Bob984

RIP Hugh

Dave Bandy passed away a few days ago. Apparently he was found in his apartment in Hawaii....no word on cause.............Dave was a visual designer/instructor for multiple corps over the years. He designed the visual program for the 1980 Garfield Cadets, and played a key role in the corps rise back to finalist status. He was well-liked and respected by all who knew him. RIP Dave..............

RIP, and thanks for the great seats!!

For many years, if it would not have been for the magic of "Aunt Nellie", there would have been a ton of "Wardrobe malfunctions" on the field.......especially after tempos got faster....lol................that said, so glad they are returning to the uniform.........I hope that they have the guts after this year to "stay put" with it, and buck the "costume" trend....................

RIP Mr. Ferraro

It is a credit to them that they came back year after year, through thick and thin......it took until 1999 for them to become a finalist again, but they never gave up, and the organization and members showed great pride every year, and earned the respect and admiration of audiences as well.

I have an early DCI question. Just prior to the formation of DCI, there were a few eastern corps that had some strong competitive success.......Blessed Sacrament, Blue Rock, and St. Rita's Brassmen. I heard rumors that when DCI was formed, there were some corps who were opposed to the new organization. I do not have confirmed info, but I believe that these three corps may have been among them. Blessed Sacrament does not have a 72 season listed, so it looks as though they stopped competing, even though they were still respectable competitively in 1971. Neither St. Rita's or Blue Rock competed in the 1972 DCI Championships (Whitewater), though they both were competitive and beat corps that were finalists. Perhaps traveling to Wisc. was an issue for both 72 and 73. Blue Rock did go in 1973, but didn't qualify, as they were slipping competitively. Does anyone know more here? Perhaps the new "touring model" that was evolving, made it difficult for corps to travel out of region to compete. It is rather sad, as here are 3 corps that were all clearly quite competitive just as DCI was forming, but faded after the formation.

I do feel for those that would have aged out to miss their last season(s). However, as others have stated, this is a pandemic....life throws people curves, and they have to face things. We wouldn't have a drum corps season if the continental US was under attack from a foreign invader....guess what....we are...the invader is simply invisible. For those who still have the urge and means to march, but have aged out, they can march with a DCA corps. I do think that those members who have paid corps most or all of their fees/costs...the corps should be mandated by DCI to refund these folks. "Oh, well....that's just the way it is....we don't have it......we spent it", are not going to be acceptable answers, and members could pursue legal action. If they already spent the money, they should have to liquidate assets to pay their bills and these refunds. I find your comment about "only full time college students be offered this opportunity" to be quite discriminatory. Drum corps has already become a "rich kids sport", as many young people are simply priced out of the activity. In this case, you could have a case where "rich mommy and daddy" are paying 50K+ per year for a member to go to college, also paying most or all of their corps fees, and you are blessing them with another year due to the covid cancelled season(s).....but you are not for the kid who graduated high school, could not afford to go to college, lives in his/her parents' basement, and worked very hard at a low/minimum job for 3 years to earn every penny needed to march....but you won't extend them..........really?? I think adding a "no props" rule and keeping it in place for awhile would be helpful. It will encourage corps to be frugal, and help those that must be in order to survive, and put emphasis on performances. One thing for certain.....the days of 2+ million dollar budgets are over....and corps management that puts the blinders on regarding this will find themselves bankrupt quite quckly......those who are already making plans to get by on 500 - 800 K may have a shot at survival. We will likely be in a depression when corps returns, and DCI would be wise to start planning for that now........an attempt to make it affordable to march, and affordable for fans to attend shows. ....the current "country club" approach is not going to survive; that money simply will not be there.

RIP

https://www.peopleschapelfuneralhome.com/obituaries/Davey-Tucker/#!/Obituary https://roanoke.com/news/local/two-killed-in-separate-montgomery-county-wrecks-a-nurse-and-a-musician/article_e974177e-9fb8-5e48-a95a-6ec0d86c59d8.html Somebody posted this yesterday on social media...............tragic................ RIP, Davey Tucker...........marched in Spirit, Cavaliers, and Blue Devils..............age 28

Some experts today came out and said that they believe that it will be the middle of 2021 at the earliest before an effective vaccine happens for the masses, as things continue to be tested out. If that is true, say bye-bye to the 2021 season.

I do get your point. I wanted to clarify something though......the corps that were DQ'd for overage may have only had one individual pointed out that was overage (in the Bridgemen's case, they were ineligible, as they were going to turn 22 during the season, but they never actually marched someone who was 22......the other 3 corps did........and I know for a fact that two of the corps dq'd had more overage members than just the one that they were caught with (and one had a large number).....I won't go into it, but one had 3 and the other one had alot.........

I do think that it is good when members can present their views to staff/administration. This has happened forever. In recent times, though, I wonder if it happens far less frequently. I can tell you...for example, uniforms......there are uniforms today that are presented, where back in the day, we would have said, "we aren't wearing THAT", and that would have been the end of it. Today, I think more is forced on the member and there is little or no feedback. Even money was "negotiated" at times back in the day. In my 2nd year, I was not going to march. A member had a problem, and I got the call. I told them I had no money to march (which was true, as I was working to save money for my Fall semester/Senior Year of college). Within an hour, calls were made, and I marched for free (had to learn the show in 4 days). On the other hand, that same year......our buses were bad and A/C did not work.....brutally uncomfortable to travel during the day and then we were tired/hot when we arrived at our sites........we gave a petition to the director with 100 signatures saying that we wanted to travel at night after shows like our competitors were..........we were denied........in defense of the director, we had many breakdowns with our bad buses, and I think he didn't want to get stranded along the road late at night...........as long as final decisions are still going to be that of admin./staff (with the accountability that comes with that), and members feel that their suggestions/opinions at least are heard (without any repercussions) and are being considered.........all is good. I will say that not too many years ago, my old corps was struggling, and at the end of a particular season, a sizeable number of brass players said that they would not return if the brass arranger was kept. A change was made. There are many smart kids in drum corps, and they may have some ideas that help things go even better.

That definitely happened, as I spoke to someone involved who was from Purple Lancers.

Your are correct (I was on staff from 1979-1983)................

It is certainly not insignificant. They gave us until 3 PM to prove that the member was 21 and not overage. At that moment, we had nothing, due to a misplaced birth certificate file (which they did track down much later), and the member had nothing that proved his age on him. It would have been interesting to see what would have gone down had we not proven his age by 3 PM. Those who filed the claim certainly had no proof....but they went forward anyway. If the 1980 Cadets had been disqualified, it is safe to say that the corps most likely would not have recovered; I do think the corps would have survived not making finals, but a dq? No. Only 4 corps in 48 years have ever been disqualified in DCI (there also was an attempt on SCV, but they had a few foreign members who presented phony documents, so the corps was not penalized, as they showed DCI the documents. I know some folks who were part of those 4 corps, and it was gut wrenching for all. Three of the four are gone.....only the Crossmen remain.

1982............he was on the percussion staff starting in 1979..............

There was a 5 corps battle for the last 3 spots in DCI finals.....Garfield, Guardsmen, North Star, Blue Stars, and Troopers. All were good, so it was up in the air. I was on staff at Cadets....we had 18 brass in May, and 56 when the season started...........a successful recruiting trip to Mississippi and Louisiana answered our prayers. The kids that came were both talented and hard working. It was a miracle. We did fill a few blanks mid-season, and one of them was the horn player who's age was challenged. He did look old, and he also had played with a DCA corps for a few years. North Star beat us by 15 points at the season opener.....we defeated them solidly at DCI prelims/finals.

The member in question did not have a driver's license, thus he had no age ID on him. However, he was a college student. The bursar's office was open (it was a Friday). Thank God, we had a cooperative person on the other end of the phone....colleges have dob on all students..........she confirmed his dob and that he would not be 22 until October. Pesceone called the college, got the info confirmed, and that was the end of it.

40 years ago,in 1980, North Star Drum and Bugle Corps filed a formal protest against the Garfield Cadets, just after the Cadets prelim performance, for an alleged overage member. There was a delay settling the dispute due to a misplacement of the birth certificate file (which was found later that day), but the corps used another satisfactory way to prove the member's age, and proved that the member was indeed 21 years old, but not overage. The Cadets did not "return the malice", and a small number of people (including myself) have kept this largely quiet for 40 years now.....but it is an important story in the corps' history. A large majority of the corps members from 1980 are/were not even aware of this, and even some staff. We did not want to dampen the spirits of anyone on a great day for the corps. I will also say that I do not believe that the members of North Star were aware of this, but the staff definitely was.

My guess is there probably only is around a 25% chance of a 2021 WGI season. I do believe that there is about a 50% chance of a DCI season. Everything is contingent on a successful vaccine that will need to be mass distributed between the end of the year and the end of February at the latest. I don't think WGI or their groups have enough time to make that work. Schools are not going to allow gym use until it is totally safe to do so. Drum corps has more time to make a call. DCI does not rely on WGI. In fact, many DCI corps guards do very little until the winter guard season is over. No vaccine, and there will not be a season for either...........

I'm not quite sure what you are referring to...............you say that Cavaliers were "on their tail", yet scores show that at the World Open, they were nearly 5 points ahead of the Cavaliers (4.75) and though prelims was a bit closer, I don't think they were in the same league. You also state that they were not even close to Madison and SCV in the days going into DCI. However, just 4 days prior to DCI Philly, they defeated the Vanguard and Blue Devils, and finished 2nd to Madison, 1.85 behind. To this day, there is a rumor that the prelim score in Philly was tabulated before ordered destroyed, and that they won. It has not been confirmed or disproven, though "denied" by some. I am certain that every judge had their "tote", and a number downm and there was enough time lapsed for those numbers to be to the tabulator and added..........however, it seems that they will take those numbers to their grave. Muchachos' percussion was very tight (which they won at CYO) and the brass was very powerful with great soloing, and the crowd loved the show. You can argue that the drill wasn't fabulous, but they performed it very well.....SCV had the design edge over everyone, but it was a brutal show to execute..... CYO's clearly indicate that Muchachos were in the mix at the top........ 1 Madison Scouts 90.550 2 Muchachos 88.700 3 Blue Devils 87.450 4 Santa Clara Vanguard 86.800 5 27th Lancers 85.300 6 Kilties 83.400 7 Garfield Cadets 80.050 8 Phantom Regiment 79.100 9 Royal Crusaders 78.250 10 St. Francis Xavier Sancians 71.250 11 Boston Crusaders 64.000 12 Pembroke Imperials 60.600

It was 1981........people tried real hard to not have any blanks in the drill by prelims, as visual judges totally frowned on it...........people would march with broken arms, etc. and still march the spot. She actually did quite well.....it was tough for her not to stick out, as she was in the lead soprano section...............I think we should have taught her the last note of the show....lol.......I believe DCI prelims and finals were the 2 shows that she marched all season......

We had a lead soprano player.............who got into a fist fight with the drum major in rehearsal 2 days before prelims............he was taken to the airport and sent home...........we had no alternate horn players, but we had an alternate guard member on tour.....she was small and I believe somewhere between 15-17 years old. I look out later that night, and I start laughing, because there she is.....soprano in hand (of course, not playing), learning drill. She is doing remarkably well. At prelims, she marched as if she was in the spot all year long (didn't play a note, though....lol).....I think she was really happy to be out there...........still never found out what happened that caused the fight..............my guess is that they were probably both at fault.....

It's very strange.............on just one post remaining, if you click the underline under the "statement" (which I DIDN"T COPY/POST) there is a message from google saying that copying the photo was "forbidden", yet there was nothing on the original image to indicate that (some are protected, and I get that).....however, who ever chose to "take it down", chose to replace it with the wording........(the wording was in the title set of the photo album, but was NOT included in my post......so (whoever they are) managed to take down the photo and replace it with the wording..................not cool.................probably a "uniform" company rep..........lol.............finally, I only posted the two photos to stimulate a conversation about it...........there's no "right or wrong" answers.......just preferences..............however, who ever took it down also clearly chose to spread their own message, and to distort my post.......................again, not cool..................