Fran Haring

Absolutely.... that food was great!!!!!! Fran

That is really cool. Great exposure for the Cabs and drum corps in general! Fran

LOL.... how true!!!! Those tiny parking spaces...... you can almost hear the car paint being scraped off by other vehicles at those places! Fran

I hear ya, Frank! Even the local-circuit corps were affected by the point swings. That season.... 1971.... my junior corps, the Manville Crusaders, lost to the Chessmen from PA by some huge margin... 10 points, something like that.... in an Eastern States show, and then beat the Chessmen not too long after that, by a much smaller margin at the US Open prelims. I'm not saying we were consistently better than the Chessmen..... we weren't that season..... but I don't think we were 10 points worse than them, either. Fran

Yeah.... how bass-ackwards was that? We were forced to wait, had nothing to do with the incident, and WE were the ones threatened with a penalty. But am I bitter? No. Whatever..... as it turned out, it didn't end up mattering one way or the other for us. We were either coming in 5th or 6th that night, regardless of what happened. The best news of the entire night...... it was our last show wearing those wacky-### rainbow capes. Yikes, those things were weird. Fran

Wow. Thoughts and prayers to you and your sister, John. Fran

Nor, apparently, about the correct spelling for "apostrophe." I'll give you extra credit for getting "Hopkins" and "Schoenberg" right, though. Fran

The last time I saw DCI Championships in person.... in 2000..... it was cool to see some of the Div. 2/3 corps in the Div. 1 quarterfinals.... and then see the Vanguard Cadets take another step and make into semifinals. Heh...... the first time I ever saw the Vanguard Cadets was that week.... at the Div. 2/3 prelims. Then I saw them again at 2/3 finals, again at quarters, and then once again at semis. So I went from never having seen that corps to being somewhat of an expert on their show in four days....LOL Fran

Trust me.... Ray isn't a spammer, and I for one did find his comments enlightening. Why not compare, say, Adolph Hitler and Jesus Christ? Both changed the world. But to me at least, comparing them would be as ridiculous and pointless as this comparison between Schoenberg and Hopkins. Okay. Enough from the great unwashed.... you know, plain old folks, like me. I'll stop spamming now. BTW.... the word is "don't"..... not "dont." Fran

That USAF corps is one of the all-time legends of drum corps...... unbelievable amount of talent in those ranks over the years! Fran

Perhaps not.... but "Dixie Stinger" is a much better title than "Kinda Sorta Dixie Stinger"..... This looks like another terrific show in Baltimore..... with THE MARINES in the house once again, plus the great alumni/exhibition corps and the American Originals, Mason Dixon Percussion Line and Music Express. Something for everyone, I would think! Hope to see you all on April 5!!!!!!! Fran

Yes, I do understand! Fran

I read on the TripAdvisor website that the Eden Roc Motel in Wildwood is on the site's list of "worst places to stay"....based on readers' comments/input. The drum corps tie-in here: During my days with Sunrisers, we would gather in front of the Eden Roc to watch the AL States parade the weekend after Labor Day. Well, OK.... "gather" might not exactly be the right description. More like "stumble around in front of the place while indulging in numerous adult beverages".... In 1979, I stayed at the Eden Roc along with my junior corps buddy Jim Oakley and Sunriser pal Ray Yenshaw.... big mistake for all of us. We had been warned in advance that the hotel owner was.....uhhhhh... a bit on the eccentric side, and would most likely look for any excuse to give us a hard time, perhaps even tell us to leave. Sure enough...... to make a long story short, we ended up getting thrown out of the joint on the Saturday afternoon of that AL weekend!!!! Anyhow.... here's a sample of what the the TripAdvisor readers have to say about the Eden Roc in its current state: "If you have a choice between the Bates Motel and the Eden Roc, choose the Bates. At least Norman was pleasant and gave you a nice sandwich with a glass of milk before you realized what a terrible mistake you've made." I am NOT making this up!!!!!!!! LOL Fran

We'll be there! Robbie, you guys should post the lineup here on DCP when you have a chance... I saw it on the Rebs' website last night and it looks like another great show!!! Fran

I wonder if that blue ink from the mimeograph still smells as good now as it did back in the day.....LOL Fran

Aside from titles won, I wonder if the Hall of Fame "corps of the decade" designation also looks at average placement at DCA or DCI Finals during a given decade. I ran the numbers once for the 1980's, and Sunrisers did indeed have the highest average placement at championships from 1980 through 1989 on the DCA side, despite a couple of sixth-place finishes (1980 and 1986). Four titles that decade, too...I'm sure that didn't hurt. Fran

Hi all..... Several folks have been asking about Barbara, so I figured I'd post an update on her situation. She has started outpatient rehabilitation at Good Samaritan Hospital in Baltimore..... the same place where she did some of her inpatient rehab. She's in very good hands there... the therapists are really top-notch. She is slowly but surely regaining more strength/mobility in her left leg.....so we remain optimistic that she eventually will regain full use of that leg. Her left arm is not moving (yet), and she does need more work on her speech.... but she is getting the help she needs and continues to work hard. She already has surprised me a few times with her progress.... so I gotta figure that anything's possible. Last week, Barbara went to see her allergist, who's been treating her for many years..... the allergist is himself a stroke survivor. He, too, lost use of his left side, but has since recovered everything..... the only issue he has is that he walks slowly with the use of a cane. Since his stroke, he's traveled, written books, and has a very successful medical practice. So he gave us some good advice and provided a great perspective on this whole situation for both of us. We now have a home aide who spends several hours a day here, to give me a bit of a break...because, quite honestly, I'm been pretty worn out by all this. But since the aide started with us, it's been nice to go out and run errands or whatever and not have to worry about rushing right back home. Hopefully at some point in the not-too-distant future, I can try to get some semblance of a career back off the ground!!!! We do plan to be at the Yankee Rebels' indoor show here in Baltimore April 5, and at the Harrisburg show April 12... then the Buccaneers' indoor show May 10. So hopefully, we can catch up with some of our drum corps friends at those shows! Thank you all again for your thoughts, prayers and support. Very much appreciated. During Barbara's ordeal we have found that the drum corps community truly is one big family... dysfunctional at times, for sure!!!.... but family, nonetheless. Fran

Thanks, Tom. I'm on it!!!!!! Fran

Chris, that is a great phrase!!!! Fran

I have no idea how I missed this thread, but I did.... Are there any of these DVD's still available? Our check will be in the mail if they are.... this should be a great DVD!!! Fran

What Eric said. Al deserves this honor, no question. Fran

Good points. It's best they find someone who has experience with the spoken word, not the written word.... someone like a screenwriter, speechwriter, radio/TV copywriter. Writing for the ear is a different animal than writing for the eye. Fran

The Bucs would be a strong contender for "best of the 60's" from 1965 through 1969 (the DCA years of that decade), but so would the Hurricanes, since the Hurcs also won two DCA titles during that period. Heh.... after first posting this, I read the entire thread and realized that Andy and John made basically the same point about the Hurcs. Never mind. Move along....nothing to see here...... Fran

Congratulations to the Empire Statesmen on their 25th Anniversary! I would say "hats off" to 'em.... but their hats are already off. Fran

This might be some sort of record. This thread is now eight pages long, and Shadow 7 has yet to complain about the weather at DCA weekend in Rochester in 2006. Fran