kac

Can we keep this current title as part of the new thread title until the positions are filled?

Deducting your airfare when you itemize your taxes: http://www.irs.gov/publications/p526/ar02.html Generally, you can claim a charitable contribution deduction for travel expenses necessarily incurred while you are away from home performing services for a charitable organization only if there is no significant element of personal pleasure, recreation, or vacation in the travel. This applies whether you pay the expenses directly or indirectly. You are paying the expenses indirectly if you make a payment to the charitable organization and the organization pays for your travel expenses. The deduction for travel expenses will not be denied simply because you enjoy providing services to the charitable organization. Even if you enjoy the trip, you can take a charitable contribution deduction for your travel expenses if you are on duty in a genuine and substantial sense throughout the trip. However, if you have only nominal duties, or if for significant parts of the trip you do not have any duties, you cannot deduct your travel expenses. http://' target="_blank">Example 1. You are a troop leader for a tax-exempt youth group and you help take the group on a camping trip. You are responsible for overseeing the setup of the camp and for providing adult supervision for other activities during the entire trip. You participate in the activities of the group and really enjoy your time with them. You oversee the breaking of camp and you help transport the group home. You can deduct your travel expenses.

Having a religious moment (prayer, mediation, whatever) your own as a member or with a group of members, fine- great, go right ahead. However, initiated by a staff member whose salary is paid for by people from a variety of backgrounds, absolutely not. The only exception to that statement is Pioneer, as the members know about the church policy from the start. I would think the members didn't leave the circle because they understood and valued of unity, in addition to any peer pressure they may have felt (especially rookies, could you imagine trying to leave a circle like that as a rookie??). I'm truly saddened to hear that at least one member felt alienated by this situation. I can absolutely see why, I think I would have felt the same way. I do wonder if that Jewish member that was referenced has any affiliation with their corps still or not because of this.

Oh how horrible. My thoughts go out to his friends and family.

He's an ageout this year? Time flies!

Bolding is mine. Look at my signature. I must know you then, right? Who are you?!?! I sent you a pm because I can't dig back that far into my brain right now to figure out the answer myself.

pssst- its in the first post here.

Oh and to answer the original question- I have sponsored a number of people over the past five years. This year I've sponsored three already by either helping a little with airfare costs or audition fees. Two of the people that I helped with the audition fees are not marching, but at least they had the chance to give it a try. I also bring care packages and give them to random people (usually people I don't even know) on tour. I've been receiving emails pretty much weekly since mid-March from members, staff, and former members asking me to sponsor people this year. I've had more requests than any other year so far. My rule of thumb has always been that if you march indoor drumline or guard, I will not be sponsoring you b/c if drum corps was that important to you, then you should not have marched in the winter & picked up an extra job instead. I am doing more tax deductible donations this year instead of individual sponsors. It's a bummer for the kids, but that's what the tax man said needs to be done, and this isn't a year for me to be blindly writing checks without first carefully considering where the $$ goes. Don't let anyone fool ya- donations designated to individual members are not tax deductible. So I've done what I could for this year. Will I be able to help any of the people that have sent me emails this year? I really doubt it.

I have a child that is eating me out of house and home. If I broke it down to a per day cost, yes, it is probably $6-8 worth of food daily. So $42-56 per week. But he is EIGHT. He hasn't had that huge teen growth spurt yet- and when that happens I expect the food budget to at least double. By the time a person is a sophmore in college, their growth spurt has finished and their food costs should also taper off accordingly. So I can easily see how a person can have the same $40 budget for food after they are done growing.

Hey, there's me! I think this is my first photo in this thread! There is a girl standing on the "5" and I am the one behind her. This is a transition photo just after we broke out of making some sort of stretching "S" which is why the right side looks like a traffic jam..... Missy (the one on the 5) and I were the pivot points.

Exactly- why can't it just be "four songs we like"? (but that's the old timer in me I guess) Sounds like a great show!

Ah, another fan of the second half of the 80's! Yay! If it weren't for that 86-88 rebuilding time period (and hats off to anyone that marched 86- THANK YOU) then the great things that happened 89-92 never would have happened. <-- going to have to listen to 87 again.

This one is difficult! Suncoast 86, CBC 89, BAC 00 are my top three. I didn't get to see the Suncoast show in person, but I did see the other two live. I think I'm going to have to go with BAC 00. That finals performance was great- loved that show.

We have 86 on video (high cam I think) but it is being held hostage for 2yrs now over at the Litzenberg's*. You would think with them being only 5min away, that we'd remember to get it back from them. (*there's my not so subtle hint for when Litz joins this thread, lol)

I am not sure I can vote because I have too many! lol There are a ton of shows that I love for various reasons. 78, 82, 88, 90, 91, 97, 2003. I'm a little tired of 92 at this point. Not that it isn't fantastic, but IMO it's been selected too many times and has overshadowed some other really great shows (like 97 in particular). I'll come back to this with a real vote maybe.

Crossmen

Second this post. Underlining is mine. 92 Xmen has my vote. Message to the kids that were either toddlers or not born when this show came out : 92 Crossmen should be mandatory viewing before voting. Great show all around. HM to 07 Crown & 97 Xmen

psst Gary, you didn't vote.

91 Crossmen

To simplify things: If you have the drum corps bug this year, then go march. You should still have a valuable experience no matter what uniform you wear because you have that drum corps passion, want to be there, and are willing to give 100%. If you don't have the drum corps bug, and/or don't feel that you can give the 100% mentally and physically to the activity, then don't march. Just be true to yourself- by doing that, you won't make the wrong decision.

Dude, seriously? Have you been around the corps at all? Have you spent weekends at their rehearsals? Have you been on the road with them? Or been up before the sun to fix breakfast? And if the answer is yes, then did you also do the same in this century when they were based anywhere along I-95 prior to the move? Do you truly have the working knowledge about the membership and about how the corps was run before & after the move to make such a grand statement that the corps is no more? Or are you just whining because you don't like the musical direction they are going currently? Because you are making some pretty bold statements there, and as a person who HAS done all of those things listed above, I'm not going to let this pass by without a comment. If you don't like the music they are playing currently, you are more than entitled to your viewpoint. I'll give you that. There are times that I don't like the music either, just like any other corps. But you have no right to accuse the current members of being any less of a Crossmen than I am, or anyone else that has been a member before or after my time and has worn that Cross with pride. I've met the members in Tx. I am friends with a number of the current members. They are Crossmen through & through. I'd like to see you walk up to them at practice and make your grand claim that they aren't Crossmen to their faces. Then let's see how well your argument goes over in person. It's great that you were a fan of the corps in the 90's. But what about the "real" Crossmen prior to that? What were they? Chopped liver? They didn't always play groove music before the 90's and those people are just as much Crossmen as the current members are. If you knew anything about this corps, you would know that it doesn't matter what the music is. It is the spirit of the Crossmen and the collective experience together as THE Crossmen that matters. Go ask any of the current members, they know what it is all about. Bones cannot be rolling over in his grave because he's alive and well in the spirit of everyone that has ever been (or currently is) a Crossmen. And if you marched in the corps, I'm really sorry that you didn't figure this out in your time there. Now, back on topic: Having good buses helps to keep everyone focused on the task at hand that much easier. One less thing to be concerned about this summer. Nice going!

Sorry to hear that your son got sick. I've been sick on tour before, it's no fun. However, if you are talking about the Crossmen, I hardly believe the part that I bolded to be true. Its called personal responsibility. Members take showers daily. What in the world was stopping a member from being responsible for washing their water jug? Why couldn't the members just bring it to the shower with them? They already clean their HORNS in the shower. Why not their water jug? All they would have to do is ask for a bit of dish soap and a paper towel from the food truck prior to their shower, or during EPL. There is hand sanitizer in pumps readily available at every meal, and at snack time. That could also be used on the spout in a pinch. I have worked that food truck for years and have personally put out the hand sanitizer before meals for the corps. I don't see how you can blame the staff for this. There are ways to clean a water jug even at the worst schools, but the onus is on the member to do so. There are definitely opportunities daily to make that happen. Back on topic, thanks for the camp update! Can't wait to see how things turn out this year.

Here's my questions- at 15, how are you going to get to any of the camps? When can you get your license? Are there people in your area that you can carpool with to camps for any corps in Ohio? (there's more than just Bluecoats in Ohio, btw) Are your parents willing to front all of that airfare for you? If not, are they going to drive you to all of these camps? Before making any decision about where you want to go, I think you should work out the logistics & finances with your parents. Figure out how much they are going to support you for this endeavor and then work backwards from there.

The morning kitchen staff needs to be up hours before the instructional staff. Would you want to hear multiple people up rummaging around in the room every single day while you still had a few more hours to sleep?

I'd recommend working a camp or two also. That way you get used to the people that will most likely be around in the summer, as well as the day to day routines of the corps. In addition to the other provisions listed above: Bring sunscreen, obviously. Sneakers: you don't want to have a hot spill on the food truck happen with sandals on- and yes at some point you will be working the food truck even if you can't cook- they will teach you. My #1 recommendation for things to bring is a travel coffee mug with your name on it in permanent marker. Yes, really!!! I know it sounds silly, but sorting out which styrofoam cup (or random leftover mug from the food truck) is yours after the kids have had breakfast is a complete waste of your time. It might take only five minutes to find your mug & finish your coffee, but that's five less minutes to clean up, or shower, or whatever. And some days there just isn't five minutes extra to spare! It's much easier to have a dollar store travel mug in a bright color with your name on it. (use it all day for water, orange drink, etc) Find out which people are morning people & which ones aren't. I'm a morning person, and learned very quickly to give the non-morning people their space until after breakfast was done. Also, never get separated from your stuff. If you are riding on a bus, make sure your stuff is under that same bus, and not in the souvie truck, staff van, etc. I made this mistake my first night on the road and arrived at a housing site in the middle of the night, but my sleeping bag, clothing, and toiletries were 90min behind us.