TomPeashey

This is an excellent point and it takes care of the problem of the money having been sent to his sister in a different state...

I agree Jeff... and that may well be the next step... I just wanted to hesitate for the same reason I did not post his name, I'm still hoping that he just gives them their money back...

Hi Folks, I have waited months before going public with this, but there seems to be no alternative. Last summer, Heartliner from Ludwigshafen Germany attended the DCA World Championships and also competed in Bridgeport CT and Pennsauken NJ. They were very well received and had a wonderful tour. It was my privilege to advise them on this tour. It was a great experience for all of us on both sides of the ocean. However, there is one black spot hanging over the tour - something that is personally embarrassing to me, and embarrassment to the drum corps activity and indeed an international embarrassment for the United States of America. They wanted to purchase USA tour shirts in the United States. Through another drum corps advisor, Bill Aldrich-Thorpe working with them for Drum Corps World and through no fault of his, they were put in touch with someone in Arkansas to provide these shirts. The Arkansas person requested 100% prepayment and the money was wired from Germany. I have all the legal documents to prove this. This person in Arkansas had them send $2500 to his sister in another state. This confuses the legal issue. Bill, like I, is most embarrassed and feels awful about this whole situation. To make a long story short, the shirts were never produced. I even got involved in trying to save the situation and was promised shipment. NOTHING! At this point, the very least anyone would expect is a complete refund... many promises - no refund... I'll not go further than this for now, but if there's anyone who has legal knowledge of how to recover these funds without spending the entire $2500 for an attorney - please contact me. To that drum corps person in Arkansas, all I can say is: Let's put this situation to bed - refund their money...

so why not consider the 50th... ???

it caught my eye that we now have over 33,000 posts and over 1,000,000 visits to whoville - with the new format advertising up front the number of posts and the number of views, I took a quick look through and it would seem that Guess Who is by far and away the largest and most visited topic in the entire Drum Corps Planet family... John Donovan??? I think we deserve some recognition... and Nanci D should be honored as the Queen of DCP - not just whoville...

Brothers Richard "Mitch" and David Mitchell are well known in Central NY Drum Corps... Drummers from the Rome/Utica area they worked under Joe Wormworth and did a number of corps including Syracuse Brigadiers and the 74 DCI finalist Auburn Purple Lancers ... They both have been drum instructors over the years also... I marched with them in Brigs... great guys... Mitch has informed us that Dave fell at home today. He did not survive. All the Upstate corps people send Mitch and his family sincerest condolences... It's bad enough when severe illness is involved, but a sudden accident like this especially in your own home, reminds us all how fragile life can be.

lol hey... I was UP to 160# this morning... watch that skinny man stuff

I actually agree with everyone on here... and with year 50 years for DCA coming up it's significant that I have been around actively working with a DCA corps or judging or administrating since year 2... (Missed year one due to Cru, Brigs and Cabs being reluctant to join) I guess I might have a pretty good right to have an opinion... but the quality and "entertainment value" of all participating corps - especially in show design - has improved immensely... Several points... 1. All corps are trying very hard to improve the product while still entertaining 2. The huge increase in Band activity has - even more than recruiting - provided an amazing amount of work for the staff members to hone their craft... 3. Some may not want to hear this... but the 35 people rule WORKS... corps with fewer than that were simply not able to entertain

72? lol by 72 I had 3 kids... you were a slow starter Andy

It's almost embarrassing that I don't know more... that he was a marine is no big surprise... pretty sure he was born and raised in Sherburne NY... his first big success was the Sentinels and Generalettes male and female drill teams who both became national champions... and believe me... they were GREAT!!! Think Marine silent drill team type great... his second wife Lee (Leota) was a Generalette... He also did well in winterguard with Sherburne-Earlville before moving up to West Genny ... I don't know everywhere he taught, but of course Brigadiers from 63 to 73 and sky for 2 years or so after that (Andy?) plus he did Frankfurt Starlighters and then Mighty St. Joe's... I'm sure there were numerous others... Interestingly enough... even though he ended up in Rochester, he never worked with Cru... and while Phoenix existed, he was with Sky... When he retired to Florida, he had many great years at Seminole HS outside Tampa... I'm sure there's guys in Syracuse who know many more details...

lol of course don spelled it wrong Gebhardt but anyway... you are correct about West Genesee High School and his wildcat west genny color guard... his amazing "silent" guard set the standards for a WGI guards to come... West Genny and Holley Hawks (Vinnie Monacelli) were the standards just before and as WGI was formed... Of course for West Genny, Gebby would be the first one to give credit to the many others involved including but not limited to Bruce Burritt - a good friend and former horn instructor of Brigs - who was Band Director when they rose to national prominence...

goodness... I'd love a dime for every time he said that... and Fran... between Vinnie Ratford in the 50's and this gentleman (and I mean GENTLE MAN - as he really was just that) Brigadiers literally changed the activity... the entire evolution from band formation to squads to curvilinears can be traced through these two gentlemen... From Ratford's "Carousel" and "Indian Dance" on the field during a time when corps still played military music and did close order (military) drill... to this guys U S on the field during the color pre and large curves to interpret the music - Visually, Brigs were always ahead of the pack... and ahead of the "future"

While most credit Jim Jones with using "8 to 5" first... this gentleman perfected it and brought it to general use...

Yes, he and his second wife Leota (big clue there) owned a home on the north side of Chili Ave. about halfway between I-390 and Howard Rd. only about 2 minutes from the airport. However, you were closer to me - I built my home at 1060 Spencerport Rd (Lyell Ave.) halfway between Long Pond and Elmgrove Rds. - for some years I was a neighbor of Eddie Reese...

Interestingly enough... I never knew a brother or any of his kids... On the other hand - I absolutely worshipped the ground he walked on and to this day a big smile occurs when I drive past either his old house in Sherburne NY or his home on Chili Ave. in the Rochester suburb of Gates where I raised my family... I also visited him in St. Petersburg after his retirement from Frito Lay.

thanks Lee... great stuff (as well as the other contributions)

yes... that was 1975 further... his Frito Lay job ended up moving him to Rochester to complete his working career... in retirement he became a Florida Seminole... interestingly this reminded everyone of how good he actually was as that band rose to immediate prominence... need more clues? West Genesee Wildcats - helped start WGI... Until his passing he stayed out of trouble driving school bus in St. Petersburg

and of course... the middle man is indeed Joe Wormworth... now to the man on the right... Clue #1: Sentinels and Generettes He's also the only man I know that could sleep anywhere and anytime and frequently slept through indoor ensemble rehearsals... when the noise would keep the dead awake... he slept...

lol ALFRED ALFRED lol

I'm drawing a blank... he may well have been with Phoenix in 75... but I honestly don't remember... MANY of my Brigadier friends were there... my final clue goes with the Mark Thurston clue... CROSSMEN!!!

So who taught all those St. Andrew's kids to triple tongue like that?

The early bird gets the WORM 1961 snare line Dick Mercurio - him - Ray Bennett

and I forget everything Ray... I think the memory has gone bye bye with the weight... anyway... back to victim #2 in the middle... again... I marched with him in Brigadiers where he shared duties with Ray Bennett and was a student of Bobby Thompson... more recently, he's enjoyed watching his son perform... with several DCI corps... Think Utica Yankees...

Left... yes Mme. Queen The gentle old man on the left was mugged in the Caribbean a few years back... Corps he taught? Too numerous to mention, but Brigadiers, Crusaders, St. Joe's (Batavia), Frankfurt Starlighters, Casper Troopers and Many, Many more...

1975... I assume... and he could wear that uniform because at the time - he owned all of the uniforms of that corps AND the NAME... but anyway, we're supposed to be going left to right... Another Clue... Vince Bruni helped arrange for him to move from Cortland, NY to Rochester and got him the job as Band Director at Aquinas Institute (yes, THAT Aquinas)