bariparents

Hey, Aaron, this post was meant as a generally thank you to all volunteers, not a way to continue to feel the rumor mill about Capital. You have been the only one so far to mention Capital Regiment. Let's stop this now and continue the thread by saying thanks to the volunteers. As a parent and a volunteer, I am so thankful for all the parents that took time out of their summer, time away from their jobs and family, to help keep all of our drum corps running. Without volunteers, drum corps could not run smoothly or efficiently. Plus, it is always comforting to know that parents are around to help watch after the kids; not that the members need supervision, but a hug is always appreciated plus those reminders about calling home or putting on more sunscreen provide that homey, nagging touch that kids need!

I keep hearing that things were better once Fred arrived and I am sure having him there helped lighten the load on the director and tour managers, but no one has realized that things got better once there were more volunteers helping. Once the corps got to Texas, help was plentiful. The Texas parents provided wonderful meals and help servingand gofering. There was consistent help when dads pitched in during the week between San Antonio and Atlanta, when the Surratts arrived for the last two weeks. Parents helped out from Virginia and Ohio to compliment these volunteers. It is much easier for the tour managers to actually manage things when they aren't having to worry about cleaning dishes before starting the next meal. Yes, another plug for volunteers! Drum Corps has become such an expensive business and if we want to keep fees to the members affordable, corps can't afford to pay cooks to travel with them all summer. Parents and drum corps aficionados need to help out if we want this pasttime to continue.

I too would like to quiet this thread down, as Matt has asked, but I do feel that I need to respond and hopefully not look FOOLISH to Mr. BASTimpanist! I don't know where he got the cold tomato sauce/ half-cooked noodles, but it wasn't from me. I don't know about cheese sandwiches but I do know about cooking over 300 grilled ham and cheese sandwiches for over 2 hours in order for everyone to get at least 2 of them. I already explained the Raison Bran incident in another post. As far as volunteers being able to go to back to sleep, when was that? We went to bed later and rose earlier than the corps, often not getting showers for days on end. Sleep was never very plentiful while on tour! I really enjoyed my time with the corps and have many wonderful memories, but it makes me think twice about doing it again if this is the kind of gratitude I get. Again, I never felt that my child was in danger. I was in constant communication with my son and was aware of the problems as they occurred. Yes, there are many problems that need to be addresses and fixed. I just hope that those viewing this realize that this whole thing is being blown way out of proportion. A few malcontents do not necessarily respresent the ideas or experiences of the whole corps. Please, can we just let this thing die down now and let the proper people handle it without our continuing to feed the fire?

As a volunteer and parent of an 06 CR member, I am just appalled at the accusations thrown around on this thread. To listen to some of the posts, one would assume that the CR members were never fed. I know for a fact that this is definately untrue! I was with the corps on 4 separate occasions for a number of days each and never was their a lack of food. In fact, I was just amazed at the amount of food those kids could put away! Yes, I know there were times that problems occurred - untimely food delivery, food truck not at housing site... but a majority of the time, the kids were fed! Let me reiterate - THE KIDS WERE FED!!! I am beginning to feel that all of my hours spent in the food truck, slaving over hot stoves, high on ladders stuffing spaces to capacity when a food delivery was made, getting up 2 hours earlier that the corps so that a hot breakfast could be made, has all been in vain because some members say that they never got fed! Please don't assume that all of these accusations are all 100% true just because members say so. The exagerations here are unbelievable!

As a CR parent, I am quite upset about this thread. While I admit there were many problems this summer and some of the concerns expressed here are legitimate, there are also untold reasons for some things that happened. For example: What wasn't general knowledge was that there was food on the truck. One of the tour managers was supposed to fix eggs for breakfast but overslept. The drum majors, being the great leaders that they are, chose to serve breakfast on their own, using what they could find. As far as buying a lot of meals - my son said that it was only about 3 times. My son said there were basically three camps within the corps - those that hated Rick Bays, those that liked him, and those that had no opinion. Unfortunately, the "haters" were the most vocal this summer and are the most vocal here on this thread. My son had a wonderful experience this summer. I volunteered numerous times throughout the tour, seeing first-hand how things were run. While I didn't always agree with some of the decisions that were made, I never, ever worried about the well-being of my child. I think Stef is right in saying that we shouldn't buy into this feeding frenzy. If the members and their parents feel they have legitimate concerns, do something about it - don't just print a bunch of half-truths and rumors here. I think that this corps has so much potential and would hate to lose it because of things that are printed here.

Nope - these are scores from Wichita, Kansas. There was anpther show in Wichita Falls, Texas tonight.

I just talked with my son and he said things are okay now. He is with Capital Regiment and said that he heard 23 people from various corps were taken to hospitals, with 12 from Capital. I asked him about water breaks today and he said at least every 10 minutes they were given a break. He did notice that some members who chose to talk and socialize and not drink during this time were ones that were later taken off the field. He said that they had dinner for the corps tonight from the food trailer but the food that the Cavaliers offered was great and much appreciated. The heat has been taken into consideration for the last few days. Capital Regiment had a free day on Sunday at a water park while in the St. Louis area and yesterday they took the afternoon off and sent the kids to do their laundry (which was still cooler than doing drill out on the field!) They have already talked about tomorrow when they will be in Oklahoma, where it is just as hot. The staff has said that they need to start hydrating for tomorrow tonight and continue drinking all through the day. They will probably practice early in the day and then sleep during the hottest part. I hope that this doesn't situation doesn't worry people too much about Capital Regiment. I feel that my son is having a wonderful experience and that he is being well take care of. :)