Fran Haring

What Tom said.... every word of it. Fran

Geez, Mike.... you're old!!!!! :P Fran

If members of mini-corps want to use music stands, I have no problem with that whatsoever. Fran

OK..... don't mean to come off as a pot-stirrer here..... but IMO, that petition is so negatively worded that I'm afraid it might do the "Get Moe In" cause more harm than good. "We, the undersigned, protest your decision to continuously ignore Moe Knox in the annual selection process to the World Drum Corps Hall of Fame.. The WDCHOF's alleged reasoning that Mr. Knox has made a living off of the drum & bugle corps activity is foolish and an insult to the man who has traveled around these United States to document corps and events." Yikes. Didn't Jim Cossetti.... who is involved with the Hall..... come on here recently and say that Moe's acceptance of money for his work has NOT been a factor in denying him a spot in the Hall so far? Jim's an honest guy. I'll take his word on this. And "continously ignore"......????? Do we know this for sure, or was Moe's nomination rejected, perhaps, a couple of times.... perhaps it was not before the committee every year? "You should reverse backward thinking to reward Moe Knox and others in his field with proper recognition." "Backward thinking" is an opinion.... no more and no less. Perhaps, as far as some Hall selection-committee members are concerned, their opinion will be to ignore petitions that come across more as veiled threats. Please don't get me wrong here..... I want to see Moe Knox in the Hall of Fame as much as anyone else does. He's a class act and a legend, pure and simple. But guys.... try to work WITH the Hall of Fame people on this, rather than trying to insult the same folks whose votes you'll need to get Moe into the Hall. Just a suggestion. Fran

I think the Drumfest was still going in the spring of 1981, because it was at the Bayonne I&E show that spring that the Ski Mask Cadets made their one, and so far only, appearance. Unless the show had a different name and format that year, I dunno. Perhaps someday, the Ski Mask Cadets will return to the mini-corps arena. A lot depends on the availability of the corps' founder and director, Joe Ponduki. To make a long story short, Mr. Ponduki is......uhhhhhh.....not yet able to travel to certain states in the USA..... or in any other country, for that matter. Seems that years ago, he was caught up in an incident that.... again to make a long story short.....involved firearms, kegs of beer, several large military vehicles and a variety of circus animals. b**bs Fran

I think it's a testament to how powerful and appealing that '95 Scouts show was....that night at Giants Stadium, at a Cadets' home show, and with the Cadets performing their "Americana" show which was, IMO, loaded with audience appeal, it was the Scouts who pinned the applause meter that night, not the Cadets. Fran

Dave Scott...... I mistakenly deleted your PM and e-mail address so I figured I'd just post here and hope you read this..... THANK YOU for sending me the recordings of the Chicago Royal Airs, 1964-1968. Absolutely great stuff!!!!!!! Fran

C'mon, now..... I certainly think the Hall of Fame selection committee does take its work seriously. There are many very good drum corps folks involved with the HOF. But I do agree there are some people who could be in the Hall who aren't, as of right now. Moe Knox, Wes Hobby and H. Worth Ake are three that, IMO, should be in the Hall... hopefully someday soon. All three of those gentlemen are drum corps icons.... or at least they are to me. I'm sure we all have our lists of who should be in. The best bet is to follow the nominating process and get those names before the selection committee. Fran

Fran

I wish I could have seen the Scouts at Finals that year. What a powerhouse corps that year. A few of my favorite shows happened in 1995.... Scouts, Cadets and Bluecoats. Fran

Man.... they had a killer lower brass section that year. A wall of sound!!!!! Fran

That would be awesome! A fitting tribute to a drum corps legend. Fran

The World Drum Corps Hall of Fame does that voting. The list: 1940'S Senior Corps - The Princemen, Malden, MA Junior Corps - Holy Name Cadets, Garfield, NJ 1950'S Senior Corps - Reilly Raiders, Philadelphia, PA Junior Corps - St. Vincent Cadets, Bayonne, NJ 1960's Senior Corps - Caballeros, Hawthorne, NJ Junior Corps - Cavaliers, Chicago, IL 1970'S Senior Corps - Caballeros, Hawthorne, NJ Junior Corps - Vanguard, Santa Clara, CA 1980'S Senior Corps - Sunrisers, Long Island, NY/Edison, NJ Junior Corps - Blue Devils, Concord, CA 1990'S Senior Corps - Empire Statesmen, Rochester, NY Junior Corps - Cadets of Bergen County, Bergen County, NJ Fran

No offense to you Frank, or the Brigadiers...... But for the 1990's I gotta go with the Empire Statesmen. Four DCA titles from 1990-1999, and never finishing lower than third place at Finals during that period. A dominating run. Fran

Tom, the more I think about it.... you're right. 10 Open Class finalists, no matter where they come from.... good enough. I don't ever want to go back to the "three or four extra corps" extravaganzas of some years. Perhaps the top 10 North American corps would be the voting members, though.... the nine who made Finals and the one who didn't, if the Inspires were in. And I gotta figure, I'd be very surprised if the Inspires DIDN'T make Finals, with the high-quality corps they have. Their "Conquistador" show from '07 is terrific. When the Inspires first made the trip to DCA's in 2002 and made Finals, DCA's became a true World Championship. A good thing. Fran

1995 Madison Scouts, at Giants Stadium in NJ. Absolutely overwhelming power and energy that night. My DCI runnerup for this category: 1982 Blue Devils at the Bayonne, NJ, show. Flawless. Fran

I clap for every corps at the end of their show. I might not give a corps a standing "O" if a particular show didn't really grab me......... but I applaud each corps. To me, it's a "common courtesy" thing. Fran

I have no idea who actually hit the highest notes at DCA Finals (didn't see prelims or I&E)..... But THE "Wow" moment of Finals for me was those seven guys from the Empire Statesmen absolutely LIGHTING IT UP on sopranos in the corps' finale. Holy mackerel!!!!!!!!!! Back in the day with the Sunrisers, we would refer to players like that as "seven iron Mothers." Fran

Absolutely. Fran

An idea...... perhaps, when/if the Inspires come back to DCA's, and provided they make the Top 10, then 11 corps could be taken into Finals that year, with the top 10 North American corps being the voting members for the following season. The Inspires really don't need to have a vote, since they're not involved in the day-to-day stuff regarding DCA. And.... if for some reason the Inspires didn't make Top 10 in Prelims..... then it would be a no-brainer to invite them to perform an exhibition at Finals, IMO. Bottom line: I would LOVE to see the Inspires make the trip to DCA's again, hopefully sometime soon. I agree with Tom... they were a most welcome addition to the championship weekend. If I had an extra 200 grand burning a hole in my pocket, I would give 'em the money to help finance their trip. Fran

Never heard of either one of those guys. B) Fran

I've been a Blue Stars fan for a long time (early 1970's)..... and I think that the Blue Stars uniform prior to 2007 was one of those classic, timeless uniforms (like The Cadets and Hawthorne Caballeros) that didn't need much, if any, updating. So.... IMO the '07 look wasn't horrible by any means, but I do prefer the classic Blue Stars uniform. Fran

So...you're saying that my "High School Musical: The Dark Side" idea wouldn't work for the Renegades in '08? B) Fran

When the Ski Mask Cadets were gearing up for our first (and so far, only) performance, in 1981.... we had strict criteria for the person who wanted to be our drum major: 1) Wear a funny hat (and a ski mask, of course). 2) Bring beer. Fran

That was a great photo!!!! Fran