Fred Windish

Due to someone's unfortunate circumstance, I have available 2 Special VIP tickets to all events at PAETEC Park. These seats are VERY prime. Section 107, Row J, you just can't get much better! Price per ticket was $125. This includes the same seats for all events, Saturday Prelims, Sunday Alumni Classic, and Sunday Finals, PLUS a copy of the 2007 DCA Yearbook! If you have been holding off, but now have decided to have the ultimate DCA Championship experience, this offer is for you, BUT . . . . the tickets are only available as follows: 1. you must take both $125 tickets at that price per ticket. I will not split up the events. 2. you must pay cash (no checks) in person, total $250. 3. you must be willing to tolerate me as your seat mate (but the conversation should be interesting) We'll need to hook-up sometime in Rochester. I arrive Friday afternoon to the Hyatt Regency. We can exchange cell phone numbers to make this all work. You should also be quick. I'll be in situations this weekend that could lead to an immediate sale. Contact me NOW at f419w@rcn.com. :)

Fran, Very distressing news. I think of you both often. If I can help in any way, just let me know. It's an easy ride down. My best to you and your wonderful family. Fred

Ya know, folks . . . It's just not that simple. DCA needs to do whatever it is that preserves DCA. The DCA Championship is a huge event, yet it is an event that is difficult to place. I can assure you, Gil Silva and DCA are doing everything they can to ensure their product's continued existence. To those who have a problem with a permanent geographic location, I say, think about the Little League World Series that will ALWAYS be in Williamsport, PA, the Kentucky Derby that will ALWAYS be at Churchill Downs, The Masters that will ALWAYS be at Augusta, the Indy 500 that will ALWAYS be in Indianapolis. DCA is what it is, a northeastern United States event. Come join in! Alternative locations throughout a 12 state area HAVE been researched within the context of what is best for DCA. Afterall, what is best for DCA (in its entirety) is the only goal. If any of you have a better suggestion for DCA's main event (with a confident, almost guaranteed) payoff to the corps, please speak up. It's all about the numbers working for as many all-age corps possible. Is that such a bad objective? :)

What a day in Wildwood! First off, it was really nice to chat with so many friends. The Wildwood experience is unique in so many ways. It makes an EXCELLENT season opener, despite the nuances of an enclosed, concrete venue. I was most pleased with all of the corps music selections. Even more fan-friendly, accessible than last year. Lots to like about spending a few hours at a DCA event this season. I would be remiss not to congratulate both Brigadiers and Hurricanes on such noticeably improved offerings as compared to this time last summer. Thanks, DCA!

As Rodney said . . . "Can't we all just get along?" Seriously, as a student of drum corps, I am most grateful for discussions like this (thanks Lee). Communication is a good thing. It leads to progress. :)

Jami, I received MANY suggestions from participants and fans. All were passed along to those who would have interest. I do not recall personally receiving a comment on yard markers, but can tell you the DCA administrators are very much aware of the situation. I have complete confidence in both Gil Silva and Allen Buell to have already formulated a solid plan for another Ernesto (ouch!). My friends, there is/was no ill-intent, no conspiricy. DCA is led by good people who are knocking themselves out to do best for both participants and spectators. That was probably the most difficult championship year in DCA's history. I suggest we give DCA a pass on some of the details. See you in Rochester!

Thanks to all who have contacted us about the above message! Just want to keep this request on the first page for a few days more. :)

Ahoy! In conjunction with the Reading Buccaneers 50th Anniversary celebration this year, the Buccaneer Alumni Association has undertaken an effort to update its database. We have about 1000 entries on record, many requiring current information. Please help. We have already verified contact information for many folks who once performed with the competing corps or participated in its alumni association in any membership category. We realize MOST of Drum Corps Planet's registered members do not post regularly, and we are certain we can reach "lots of blue" on these pages. This is an effort to reach anyone who has NOT ALREADY BEEN CONTACTED over the past two months. 2007 will be a special year for the Buccaneer organization. Various activities are planned and we want you to know about them! If you once marched with the Buccaneers competing corps, or once paid/or would consider paying annual dues ($15) to be a part of the Buccaneer Alumni Association and be directly involved at this significant time, please contact me soon. The Buccaneer Alumni Association includes both past marching members AND others who support the competing corps. Looking forward to hearing from you, Fred Windish f419w@rcn.com

Cozy is one of the most unique and likeable people I've ever met over 40+ years of drum corps. It's no wonder his contributed columns are so full of information. As one of drum corps' best ambassadors, he remains connected to folks from every corner of this great activity. All of this from that great "hotbed" of drum corps, Alabama! Cozy likes to plant messages to those of whom he speaks. Some of his readers will get those messages, some will not. Sometimes it's necessary to read him twice, but it's worth it. Here's a fellow that has devoted a huge portion of his life (probably too much) to what we do. It's nice to have him here and at Drum Corps World. He's cotton-pick'in amazing!

Hello, all! Your kind words are warmly appreciated. I read Drum Corps Planet every day and will continue to do so. We all come here for the very latest information on this wonderful activity. DCP works! My decision not to continue as DCA's Director of Marketing & Public Relations was my own. Looking back on 2006 and considering the near future, I decided I could not justify remaining in such a demanding responsibility. My lifelong goal to retire from regular employment was realized in June when I retired from teaching. The DCA position became very much a full time commitment in pursuit of the goals I set. It's simply too much for me right now. Higher priorities, like caring for aging parents, a disabled sister, and organizing affairs that will carry me through retirement give me greater purpose at this time. I have decided to scale back for now. My plan is to assist the Buccaneers organization in celebrating its 50th Anniversary and to enjoy my Buccaneer Alumni family whenever time permits. I will remain grateful to Gil Silva for providing me an opportunity to serve DCA at the highest of levels. It's a magnificent organization whose continued growth speaks well for the quality of people involved. See you this summer! Fred

Very sad news. Originally not planning to attend, Alan called a few days before and was excited his doctor had suggested he make the trip. It was so important for him to be back in Rochester for another championship, and to share in the continuing legacy built by his friend and mentor, Vince Bruni. On behalf of Drum Corps Associates, I thank Alan for his many contributions to our activity over the years and send our sympathy to his family and friends. Guess that " big drum corps in the sky " is about to receive some excellent images.

bariforhire, heavyrifleguy - All of the comments about the excellent treatment DCA and its fans received from the Rochester Police Department were compiled and submitted to several individuals in Rochester yesterday. At a Friday morning meeting before our events, two high-ranking police officials described for us the kind of welcome and performance they planned to offer. As we saw, there was nothing political in those words. RPD served its community and its visitors very well! Fred

Here's an update on what's happening with all comments and suggestions provided on these pages following our DCA Championships in Rochester. Now that those DCP topics have quieted down, compilations of specific remarks about event management areas like food & beverage, parking, police, DCA decisions, etc. have been prepared in cut & paste format and submitted to officials with impact upon those areas. Your voice HAS been heard by persons DCA expects to work with as we prepare for an even better 2007 event in Rochester. DCA very much appreciates your help with presenting our product at its best. Fred Still time to visit the DCP Store and purchase a 2006 DCA Championship Guide & Yearbook! :)

Sam (and others), Knock it off! We are a family product. :)

Steve, Thanks for remembering 1977! That was Allentown's first year as host for both DCI-East and the DCA Championships. A little trivia, The July 7&8 DCI Eastern Championship was the first major drum corps event staged at the Allentown School District Stadium, but the DCA Championship was the first event to be contracted (December, 1976). The DCI event date didn't come about until late March, 2007. As for DCA being televised, it really was a matter of being in the right place, at the right time. When we announced DCA coming to Allentown for 1977, there was strong attention paid. Don't think Allentown ever hosted a convention claiming to be this big. People noticed. The local PBS station, WLVT-TV39, contacted US with a request to televise! DCA did receive a fee for the rights to produce a tape-delayed broadcast. For TV39's local use, the program was the full event and was shown in the Lehigh Valley with pledge breaks. A smaller, two-hour highlights version was prepared for the old Eastern Educational Television Network. That was a collection of 43 stations east of the Mississippi. TV39 and EETN marketed the product to PBS stations nationwide. That effort was very successful as stations in nearly every state, purchased the rights to show the highlights version in their own market. Although this was not intended to be a national PBS broadcast, it became one. At the time, TV39 had some of the best equipment and talent in all of PBS. Their production of the Allentown event was spectacular! To this date, I consider that 1977 DCA broadcast to have been the best audio capture of any drum corps production. The recorded sound from both full ensemble and soloist was very true to live. Unfortunately, not many consumers had VCRs in those days. Copies of the program could be non-existent today, although I seem to remember Jeff Ream claiming to have one. Jeff? We did go to the station several years ago looking for a tape. We were too late. The station's policy was to only archive product back 20 years. Will DCA ever be televised again? We sure hope so, but DCA is not now in position to make it happen with our own funds. Everything will pretty much need to fall into place as it did years ago in Allentown, and not necessarily with PBS. You should know that for 2006, DCA did pitch a similar broadcast package to a very large Rochester cable provider. We couldn't pull it off, but are planning to approach the idea from a new angle this winter! :)

Bump . . . for the good of the corps! All orders received to date have been mailed out via First Class. That's the plan. Order today, receive tomorrow or the next day! Please visit the DCP Store. Your DCA yearbook purchase provides much needed funds to our wet warriors. Thanks!

Thank you Scott! First day sales were stronger than I expected. I will mail all of those books out today. I very much enjoyed seeing the customer addresses (that will remain private). To say interest in DCA is growing beyond the Northeast would be an understatement. More importantly, this is yet another donation to our corps. We like that. :)

Brad, Welcome back to drum corps! Glad you had a great time in Rochester. My personal answer to the idea of adding performances to Sunday would be " No, that would have been a very difficult thing to do with less than 24 hours notice, and could have been an even bigger problem for all concerned." I spoke with the Head Groundskeeper on Sunday. As it is, he was really concerned about stadium turn-around time between Alumni Spectacular and gates open time for Finals. Add in that it was still expected to rain on Sunday, meaning an additional delay on Sunday might have been needed, the timing of that concept for solution was too risky to consider. Please remember, hundreds, maybe thousands of all-age fans were in their cars and on schedule to arrive in time for the 6pm start on Sunday. We had no way to reach these people with any last minute change in performance times. Also, the same judging panel would need to have been scheduled within in their same responsibility on the next day under a new set of performance conditions. Consider, too, all of the PAETEC employees, including those other than food & beverage workers. You simply can't reach everyone scheduled and say "Hey, come in 2 hours earlier." Same goes for the Rochester Police Department, shuttle drivers, etc. What seems to be overlooked here is, DCA opted to resume the event after a 40 minute delay Saturday because the weather maps showed a large window of improvement for the balance of the event. Those who were there should remember, it actually DID clear nicely at the time DCA continued. Little could anyone know, nor control, Ernesto deciding to return about an hour later to the PAETEC neighborhood. During our rainy afternoon, it was actually clear in Syracuse and other places closer to Rochester. Was Saturday unfortunate and disappointing? Of course. Was the Saturday decision a bad decision? That's not so certain.

Drum Corps Associates is pleased to announce a limited number of copies of the 2006 Official DCA Championship Guide & Yearbook are available for purchase right here on Drum Corps Planet! DCA Sponsoring Partner, Drum Corps Planet and owner John Donovan have placed this item on sale NOW for the convenience of those all-age fans who were unable to join us in Rochester, and for others whose copies might have been damaged by Saturday's weather. This Special Edition received rave reviews in Rochester. Including more color photos than ever before, unique feature stories, and a recap of every DCA Championship since 1965, this publication is sure to become a keepsake among drum corps memorabilia items. Click above on the Drum Corps Planet Main Page link, to the left of that page, click on DCP Store, then the DCA Specials category. Take a peek at that gorgeous front cover artwork by Sid Unser, together with DesignAura! While at the DCP Store, check out other cool items available. Get ready to curl-up in front of your system with this unique publication and a pair of Ear Amps, as you enjoy soon to be released DCA audio/video products commemorating the 2006 season! Proceeds directly benefit DCA corps. Thanks.

Guys and Gals . . . Whoa! Let's try to be as kindly to one another as possible. ANYONE who made the trip to Rochester is a friend of mine! What happened Saturday was AWFUL for all of us. More importantly, we do drum corps, we are competitors. We need to strike back! Venting on Drum Corps Planet is not only necessary, but helps to keep our family stronger. I lost the chance to sell out every yearbook. I got very wet. That VIP level is actually worse than the lower and upper levels due to a wind tunnel effect. I am (shall we say peeved?) about what Mother Nature dealt us that day. It likely won't happen for another 50 years. Try to enjoy being part of an historic event! While not part of the decision to continue the event, I did listen in. There was SIMPLY NO OTHER CHOICE! It was a careful decision based upon facts at hand. It would also have been my decision. I am very pleased to read comments from our performers who "sucked it up" and did their best. Not only do they now have a war story to tell for many years to come, they have demonstrated the attitude of this organization that keeps myself and many others going. Thank you.

Jeff, I'm sure Allen and the local committee are more on top of this than I, as high level local officials have seats on their team. I have seen an architect's rendering that shows an upper level added to the other side. In private conversations with stadium management, I learned no decision has been made on how to enlarge the facility in the best interest of Rochester community needs. If you and I had a vote, I'm pretty confident what we would do, but it's not that simple. :)

Roger, Drum Corps World lists Alan publicly as: Alan Winslow 7750 Culebra # 3116 San Antonio. Texas 78251

Dave, We appreciate the comments. Of the three trouble spots you mentioned, I am confident two of them can be improved. The stadium size issue, however, will be difficult to change for 2007. Based upon average attendance in Scranton over several years, we should have been OK at PAETEC in accommodating all advance purchasers with a front side seat. Little did we know, after not hosting the DCA Championships since 1996, the interest in obtaining seats by local residents has remained strong as ever. Add to this, our many friends from Canada turned out in full force, despite not having a corps in competition. To further exacerbate the problem, we were surprised to find almost 400 seats removed (top three rows of lower level) to accommodate construction of the VIP suites. Although not yet finished, most of those VIP level spaces are sold to local corporations. It was not our real estate to occupy. I have already discussed with PAETEC management the possibility of leasing some of the space there from owners who have no plans to attend in 2007. Seven thousand more seats are planned for PAETEC Park as part of the next construction phase. It is still not determined if monies will be used to place all of those seats backfield, meaning increased capacity for DCA fans, or to place a significant number of new seats in the endzone now having the large white tent. Either decision will include a construction schedule that will be hard pressed to finish by next summer. On the matter of parking, a very large lot has been purchased by PAETEC adjacent to the closed end of the stadium. That lot, the former Kleen Brite Industries, was intended to be paved over before DCA. Unfortunately, asbestos was discovered on site, and the entire effort was halted pending enviornmental and governmental intervention. For 2007, if the Red Wings baseball games at nearby Frontier Field are either out of town for Labor Day Weekend, or scheduled as day games, there is more than enough parking for DCA needs (and no fireworks to deal with). DCA will continue to encourage attendance at Saturday's Prelims to spread the high interest in seating over two stadium events. We even plan to ask Mayor Duffy why he did not deliver on his promise of good weather for DCA weekend. Not sure how far we'll get there, however.

Sad news. About the greatest satisfaction in the performance of my 2006 duties was having a chance to work with Alan in obtaining drum corps photography. Alan came to my aid by providing several cds of his DCA images. His photo work is about as good as it gets. His kindness and willingness to help was comforting. Originally not planning to attend Rochester due to his on again/off again illness, Alan was thrilled to tell me a couple weeks ago that his doctor encouraged him to attend. This championship meant so much to him as it brought him closer to the memory of his beloved Vince Bruni, an important influence throughout Alan's life. I was pleased to see Alan in Rochester. It was brief, but the chaos created by the weather seemed to be reason I did not have chance to see him a second time. Alan dealt with, and beat, cancer before. I'm hopeful he has another victory ahead. Get well soon, Alan. DCA needs you.

Senagod, You are so right! There are 2006 pictures in this year's publication. I wish the book contained ALL 2006 images, but that was simply not possible. Here's why . . The DCA season starts a little late (June 17). Materials need to be to the designer by about July 10. Looking at the schedule (and line-ups) for 2006, you will notice shows that included maybe 8 accessible DCA corps, for that period. For the fifteen or so other corps, DCA needed to rely upon submissions from those individual organizations to meet our printing deadline. To all of you who are disappointed in the DCA book's photo content, please look over your 2006 DCI yearbook carefully. Magnificant publication, by the way. That piece was also prepared by DCA's 2006 design firm, DesignAura of San Francisco. All photos in that outstanding DCI publication are from the prior year (2005). So, I guess DCA found a way to do a little bit more with this, DCA's late-season appearing product. Really. . . only possible due to our late championship event date, and the current DCA practice of not having our souvenir book available until championship weekend. :)