Commander71

Dave Carr hosts a radio talk show in Owen Sound, Ontario and also writes a weekly newspaper column for the town newspaper. This article appeared after last years "Classic" in Rochester NY and sort of says it all...Hope you all will think seriously about joining us for the the annual "Running of the Gantlet" and then seeing the finest indoor show in the area. "And another thing . . . .when you wake up Sunday and realize you probably left your sunglasses in a biker bar in upstate New York, just what kind of weekend have you had, anyway? Well, O.K. not "you" so much as "me", as once again on an April weekend a time-honoured tradition was played out by a bunch of the boys -- Running the Gantlet. Now the first thing we need to clear up is the difference between "gauntlet" and "gantlet" You can wear the gauntlet; maybe throw it if you are so inclined, and irritated enough, but you "run the gantlet". I first heard about this as a young and impressionable child, horrified at what young Iroquois braves did for fun, sport, and a kind of communal self-flagellation. Word descriptions made me shudder. I vowed then never to grow up an Iroquois brave, and so far, have been true to myself. What I should have done is promise myself never to run the gantlet, because once I started, I learned this particlar form of self-abuse can be fun and addicting. And the more things change, the more they remain the same, if you'll allow them to. Now, this is also a tradition for a bunch of us, tied to the world of Drum & Bugle Corps. 30 years ago and more, we all marched together in the Canadian Commanders (later just Commanders). We share a passion for this unique brand of music, and the word "passion" is an understatement. At various levels, we crave it; we travel for it, and not just across town; we threaten our health for it, and our marriages with it. In the end, only our wives seem to be forgiving. We are no longer boys, yet we continue to do a boyish thing -- running the gantlet. In Grey-Bruce, you might call it a gravel run -- a road trip with several bar stops. I can't tell you when it started, exactly; only when we were, shall we say, younger. There is only one gantlet, though I have vague recollections of others. This one is New York state highway 104 that runs from Lewiston, New York into Rochester. Our mission is only to get there on time, but not until we have made a stop at each bar along the route. We have mostly made it through the years, and mostly, pretty much, almost intact. Lots of people don't condone this sort of thing; I don't think we plan on stopping. There is a saying about boys growing to men and putting away their boyhood toys. But there is much to say about tradition, and for a core group of us, whose fringe players change from year to year with the usual pressures of family, job, and life in general, this is tradition. We have never said more than "see you next year" at the end of it, but I think there is for the moment, an unspoken pact that for us, running the gantlet will continue. It is a thread that binds us together. Some of us see each other more than this one day, of course, but some do not. At least two good friends did not run the gantlet this year and I know I won't see them until the bars open in New York state on an April Saturday next year. There are differences. We are older. None of us acknowledge that, of course, but afterwards, in the recovery phase, it is true. We have a designated driver now. We never used to, you know; no one did. We were young and thought we'd live forever and did "I'm gonna live forever" things. They are often things that guarantee you will not live forever. Now, we think we're young again, and try to hang on to forever, mostly by having a designated driver. We don't hit all the bars anymore; we don't start as early as we used to. It takes us longer to have that single beer in each bar than it used to; we sip it; don't chug it. It used to be a beer and a peppermint schnapps in each place. Now, the schnapps happen at the first stop, and the one after lunch, and you swagger back to the van feeling good that you can still handle it, man . . . .and you laugh. And now we know we can't make every single bar, not even the one with the girl who showed us her tattoos last year, and we all felt bad about that this year. I think we missed her bar by accident. But we did make Boyers, home of the Road Vultures Motorcycle Club. We're never quite sure, you know, why we stop there, but we do, and it is a highlight. Lunch at the Seebreeze; that one is kind of an added tradition. First beer at the Coyote . . . . well, we didn't even see the Coyote this year and will all check your optical prescriptions before next April, wondering how that happened . . . . . I think we are proud of running the gantlet every year, and I think we sense not everyone shares our boyish enthusiasm at getting together every year in this particular manner. But this is tradition; manly companionship not easily surrendered. We are safer now, I think, than we were in the glory days but then, aren't we all? But, are we having any less fun? Not on your life!!! And we know, next April, on a spring Saturday, amidst the garage sales and blooming trees and flowers and the blue of Lake Ontario off to the left somewhere . . . . the gantlet is waiting for us. And we will run again. " Above courtesy of Dave "The Bomber" Carr. This years Gauntlet run leaves St. Catharines ON on Saturday, April 29. Join the Gauntleteers Alumni Corps along the way....Is it time to get on the bus? Bruce.

One of the things I sort of like about Alumni Corps is the number of members who slide in and out of the line to take a year off and do "all-age" or DCI. There are quite a few members of MSJ who take time out to do a year or so with Cru, Statesmen or Brigs,or just take a year off for other reasons. Some just get the competitive bug once in a while, some want the opportunity to march with a son or daughter for a competetive season. Many of them come back, and those who have yet to return know there will always be a place for them. Make no mistake...every alumni corps wants to be good. Although we are not judged, we all watch each other pretty critically and we all work to put our best product on the field or stage. I think alumni corps also offers the best choice of a wide variety of music...some corps stick to the historical repertoire of their "parent" corps; others branch out with a mix of historical and even some original music. Some corps look for musical challenges, others are content with playing the 1965 repertoire note for note. And there is nothing wrong with that!! Some do the full field show...others do a little m&m and then park and bark...some are strictly parade and standstill. And that's the beauty of alumni corps...the fastest growing segment of our drum corps world also offers the widest variety and is the least likely to be locked into an established format. In the Canadian sense, alumni corps offers about the ONLY outlet for those who want to be in a drum corps. There is little left except for Kingston Grenadiers and some div 2/3 units scattered across the country. If you want to play at all it's the only game in town. Scout House, Toronto Optimist Alumni, Les Diplomats, Toronto Signals and Hamilton Firefighters are all havens for those who want to stay in the activity. Maybe it's not "real drum corps" but it's drum corps the way it used to be and there is a lot of value in that. Sorry for the ramble...

An interesting sidebar...The 1966 AL Championships were held in Washington DC. The first foreign corps to compete at the AL Championships were the 1966 Canadian Commanders. They apparently had the sponsorship of an ex-patriate Legion Post in Toronto, Ontario. They competed in the prelims and did well enough to qualify for the night show. I guess this rubbed some people the wrong way and they were then disqualified because they were not U.S. citizens (?). The corps really hoped to at least be the exhibition corps that night but those honours went to a marching band from Wisconsin that were AL sponsored. A picture recently surfaced (from Ed Law, I believe, a snare drummer for Commanders in '66) of the corps on the starting line in AL prelims. We think prelims were held outside of DC in Virginia. 1966 has to be one of BEST years in drum corps history(IMO) and the Canadian Commanders were no exception that year. They would have given many of the top corps in finals a run for their money! Was there not some discussion a few years ago about Kingston Grenadiers not being allowed to compete at a contest because it was run in conjunction with the AL championships? I seem to remember that the other corps at the contest told the Legion if the Grennies weren't allowed to compete, they wouldn't either. Now that's solidarity. Bruce Lindsay Commanders 71-73 MSJ Alumni 1998 - ?

International Pageant held in Hamilton, Ontario. Great sounding stadium for drum corps. Bruce.