kelcanadian

Glad to help out! kel

St. John's Girls, Brantford, ON - Victoria Day Parade - Woodstock, ON - 1972 St. John's Girls, Brantford, ON - Labour Day Parade - Brantford, ON - 1976 Belles of St. John's - feeder corps for St. John's - Canadian Nationals - Kitchener, ON - 1976 St. John's Girls, Brantford, ON - Competition at Kitchener ON, Centennial Stadium - 1977

Madison Scouts - DCI Prelims - 1982 North Star - DCI Prelims - 1982 Santa Clara Vanguard - DCI Prelims - 1982 Spirit of Atlanta - DCI Prelims - 1982

27th Lancers - DCI Prelims - 1982 Blue Devils - DCI Prelims - 1982 Cadets - DCI Prelims - 1982

Blue Devils - 1981

Since the most recent photos are from Montreal I thought I'd add a few of my own.... 27th Lancers - 1981 Blue Devils - 1981

... what was that lawyer's name??? I'm sure I have it here somewhere.........

Toronto Optimists went co-ed I believe in 1972, from all-male to having girls on the flag line. The rifle line was all-male. kel

Dutch Boy drum major on the right is Dean Mooney - best man at our wedding. kel

A lot of practice time was spent on that wedge that year. This picture became one of our promotional shots. kel

I believe this was the quartet that played a short version of 'When Irish Eyes Are Smilin' as an intro to a medly of British/Irish tunes. If I remember correctly the garters were part of the uniform. kel

As one of those 'tiny' people (I was a 4 foot nothing rookie and I'm positive she was 10 feet tall back then) Wendy was big in presence, attitude and leadership in a 'don't mess with me' kinda way. There was a rumour that she ate nails for breakfast.................. kel

Kind of interesting when you think about it but this could be an example of the changing face of Drum Corps in Ontario..... All of my family (seven) either marched or volunteered at one point or another in the '70's Out of five kids four of us marched. Four out of five married a DC person. We all had kids however only two of us had kids that marched (3) As of last May none of them are involved. Reasons for not getting the next generation involved - moving to a location where drum corps didn't exist, hockey, musical talents in other areas, soccer OR just not interested. kel

There are so many factors involved and it all seems like a chain reaction: Financial - the corps depend a lot on their financial wizards to put together a sustainable budget while still trying to make it affordable for the kids who want to march. The cost of touring is a factor because on top of the regular fund raising you need the $$ to be moving 50 to 150 people down the road which means buses, equipment trucks, food trucks, food, etc. If you don't tour you can't compete which means you can't promote your corps as an attractive alternative for kids. Local parades are ok but it's the competition that gets people excited - it's a goal to work towards. Also, you would think with the Canadian dollar almost at par the exchange wouldn't be as big a factor as it was a few years ago. However the rising cost of fuel cancels out any advantage the dollar value gained. The hassle crossing the border - definitely worse since 9/11 however it's always been something you had to prepare for - equipment lists, everyone needing ID, what you could and couldn't cross with, the amount of time you might get stalled there during an inspection. It's been a few years since a US winter guard or a drum corps has made their way up here for the very same reasons - too much hassle. This has resulted in the Canadian winterguard and drum corps shows having a decreasing number of units in attendance. This makes it hard to promote a show in a way that draws the crowds. Most of the audience nowadays is made up of parents & families and some of the people who used to march who come out to see what's going on. Competition with other organized sports - there has always been minor sports but they seem to have gained a higher 'glamour' factor with the big name hockey players etc. At one time in Brantford we had two full all girl drum corps so you're talking at least 60 - 75 members in the Class C Belles of St. John's and and 100+ in the Class A St. John's. At that time there wasn't much else for girls to be involved in other than Brownies or Girl Guides* or the like. Now there are soccer fields and hockey rinks filled with girls (and boys) wanting to be the next Beckham or Gretzky or Cassie Campbell (Canada's Olympic Gold Medal Team captain). As Wendy said we don't, and never have, had the marching band support or culture that exists in the US that we could feed off. Up here we have the Burlington Teen Tour band who have travelled extensively throughout Canada, the US and Europe and have been great ambassadors. There have been two or three other communities (Windsor comes to mind) that have a marching band but it's never taken off in Canada the way it has in the US. Sadly it seems up here that being part of the band meant you were a geek or a nerd and I think that spilled over into drum corps. So, rising costs means a more selective tour which may lead to less exposure of the corps or worse, higher debt. Less exposure means you may not being seen enough in your community which draws fewer kids. Fewer kids means a decrease in funds coming in which means rising costs for those who are there. Another factor is that our local Christmas parades (which are the moneymakers) are usually in very cold conditions - so much so that some members will not come out to the parades.** This results in the corps looking and sounding smaller than what they normally would. When you're trying to get community backing it's difficult when your performance is somewhat lacking in sound and appearance. Not to mention that kids watching your performance in the parade would be drawn more to a group that looked good and sounded strong. It's sometimes hard to look good when you're bundled up to your eye balls in scarves, toques, mitts and winter jackets. If your corps doesn't have the funds to have a winter uniform as well as a summer uniform you're not going to spend a lot of bucks on something you can only wear for four weeks of parades. The corps that remain up here are working very hard to retain their members as well as increase membership. I know that Dutch Boy last year had some international members but most are still from the Kitchener-Waterloo area. Ventures Winter Guard continues to run 3 competitive guards again with most members coming from K-W. Some of the kids who are marching now are there because their parents or other family members were involved - that's how our two daughters got involved. Kids straight off the street with no prior knowledge seem harder to get but they do get them. You would think it might be easy to get something going in Toronto but you need the groundwork in place and the people with the passion to do it. The Alumni corps are doing great up here - Toronto Optimists, United Alumni, Scout House - all have lots of people involved with most (I believe) being former marching members of the junior corps that are no longer around. The interest is still out there to participate however I think the idea if starting up and being in charge of a new unit knowing what's all involved may be a little more than daunting. That's considerably more than what I started out to say but that's what I think. kel *not taking anything away from Brownies/Girl Guides - both are great organizations that both my daughters were involved with. ** we use to refer to these people as 'sliders' - they disappeared for the Christmas parade season and slid back in when rehearsals started to get serious in January. Some even waited to 'slide' back in until June when it was time to start travelling again.

Peace and blessings to you and your family Michael. kel

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Well, I dated some NDC guys then a drummer, then another drummer and then some more NDC's who never understood DC. So after that I found myself another drummer and it's been happily ever after ever since. Well, except for the time when I said I really did know the way to Woodstock and said drummer didn't believe me...... kel

I always liked Paul's artwork. You could look at it for a long time and still not find all the humorous little bits and pieces he would hide in amongst the other drawings. Jim says the McCuskers came from Guelph Opti-Knights kel

boys, boys..... please stop... you're making me blush...

Hi, Would that be Cathy Massicotte originally from St. John's? If so, we marched together from 73 or 74 to 77. Kelly

too funny.......

Couldn't agree with you more. It was a great summer of fun, learning, travelling and being with a great bunch of people. I think we all have some war wounds - I know I hit Sean Williams one time in the opener.... In 1976 I remember all the anticipation around the first show of the season and I was in the stands in Philadelphia when the corps went on for DCI prelims. What a rush that was. I didn't think at the time that I would ever be a part of it. When the other girls left St. John's in 1977 I would have loved to have gone with them. However St. John's was going through a really good transition and my loyalties were in Brantford. Looking back I'm really glad that I broke up with that stupid guy that weekend in April ' 78 and came out to rehearsal. It certainly put my life on a new (and better) course. Kelly ps you say 'It was a great marriage of corps members (no pun intended).' but it's interesting the number of relationships that developed, and in some cases remain today, between members of the two corps.

Yes, definitely worth brownie points! However I'd like to remind everyone that the original discussion was about Seneca Optimists. Keith must be wondering what happened to that..... I have another story....... In 1978 there were reports of a 'flock' of Seneca Optimists flying up the Don Valley Parkway followed by a 'flying' equipment truck. Unfortunately the truck was detained and Barry Woods was left trying to explain that he was just following everyone else. The actual story: One Saturday in 1978 at the beginning of the season we had a show at Seneca College. We rehearsed all day and made our own way from the practice site up the Don Valley Parkway to the college. I don't know who started it but someone stuck their arms out the car windows and started flapping like seagulls. Not to be left out the rest of us did the same thing so there was a long line of cars travelling up the DVP with arms flapping away, followed by the 'flying' equipment truck that had Seneca Optimists written on it in big black letters. I can't remember if Barry got pulled over or they just followed him to the college. Kelly

Thanks, but don't you think you have a biased opinion??? Kelly

How bizarre is this? We're both in an analytical role with training responsibilities. I'll email you separately as it looks like our mutual experiences etc. have sort of side-tracked this thread. I have seen the Optimists sight and check it every now and again because they're always posting new photos. Kelly