One is "don't go on social media to make announcements about your employment status before the organizations you work for have a chance to craft the communication."

I've always found the current management of SCV amazingly receptive to my feedback, which believe me has been both positive and negative. They really welcome my advice, which is not to say that they follow it. It makes me wonder what those who are airing out grievances in public are thinking, particularly alums. I'm not advocating secrecy and sweeping things under the rug, but much like when I see a couple fighting in a restaurant I just think they're embarrassing themselves regardless of who's right and who's wrong.

As far as I can tell, neither organization has made any kind of official announcement. I don't think it's possible to both handle this responsibly and stay ahead of the Facebook rumor mill.

The SCV hornline is mostly dissapointed with how this was handled. While the bloo staff are probably a great bunch of guys, the SCV hornline was really looking forward to working with David Clemmer and his staff in the upcoming season. Their sudden departure is unexpected, and it is very unfortunate that we found out via our friends at the Bluecoats.

I hope not.

cue 2012 scv hype...

It's feels like SCV is just straight up leeching from other corps. I know that's probably not how it's going down, but first PR percussion staff and now Bloo's brass staff. Don't know how I feel about that.

If anything it'll make this show even more legendary than it already is.

Let's not forget Cawley Stadium in Lowell. An unsung drum corps venue that served us well back in the day.

I will tell you, it is three organizations if I were there that I would combine. DCI, WGI, and the -- what’s the third one there? Let’s see.. The third organization I would -- I would merge, DCI, the... um... WGI and let's see... um... I can't. The third one, I can't. Sorry. Oops.

sorry, I did not mean to stir up that entire debate again.......had not heard whether anything had been worked out before the DVD's were released and thought I would ask if anyone had any info!

The technology behind the fan network is really tough to crack. I still haven't figured out a way to download the flash vids. The old fan network, yes, but not this one.

I don't know if this counts, but My Bonny Boy from BK's show.

and I think that bridge( amoung others ) was burned a while ago.....lol.......and SCV had a great guard this summer

http://www.drumcorpsplanet.com/2011/09/forte-announces-2012-design-team/

That's like saying we should take some DCI kids and throw them into NCAA athletics. The same would hold true.

You could put anyone against a LB. The LB wouldn't be able to hold up the contra nearly as well as the marcher. But the marcher wouldn't be able to do their job either. That argument is silly.

Sure, if they worked that hard at WHAT THEY DO. Different things.

Thought that would get you to read this! LOL This morning while in the shower, for some reason, I was thinking about the dreaded 1985 Bridgemen and the Christmas in July themed show. Could this had been the signal to us about "The Day That Drum Corps Died?" Of course I jest there...it isn't dead, just taking a well-deserved rest until we start to see corps sprouting up all over the country and Canada once again. Back to my shower....I started to become depressed thinking about the '85 Bridgemen and comparing it to the 1976 Bridgemen. Where did it all go wrong? I remember seing them at World Open and said, "What the heck is that?" Can someone tell me WHAT HAPPENED?