Corps Lover

My thoughts & prayers are with the friends and family

There is an alumni show every October in London, Ontario... This features almost all of the alumni corps in Canada, and I'm sure some from the US... Not sure if it beats DCA Alumni Spectacular, or this Plymouth show... But it's one of the best line ups every year!

The thought of the Rochester Crusaders, being finished - not returning, ever - is very sad, considering all that history!! I hope the Brigs will make a return to competition in the next couple years.. DCA doesn't seem the same without them.

Any outlook on possible growth into Canada? Many alumni corps I'm sure would put a small group in each event

It's performances like this one that you'll remember... Also a great chance to promote the corps and build :)

It's performances like this one that you'll remember... Also a great chance to promote the corps and build :)

Hi all.. You'll be pleased to know, updates are now underway to the new website... ALUMNI and HISTORICAL information is being worked on to provide the most information possible to all of you Drum Corps Fans... Of course the new sections will continue to be aimed at fans of Canadian drum corps... Thanks to everyone who submitted feedback, it's been greatly appreciated and I've now been able to finalize the direction this site is headed in. Maybe that direction should be North

That's great news... It's always great to hear when a town supports it's organizations!

Several all age corps have hosted clincs at various events and they have been a huge success.. If not just for the corps, but for the schools/groups/people they are put on for. It would be great to see this put on by various corps during Finals weekend

Tom, I'll be adding a section about Alumni corps, Former corps that no longer exist, and of course what has happened to them all.. This will be put under the Historical tab which will hopefully be added within a couple weeks. It's actually going to be fun looking up all these old corps from across the country, both Jr & Sr.. I'll try to find some info from the 50's/60's eras, luckily I do have some volunteers who have offered to help provide historical facts & pictures from the earlier days of drum corps. It's sad really, that there is nothing out of Montreal anymore... Les Metropolitains in '94 finished 4th at Finals with a very nice size corps... 1 year later, gone.. never to return.. Thankfully we still have the Grenadiers, and I would love to see them grow and move back into open class.. As a former member and lifetime fan, the corps will forever be in my heart! (hence why they get the primary focus on the competitive aspect of the site)

I would love if dci shows were like the 80's and 90's... Maybe some 70s shows too :P

Thanks John... Looking forward to building the site further and starting to put in history of canadian corps... Going to have to get Don to submit a big write up on the Grenadiers' history!

Thought this might be an interesting topic... I know many people weren't such a huge fan of the weekend's events changing... So if you have a different idea... Post it... Maybe, just maybe the DCA Gods will take a peak... (Tom... I know there are reasons for the change!! ) My idea... Friday evening - Championship Parade, all competing corps and alumni corps put on a parade around the neighborhood the stadium is in... Finishing off with a (option 1) FREE stand still concert in the stadium for neighboring residents featuring last year's top 6 Open Class and top 2 Class A corps from last year's championship. (option 2) Mini corps championship, again free of charge Saturday morning - Class 'A' Prelims, followed by Open Class Prelims - Show would start around 9am Saturday evening - I&E, and celebration/block party Sunday (early) afternoon - Alumni Classic (judged by fans) Sunday evening - Class A Finals followed by Open Class Finals.. Featuring exhibitions by Winning mini corps and winning alumni corps before retreat I've always thought (as a competitor) that a parade during championship weekend would be fun. Also to DCA officials: if finals could come to Ottawa, ON and that 'will be revamped' Frank Claire Stadium... I'd greatly greatly greatly appreciate it

Not so good with photoshop... So, it's an easy one to do... And I like the look... Treble clef might be better suited for a drum corps site... If you'd like to volunteer (hint hint) to make a treble clef.... I could change it

Already a work in progress... Just wanted to get the site released and see what the interest base will be... I'm planning to include alumni corps, Just need to work on things.. Hoping I don't have to do a site overhaul already and change the design.

A) I'll change the text right away... Oversight on my part... Late night site editing (when the kids are all finally in bed ) B) I will be adding a tab for International or Other... Lots going on in the international seen every year that seems to be overlooked by many of us here in Canada & USA C) I'll be adding a new Canadian corps soon... Vision of the Ottawa, ON Region... Let's hope this corps can grow and get on the field!!! I'm actually coordinator for the percussion section.. Small staff already on board... Hmmmm.... D) I will actually be implementing a photo area into the site... Not sure how I'm going to get this into the current design... Might have to do external photo albums but I'd be happy to take any photos you may have for international, historical, and current corps... You'll of course have credit for photos on the site. Good luck with the site you're wanting to build... I've wanted to do a drum corps site, with a feature on Canadian corps for quite a few years.. Finally just decided to do it.. You should try the same... Holding off will keep it just a dream! (If you have time of course)

If Sky could bring back the guard member at the end of the show, in the same uniform, doing the same movement.... Definetly with a repeat of 95, although i'd like to see kingston 97... same hornline, bigger/better drum line along with a good guard... could be top 5 calibur!!!!!

IF you think that's bad... Try discussing drum corps in Canada... That's a #### joke... "Is that a military thing?" "Marching band? Not really sure what that is either" and so on... At least DCI is more well known than DCA though.. Thanks, in large part, to PBS and their former annual airings of finals

Anything electronic or electronic related!!! The way it's going, I am pretty sure drum corps will have to renamed... "The George Hopkins Activity" ERG

Best wishes for a full recovery!

My plan for the immediate future is to start featuring former corps... Doing a little write up, and maybe a few pics... Just to keep the history of what drum corps was in Canada in people's minds... Perhaps it may spark the interest in a few people to try to get something going. During the off-season and competition season I am hoping to be able to provide progress reports on the 3 corps that are actively competing... Especially the Grenadiers as they are the most well known of the 3. I'm going to keep things going for a while and see what the interest is like and make a decision then on whether or not it's worth maintaining the site. I'm hoping that if things work out and build as planned, that in the coming seasons I will be able to provide a 'take from the box' at major shows and of course championships. Not sure if DCA will allow this, I'm pretty sure DCI will refuse... We'll see how things work out... Keep checking back as the site builds further :)

An interesting show idea would be songs from World of Warcraft... A friend of mine sent me some of the songs... Instantly though Alliance! (Not sure where the bell and grim reaper would fit though!) I know it's been done many times... But I'd still like to see another Phantom show done!! It would be great to hear another Statesmen show with a big band theme such as the ones in 95/96... My fav's! No imagination here, but if Cabs could do a complete repeat of 95's show, I'd be happy :P Oh and just for the hell of it... A show of national anthems... O Canada followed by the British anthem and of course closed by the star spangled banner... with massive flags going over the condensed block at the end of the show!

Best wishes!!

Great write up Jeff! Westshore is missed on the field!

I'd have to go with Jim Ruso, Dave Bruni, Vic Kulinsky, and of course Fran Harring!