Taylor

Chris, wan't there a show where we went out that night with only 3 or 4 snare drummers? You guys were like the drummer(s) from spinal tap that summer. I can still remember seeing Rigger (don't recall his first name) doing sectionals sitting on a plastic milk crate or something with his drum on the ground and his knee on ice.

Jason, it makes me very glad to know that Fat Elvis Karate will once again be insinuating itself into hornline stretch routines. Also, there hasn't been any talk so far about Aaron Barnes. This will be his third year on the Crossmen visual staff and he is a good solid tech. He's very talented, but most people don't know who he is. Probably because he is one of the most quiet people I know. Also, he's got some really razor sharp wit so I think he'll fit right in with the rest of the guys on the staff.

Becky Terry started in the Crossmen at 12. When I first met her she was 13, and a very grown up and mature 13 to boot. I have met others that would thrive like she did, but not many.

Speaking as someone who has never been stung by a bee on the lips, that is some of the worst luck I have ever heard of.

http://www.corpsreps.com/corpsreps.cfm?vie...orpstype=Junior The Cavaliers have played The Planets more than once. I believe that the red balls were in fact 85.

I wish Chuck were still involved with the Crossmen. I would celebrate the occasion by putting on a yellow shirt. You know the one, Chuck. Incidentally, my wife hopes she can someday meet you so she can gush all about how much she loves your work in our 2002 show. She tells me that everytime she listens to it. ---Taylor

Just in case any are skeptical, here is the story from the National Park Service website. Looks like I got the bit about the reason for being stranded wrong, but my story is basically true. The website is http://www.nps.gov/archive/deto/first50.htm *************************************** In the fall of 1941 the Tower made the headlines of the Nation's leading newspapers. This was brought about through the fool-hardy stunt of a professional parachutist named George Hopkins. Without the consent or knowledge of National Park Service officials, Hopkins, who held a number of United States and world's records for spectacular jumps, on October 1 parachuted from an airplane to the top of the Tower. His plan was to make his descent by means of a one-half inch 1,000-foot rope which was dropped from the plane. Unfortunately, this rope landed on the side of the Tower and Hopkins was unable to get it. The Park Service was confronted with a serious problem, and newspapers throughout the country made the most of the predicament. Telegrams and letters offering advice on how to rescue Hopkins came from all over the United States. Meanwhile, food and blankets were dropped to him while Service officials considered how to get the man down from the giant formation. After weighing carefully various methods, the Service, on October 3, decided to accept the offer of Jack Durrance, a student at Dartmouth College, skier and mountain climber who had led the second mountain-climbing ascent of the Tower in 1938, to lead the rescue party. More food, water, and blankets were dropped to Hopkins and assurances were given him that help was coming. Advice and offers of assistance continued. The Goodyear Company offered to loan the use of a blimp to effect the rescue. The Navy offered the use of a helicopter. Bad weather, meanwhile, grounded Durrance's plane, so the mountain climber had to travel to Denver by train. On October 5, Durrance and his party arrived at the monument. Working closely with Service officials, they laid out a safe climbing route for rescue operations. On the following day, Durrance led seven other climbers to the summit of the tower where they found Hopkins who, in spite of his ordeal, was in excellent physical condition and in good spirits. The descent was made with little difficulty. The stranded stunt man and the rescue operations which received wide publicity attracted many spectators from all parts of the Nation. During the six-day period, some 7,000 visitors came to the monument to see him and witness rescue operations.

I just had to put up this old quote from Gary Cuzzocrea from a thread about Bones some months ago because it reminded me of a fantastic, and totally true story (this is in reply to someone suggesting that Bones should skydive into J. Birney Crum): ********************************** QUOTE I can hear the play by play... "Oh no! There seems to be trouble with the chute! He's spinning out of control!! He's going to miss the target on the 50 yard line...he's heading for somebody on the sideline...OH NO!!!! Bones landed right on top of George Hopkins!!!!!!" Then again, that would be impossible since George actually IS Bones. Sorry, George. I couldn't keep your secret forever. If people don't believe me, answer me this: have you ever seen George and Bones at the same time?? Hmmm... tongue.gif QUOTE *********************************** In 2003 a well respected rock climber and physician by the name of Jack Durrance died. He was known early in his climbing career famously or infamously for his involvement in a 1939 expedition to climb K2 in which 4 men died. He was blamed for their deaths for years but also was acclaimed for saving the life of a climber suffering from pulmonary edema on the same expedition. In 1994 he was absolved of any fault in the deaths by the American Alpine Club. Enough background, here's where the good part comes in: In the 1940's a daredevil decided that he was going to skydive onto the top of Devil's Tower (think of Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind) and rappel down to the bottom with a rope and gear that he would carry with him on the skydive. It wasn't until after the jump was complete that he realized that he did not posess adequate gear to fix enough rappel anchors so that he could safely make his descent. This effectively stranded him on top of the tower. There was a bit of a media sensation about the incident and food and other supplies were quickly air-dropped to him until a suitable rescue could be mounted. At the time, Devil's Tower had only been climbed by a few people. One of them was Jack Durrance, so he and a partner were dispatched to re-climb his famous "Durrance Route" and rescue the man stranded on top. Ultimately the rescue was a success and the details beyond this point are largely irrelevant, but here is the one fact that ties all of this together and binds it all up with a nice punchline... The skydiver's name was GEORGE HOPKINS

Consider me in the 3%. I can picture him now with his snaggly tooth and his lispy accent sauntering around like John Wayne. Unfortunately, konowing Harold, I have trouble picturing him in any kind of chaps that would cover his behind.

A couple of memorable quotes from parade viewers regarding the Crossmen: "Mommy, are they cowboys?" "They look like street ninjas!"

I've been waiting for days to get permission to post so here goes: I am a former member of the Crossmen ('98-'02) and a 2005 visual staffer / 2006 driver. Many nights I stayed up sitting by the food truck with my wife, mom, and dad (all Crossmen volunteers) talking about what it would take for the Crossmen to find a way to shoot a little higher. We always went around and around and we always came to the same conclusion: there would need to be a drastic regime change. Well, now it seems to have happened. Someone has stepped up to the plate to take on the challenge. The tragic death of my great friend Joe Kempf ('02 DM) becomes more sad for me now because those of us that were closest to Joe knew that he was destined to someday take on this challenge. I'm very happy that George did what he did to keep the corps around for me and my fellow Crossmen. And now I am very grateful to Mark (whom I have never met) for throwing in his lot to keep the corps going. If the Crossmen were to disappear I think I would need to take a long break from drum corps. I love all the corps I have ever seen but I don't think I could go anywhere else. I owe the Crossmen so much. What do I plan to do? Last year my wife and I sponsored a member for a sum of that person's fees. This year we have offered to pay for all of the camp flights for another member who will hopefully accept our offer and march his age out. I am going to go to at least one camp to meet Mark and throw my support behind him. And I will volunteer for the corps as a driver again this summer, if they have the need. This change makes me want to ask so many questions, and maybe I will get my chance. But for me the priority right now is to do what I can to help take this corps places that I only dreamed about when I marched. Thanks for reading, Taylor Jenkins '98-'02 Hornline '05 Visual Staff '06 Driver P.S. To SCV Aaron: even though you did come on a little strong in your posting I appreciate your intentions. I would like to buy you a beer sometime.