Fran Haring

Exactly, Jim. When I joined Sunrisers for the 1977 season I was 18... and we had a whole bunch of members within 2-3 years of my age, up and down. "Kids and girls" is what a couple of our rivals called us. LOL. We kids and girls did OK!!!

Heck... from personal experience, even DCA announcers have shelf lives!!! 😂

The Labor Day weekend thing has definitely become more of an issue in recent years. The plus side remains as it's always been... the extra day for travel (and to spread out the championship events) on the holiday weekend. The downside is as you and others have said... the school schedules affecting the corps' membership. I have no answers... I'm at best marginally involved now, if even that. LOL. But I wish my friends, and the corps, the best.

Like Jeff said earlier... knowing some of the venues involved, DCA's chances of having live shows in 2021 were pretty much slim to none. Thus, the virtual season. IMO, it saved the circuit. Not perfect, by any means... like Jim said. But another summer of no activity would have been the end of DCA. Again, my opinion. And the corps that handled the entire situation better than anyone... the Caballeros... came out on top, and deservedly so.

Meanwhile... we stopped in at Reading Buccaneers rehearsal over the weekend (20 minutes from our house)... and they are in very good shape.

Yep... Sunrisers and Southern Knights are not competing this summer.

It's well over $6 in this part of PA.

A sad day. Great corps, great people.

Same here. I have a cousin who's dealt with it for decades.

A great man. Privileged to have known him as a friend.

Several interesting ideas here. But none from me. 😂 If I could predict the future, I'd be out buying lottery tickets.

That J&J case lives on as perhaps the textbook example on how corporate PR should deal with a "bad news" situation. Get all the facts out there... take full, unequivocal responsibility... and clearly lay out what the organization will be doing to make things right.

I've worked as both a radio news reporter/editor and in PR. The news reporter (and libertarian) in me agrees with you about not suppressing speech. But the PR person in me would want that FB page tightly controlled. LOL

Thank you, my friend!!! It was my decision to retire from working DCA shows (admittedly, one factor was that I felt the winds of change were swirling behind me, I'll put it that way...LOL)... but it was not my decision to leave before that year's championship. That decision was made for me. Oh well. Back to our regularly scheduled topic. 🙂

Yep. And I hope no one takes my post as self-important... "geez... who cares if you're involved or not? Don't let the door hit you on the way out." Because I know I'm not important. LOL. In the big picture, I'm barely a blip on the radar screen. But just saddened by the current state of the activity.

I don't post here, or follow stuff here, much at all anymore. But from what I've read about these various situations, here and on FB... I'm actually glad I am, at best, minimally involved with drum corps now. I hate to say it. And up until not too long ago, never thought I would.

Yep. Brenda is a student aide in her district... and there is extra training for all the aides. Heck... I have a part-time gig, with a private company, driving special-needs people to and from their workplaces... and our code of conduct rulebook is pages long.

And he also was The World's Loudest Trumpet Player. Self-proclaimed. 😂

Wow... congratulations on your retirement!!!

Tiger Woods has not played in a number of PGA Tour majors, including at least one when he was in the prime of his career. Should we put an asterisk next to the winners of those Tiger-less majors? Under the 2021 rules, agreed upon by the corps of DCA, the Caballeros won the championship. Period.

The Govies' staging is second to none among small corps. There have been times when I would swear they had 80 members performing... when the actual total was closer to 40. Everyone in the right place at the right time... and they use their great color guard to "fill in the blanks" visually.

Just saw this thread. Slow on the uptake. LOL So many... many of them mentioned already. For sheer longevity/stability/success, for me it has to be Jim Costello of the Hawthorne Caballeros. Director of that corps from its inception in 1946 until his passing in 2001. And the Caballeros' director/business manager team of Costello and Bob Murray was together from circa 1963 until Jim's 2001 passing (Bob passed away in 2002). That's a record that I believe is unmatched in the history of drum corps, and probably never will be surpassed.

Ahhh yes... the pre-internet days of the rumor mill. Who knew how a rumor got started, and whether it would take several detours before fizzling out. Reminds me of the "Purple Monkey Dishwasher" scene from "The Simpsons." 😄

That, plus... and I don't know if this was a factor in '75... prelims performance order. In the days before seeding, and with prelims the same day as finals, a corps might go on late in prelims, do a kick-arse job and make finals, and then not have much gas left in the tank with the quick turnaround for the night show. Or... maybe Finleyville was just a really good corps in '75. They were.

So... to sum up this thread: Props... ya can't live with 'em, and ya can't live without 'em.