bearz

I second the shirts above XL size. Look out at the crowd walking around the souvie booths. Lots of them are 4x and 5x people. They have $$ to spend and hardly anything they can spend it on. ADVERTISE that you have those sizes and watch them come running. I also agree with lightweight long sleeved Tshirts for cooler weather and winter fun.

I can't think of a better way to celebrate your birthday. See you there!

Mike Boo published a piece from me a few years ago on the trials and tribulations of a non-drum-corps spouse. To sum it up, he tolerates it but doesn't get it and never will.

They just don't make 'em like George any more. My deepest sympathy.

What an amazing comeback and an amazing man! So glad to see you are up and about and healing!

Z, what year was that?

Eh, in 1976 or 77 the Blue Stars had 12 members from the deep south who traveled to practice every month. A very large part of the rest of the corps came from 3 or more hours away. And there were several corps in our area we could have joined. It just wasn't the Blue Stars. Many corps had it that way back then.

There is a story about a group of dc members who went to eat in WI, in Waupun I think. Its posted here somewhere. The black person was refused service and I have a vague memory of someone threatening to call the police because it was against the law to refuse service. I remember being shocked that that would happen in WI. I always considerend WI a progressive state. Its amazing how far the country has come in 30 or 40 years...and how far behind some places still are.

Blue Stars had a black drum major in 76. He's still involved as an alumni. I think he may have posted about his experiences here. I'm sure I was naive back then but I never thought anything one way or the other about it. Corps from Chicago, Milw, Madison etc all had black members.

Andy is really an amazing young man. He also has an amazing wife and parents and family. He has our prayers and our love and our continued support and appreciation.

I thought I was the only one left who still had VHS tapes of the 80s. I have 80 prelims on VHS. I think at the time they cost me almost $400. Sure wish I had that kind of money today to spend on DCI stuff.

The whole Blue Star family is praying for Andy and all his loved ones. May his strength carry him through and may FCO once again be his motto and his guide.

Exactly. A couple of years ago I saw a family spend $75 to take their kids to a show. The only reason they spend over $100 was because there was an alumni who had bought extra tickets with instructions to the ticket sellers to give them to families with lots of kids so they could see the show. What family of 5 can spend $75 to see 6 or 7 corps perform and sit in the stands for 2 hours or so. I highly doubt I would do it.

I marched those old helmets too. I can't think of one picture I have where that thing is on my head straight. Look at pictures of the company front from the side. They are a sorry sight. Not one plume at the same angle because all the helmets have slid around. Retooling the helmet to fit has been a 30 year ordeal. Do you honestly think in 30 years no one has considered trying to refit/redesign it? I have spent time in the uni area trying to help fit those helmets. They were a disaster. The new shakos ensure a crisp and a ton of physical GE can be built utilizing them because they are positioned securely.

How do I define great GE? When you can get my 10 yr old ds, who is constantly complaining that everything is boring, to stop and watch 4+ minutes of barbershop, that is great GE.

Put me in this camp. The new uni, IMHO, compliments a modern Blue Stars. Those white pith helmets may have been original to the corps but just by sheer design they were a mess. I have pictures from the day and in just about every one it was too far back on my head, the chain was in the wrong place and the plume was out of whack. And I wasn't the only one.

What a beautiful and fitting tribute. It shows how much he was and is cared about.

I miss Whitewater DCM too. Madison is great as far as the venue but I really wish they would level about another 20 city blocks and create some decent parking.

I've got it! The magic trick will be bringing back the Freelancers to Div 1!

Did you miss all the dead bodies on the field?

...

Dark. I like dark. Dark is good.

Updated info: Two students were rushed by helicopter ambulance Saturday night to a hospital in Pocatello, John Miller, director of the American Fork, Utah, high school band, told The Associated Press. Another 12 were sent to a hospital by ground ambulance with serious injuries, and 30 students were taken to a hospital for minor injuries, he said. Idaho state police said a preliminary investigation showed that the bus driver had a medical condition that caused the crash. Police have identified the person killed as 33-year-old Heather Christensen of Spanish Fork, Utah. She was the school's woodwind instructor. Police said the students' injuries were not life-threatening. The crash occurred around 7 p.m. MDT on Interstate 15, about two miles north of McCammon and 50 miles north of the Utah border, as the band headed back to American Fork High School after a competition with several other bands in Pocatello. Miller told the Salt Lake Tribune that the teacher killed in the accident tried to avoid the crash by grabbing the steering wheel when the driver lost control and the bus veered off the road. Miller said the instructor tried to get the bus back on course, but fell out of a window as the vehicle rolled. "She loved her students, they were her life. I know she died trying to save them," Miller told the newspaper. Forty-nine students were on the bus that tipped over, Miller said. Altogether, a total of 222 students were on the trip, divided into four buses. James Kimball, 16, a band member at American Fork, told the AP that he saw the bus swerve off the road and go on its side in a ditch off I-15. "I was on the bus right behind it. We were watching a movie and I looked forward and saw the bus bouncing across the side of the road," the high school junior told the Tribune in a separate interview. "The bus flew off to the side, bumped across a couple hills and rolled over." Distraught students sang church hymns after learning of the instructor's death, Kimball said. Mike Huestis, the band's assistant director, told the newspaper that authorities worked to ensure that all people on the trip were accounted for and examined for injuries. Police said the bus had about 50 students, two adults and one driver on board. Huestis traveled to the competition in his own car and was ahead of the buses. He did not see the crash, he said. Kimball said the band, one of Utah's best known, won the Pocatello competition. The school's bands have won the Utah state title for the past 19 years. The school band also performed at President George Bush's 2005 inauguration and marched in the 2007 Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade in New York.

I marched the 77 show. That was a fun show.

So is the camera guy gonna sue like the football player did?