Excelsior PR Manager

Congrats to the Pittsfield 4th of July parade committee for being selected as one of the Nations top ten Independence Day Parades! Excelsior is excited to be in this parade for the fourth year in a row. Thank you for having us! Your Hometown Parade One of the 10 Best Parade Venues in the Country! This article appeared in the Berkshire Eagle on Monday June 30. Monday, June 30-Berkshire Eagle PITTSFIELD — As the Pittsfield Fourth of July Parade gets ready to step off on Friday, it got a high-profile boost in the pages of USA Today, which listed it among the 10 best parade venues in the country. "We were thrilled," said Peter M. Marchetti, treasurer and coordinator of this year's parade. "It made us feel great." In its Friday edition, USA Today asked Steve Schmader, president and CEO of the International Festival and Events Association, to list his favorite 10 parades. Pittsfield was joined by Washington, D.C., Racine, Wis., Philadelphia, Gatlinburg, Tenn., Balboa Island, Calif., Bristol, R.I., Greeley, Colo., Belton, Texas, and St. Louis. "Once billed as 'Your Hometown Parade,' " the paper said, "the Pittsfield Fourth of July Parade dates back to 1824, when the procession consisted of Revolutionary War veterans and politicians riding in horse-drawn carriages. Today's modern parade has floats, balloons and marching bands, but still retains the small-town, patriotic flavor of its roots." USA Today, with a circulation of more than 2.2 million, is the nation's most-read newspaper. The theme of this year's parade is "A World of Music." here will be 19 marching musical acts, and all 23 floats will play either live or taped music. The six giant helium balloons will likewise have a musical theme, right down to Laa-Laa, the Teletubby. The parade begins at 10 a.m. Friday and will follow its traditional route, beginning on South Street at the Housatonic Street intersection, proceeding around Park Square, up North Street and ending at Wahconah Park on Wahconah Street. Here is the link to the orginial story in USA Today http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destination...y-parades_N.htm

More growth...well, sorta. It seems that life has jumped up and down and has caused one of our snare drummers to reconsider his commitments to the corps, so we have lost a good player to working and paying bills!(hate that!), but it is with great enthusiasm that I announce the return of Micah R. Micah has marched in the tenor section of Excelsior for two years and we thought we had lost him when he moved to Kansas to live with his dad. After a long school year dodging a few tornado's in the land of Dorothy and Toto, Micah had returned to Pittsfield for the summer, and has decided that he just can not be in the area and not be a part of Excelsior! We are thrilled to have Micah back. Micah was a band student while he was attending Pittsfield high school and is also a member of several band and music groups in his new school in Kansas. Although his first love is for the tenors, Micah has agreed to step into the snare spot that just opened up and that means the numbers are status quo! No changes. So, it is growth, in a way! Welcome back Micah. For anyone else who is wondering if it is too late to be a part of Excelsior 2008....our answer is...it is never too late. Although it will require a lot of home work and independent study to get yourself up to speed at this late date, we will not turn anyone away. We are also in need of several volunteers to round out our field crew, food crew and general support staff. Folks, you know you want too...I just don't know why you're fighting it! Come on, its going to be a blast!

Excelsior will appear, for our fourth year in a row, in the Pittsfield Mass 4th of July parade! This will mark the first ever performance collaboration between Excelsior and the Pittsfield Boys and girls club. Excelsior has been fortunate to call the boys and girls club "home" for many of the Pittsfield rehearsals and now we will be performing in this great parade together. The unit will consist of Excelsior, the Pittsfield boys and girls club float and the club auxiliary will also march with us. We are so excited! After the parade an exhibition of the 2008 field show, Robin Hood, a field production will take place right in front of the Tahiti (which is right at the end of the parade route near the parking lots to Wacona Park.) Our annual 4th of July picnic and clam bake will commence immediately after! See you there!

WOW! Is it June already??? Well, this past weekend was a whirl-wind! But, yes it is true. We finished the drill! Although there is still a small section at the end of the ballad that the drumline has yet to learn, we are hopeful and excited that we will have our first drill run-through this coming weekend! And yes....the corps did indeed gain 2 additional new members this weekend! (well the drumline anyways!) It is always the drummers! So, without further ado... Excelsior would like to welcome Paul B. and Brandon L., both from Pittsfield, Mass. Both come to the corps by way of an in-school drum corps seminar given to the band programs of Pittsfield high school in late May. The hopes of this seminar was to help to generate excitement and exposure for the corps in the fall of '08 for next season, but a couple of energetic and eager beavers, jumped on the wagon for this year! We are thrilled to have them. BrAndon will play snare and Paul will help to fill out the front pit ensemble. Welcome to both! (come on folks, its still not too late...although its getting close to being just that!) Jump in, you know you want to! Stay tuned!

Another great weekend of rehearsal! Much was accomplished with drill and ensemble with the drumline....which incidentally grew! Again! Welcome to new additions....Louis and Brendon, both come to Excelsior by way of Taconic high school. Both are active members of the Taconic band program and we are thrilled to have them aboard! With Louis and Brendon, some moving around had to happen. Both Louis and Brendon will join the 5 man bassline and Excelsior youth manager Phil has moved to the front pit where his mallet skills will be tested. Phil will also help to lead our newly formed front pit. Much interest was also created when Excelsior took to the Times Union center for an exhibition of the 2008 show, Robin Hood, a field production. It was a great night of Albany Conquest Arena Football and the fans were treated with a sneak peak of the 2008 competitive corps! Fingers crossed that some of that excitement can develop into even more new members and local interest! Come on folks...you know you want to! Jump in the waters just fine!

After feeling the same growing pains as everyone else with the natural ebb and flow of spring, Excelsior is happy to announce the addition of Joel S. who comes to the corps by way of Berne-Knox-Westerlo high school, Albany High School and Schenectady Community college where Joel is studing Music Education. Joel will play lead soprano this year. Welcome Joel. Excelsior is also pleased to announce the addition of Chris S. who comes to the corps by way of Schenectady high school where he was once taught by former drum corps contra Jason Hyatt. Chris will play contrabass this year. Welcome Chris. (2 down, just a few more to go! You up for it???? Spots are vanishing everyday! Come on, you know you want to, just do it!)

With the temps forecasted to hit 90+ both days of the weekend, ya know suymmer is getting close! With that, we are hopeful that the weather will certainly cooperate for this weekends scheduled events. Saturday Excelsior will be in Brattlesboro, VT for the Annual Heifers parade. Then Saturday evening, Excelsior will put on a concert of the 2008 competitive show at the Albany Times Union Center, home of the Albany Conquest! Albanys own Arena football team! Sunday Excelsior will again be marching in the Troy, NY flag day parade. This will be the third year Excelsior will appear in this great annual event. Come out and check us out. Still some spots open, only 8 to 10 rehearsals, 4 shows and then championships! You know you want to, just do it!

Thanks Steve, I will pass on your message. We are all hopeful that Daulton will continue on in his quest for All-county, All-state, and of course to find his way to DCI and beyond. Daulton scored a 22 out of a possible 28 and the judges made positive comments on his tone, control, and projection on this piece. One of the judges questioned the piece as a level 5, as he thought it was of considerable difficulty and perhaps should have been level 6. This was a solid performance and we are all proud of him.

A great big THANK YOU!, goes out to our own Frank Ostrander for helping us to find a podium for use this 2008 competitive season. Frankie has been a member of Excelsior for 3 years and we are happy to announce Franks new position as a member at-large on the admin staff. Frank has been an invaluable resource for the corps in capacity as a quartermaster, transportation manager, and facilities manager and continues to give support to the corps at every chance he gets! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you...Frankie!

Stillwater high School in Stillwater, NY (just north of the capital region), has been a long time partner to Excelsior and continues to support the corps in its new DCA Class-A competitive venture. In addition to being an often used rehearsal site, the Stillwater high school was also the site of the Excelsior Productions theater performances. Stillwater Music Director, James Iacetta, who has drum corps ties himself as an alumnus of the Volunteers drum and bugle corps from Troy, NY has offered to Excelsior the use of the schools concert percussion chimes. The 1 and 1/2 octave, vertical standing chimes will be an integral piece of instrumentation in this years production, Robin Hood-a field production. Thank you Jimmy and we look forward to working closely with you in the months ahead. Excited to add your name to our ever growing list of family members!

Well not to compete...but rather we will be there in support of one of our own members. The 2008 NYSSMA festival will be held this weekend Guilderland High School, in Guilderland, NY and entered in the trumpet solo evaluation category will be Excelsiors own Daulton Mysliwiec. Daulton has been a member of Excelsior for 2 years. Now in the 8th grade, Daulton will be playing a grade 5 solo. Daulton is one of several members in the corps from the Mechanicville School District. Daulton currently sits first chair in his middle school concert band. Daultons band and music teacher, Mr. Michael Jeffery has said that Daulton has shown considerable improvement and growth since his involvement with the drum corps. We are all very proud of him.

Excelsior was proud to again march in the Kingston, NY St. Patricks day parade. This was the 4th year for Excelsior in this parade and we wore our green with pride for our friends at the Ulster County Ancient Order of the Hibernians. Thanks to John Kelly and Larry Dunne for another great parade this year! We are looking forward to next year! Ya know what Robbie..you are right, when you stood in the sun, with no wind...it wasn't too bad, we were almost able to forget that it was March in New York But, unfortunately, those times of sun shining and no wind were few and far between. When we formed up and started down the parade route, the wind seemed to be aiming for the bells of our horns! Yeah, it was a cold one, but at least it wasn't raining! Irish eyes must have been smiling down on us all. A special thank you goes out to Marilyn and Megan for their first parade! Great job to both of you and although both of you have been around for quite some time now, now that you have both braved a 2 1/2 mile parade, it is fitting to say..."welcome aboard". Kudos to the drumline. After playing straight for 11 miles in New Orleans, this parade must have seemed like a Tuesday night rehearsal. But, the drumline played the enitre parade and were the life of the parade. The crowd was hopping and even the groups behind us were appreciative of the entertainment our drumline provided to keep their minds off of the cold! Reminder: The 1st annual "Rat-A-Tat Crash Drumline Bash" is on 3/21. Drumline party. Bring your friends and bring your sticks, because we just might want to jam! DVDs, music, food and fun. Next full corps rehearsal is March 16th, Stillwater, NY High school and the next full corps camp is March 28,29,30. This years show of Robin Hood is shaping up to be quite amazing and there are select spots still open! If you are a soprano, mellophone or color guard member, we could use your talents! Come check us out. Donel - Drum Major and Director 518-708-1108

Thanks Erick, (Steamboat!) I will take lots of pics and report back how it goes. This is HUGE for us and we are so excited to be making this roadtrip. Our members who are unfortunately unable to attend due to school or work committments are soooo jealous, but we have promised to bring them back some mardi gras beads and a crawfish or two!!!! Remember, there are a select few spots left on the bus, and we are looking to fill out our honor guard for the parades, so anyone interested please give me a shout. The basic info is listed above in this thread. If you need any other info, just email. The EXCELSIOR X-press is headin south! Thank you, Donel EXCELSIOR DIRECTOR AND DRUM MAJOR EXCELSIORDIRECTOR@VERIZON.NET

Originally posted in DCI section: Well the creole's on the table ! In response to the numerous emails .... YES- EXCELSIOR is going to Mardi Gras - EXCELSIOR will be heading south on January 23rd - to meet up with the Krewes of EXCALIBUR, CHIEF CHOCTAW & KING ARTHUR. A great big thank you goes out to Shannon, Phil & Robert and the Grand Marshall's of the parades- as they have been fantastic in orchestrating a great tour for us! Starting out on The EAST bank of Matearie for the Friday night parade step off 7 PM with the Krewe of EXCALIBUR Followed by the Sat. morning parade on the west bank with Krewe of CHOCTAW Culminating in UPTOWN New Orleans - with the Krewe of King Arthur. The Marshall's have been welcoming and more then hospitable in making sure that EXCELSIOR experiences all the tastes of Mardi Gras - EXCELSIOR will be taking one 55 passenger Coach to New Orleans - As not all of our Corps will be able to attend due to School and the sort we are looking to fill the open seats with Honor Guard people - Any one interested in joining us can contact me - details are as follows : We will be staying in a hotel and for 2 nights the cost in a quad will be $50 The hotel provides breakfast - BUT you will be responsible for your own food - There are about 9 or 10 seats left - so please contact me asap if you would like to attend The timing goes - departure 12 am- midnight of the 23rd - 22 hours on the bus we arrive midnight ish- of the 24th - and the first parade is 7pm Friday night - line up is 5pm Sat. parade is a 1030am line up Sun parade is a 12 pm lineup with the last parade stepping off at 1:15 pm and the duration we will likely be on the road for home around 6pm Sunday night - that puts us in Latham at 6-7pm ish Monday the 27th - Also - ALL honor guard will wear White shirts / Black pants / black comfortable shoes and socks - There will be 1 rehearsal for this unit on SUNDAY - Jan 20th from 12-5 pm at Shaker High School with the part of the Corps that is attending the parades - This is a mandatory rehearsal - if you can not attend you can not go - X-celsior is X-cited to be going to Mardi Gras - come on along for fun !!!! Donel - excelsiordirector@verizon.net This post has been edited by THEEXCELSIORDIRECTOR: Yesterday, 10:44 AM -------------------- DONEL R. MYSLIWIEC Director/ Drum Major EXCELSIOR ~ Drum & Bugle Corps EXCELSIORDIRECTOR@VERIZON.NET

No Keith, it seems the Riot has moved to Florida!!! Ha! Good Luck to you and the Sun Devils this year...We WILL see you in Rochester!