susantaylor40

His nickname with Royalaires was War Beast, but he was a gentle giant. I'll miss his hugs and sense of humor. What a loss.

Money. Travel costs increased while membership dwindled. Add to that exchange rates, the limitation of bringing food purchased in Canada to be comsumed while on tour, upgrading drums, horns, guard equiptment, uniforms... all priced in American dollars while the Canadian dollar sunk lower in value in comparison.

Musical arts has been dying a slow, painful death up here. There is the offering of the typical musical menu.... stage band, orchestral, vocal.... but it does not start until the high school level if it is offered at all. Plus to be in these bands, having a musical background or training helps get you a seat. In other words, if your child shows any aptitiude towards any instrument, private lessons are in order, and not every family can afford the cost. High school marching bands do not exist here. Yes, bands like Burlington Teen Tour Band operates, but outside the educational spectrum. In short, drum corps offered what the public school system didn't.... a musical education, complete with marching skills and an area of competition. Yes, drum corps thrived in the 70s and 80s up here... even little towns had a drum corps of some sort. The reason, IMO, that Dutch survived when the activity slowly diminished is primarily because of the Northstar Youth Orgainzation. NYO organized the fundraising, the BOD, etc, so that the directors of the corps could consentrate on running the corps, the winter colour guard, and the feeder unit. Some other would know far more than I do, but I do know this.... talented kids went south of the border to march when they outgrew what was being offered up here. Add: When I marched, music teachers hated drum corps with a passion. If you marched drum corps. it was a death sentance to any chance of playing in any band, no matter how good you were in general.

Wow... I guess tongue in cheek is a dying art form. The original post gave me a chuckle..... cause I know the dinos of my marching years complained of the innovations that were intoduced. Boo, you crack me up. Cheddar to you. Well aged cheddar.

Is rudeness really necessary? I personally have not been to a DCI show since 1990. Watched the live streaming with a dear friend in 2008. Do I miss the activity? Yes, and no. Options up here are slim to none, except for a couple of A... er... Open Class corps and Alumni Associations. What I do miss at times is the camaraderie that we shared during the long tour schedule.

2 tymps terms.... Cranks... as in " Dude, having a skateboard wheel on my crank lets me turn up a whole lot faster" Legs off.... as in " Take those legs off... we don't put them down during the show"

I miss the days of the PBS broadcast of DCIs. Man, I would send them money to get one of their tshirts to see the live broadcast one more time.

see pm dave

Knowing Mike, you never know......

amen

John Robbins loved to tell this story... It was a senior show in some little town in the States. KW Flying Dutchmen and the Guelph Royalaires were part of the show, and infamous rivals. The local fire hall had a big brass bell hanging in front of it. man, that town loved that bell. Somehow, after the festivities of said show, the bell disappeared. The sponsors were livid... if that bell was not returned there would be no more contests held there. All the participating corps were notified of such. John, knowing is Dutchmen members very well, called the corps together and made it clear that IF someone has the bell, that they were to return it to him ASAP. Low and behold, the bell magically appeared overnight on John's front step. John carefully wrapped it up, drove to Guelph, and mailed it back to the sponsors. No name, no return address, just a postal mark.

thanks mr b.

bump!! It looks like this is going to be a great turnout. Bring your horns, your drumsticks, your memories, and help put Ontario back onto the drum corps map.