Roger Ellis

I was going to post a photo here but it seems there is not an obvious way to do so :((

Ah, the memories. I marched one show At Roosevelt - my first DCA Championship in 1972. Half the crowd was for Sky - half the crowd was for Cabs - no one much in the crowd was for anyone else. Arguably one of the best DCA competitions ever. Also one of the best ever DCA finishes for my Hamburg Kingsmen. We got on the buses after retreat, drank all our beer by about 4am, then stopped at an all night diner somewhere in the middle of the Southern Tier of NY for breakfast. Two bus loads of intoxicated senior drum corps folks (mostly guys) and two waitresses. They were very happy to see us leave:))

Back in the day when I lived in North Tonawanda, I used to drive right by Getzville on my way to Hamburg for Kingsmen practice:))

This is indeed good news. Having marched a full season with each of the folks involved, I know what fine people they are. It is my hope that they can successfully bring the Big Red Band back to the field.

Great news - this is one that I will definiteley be looking at

I can hear his words echoing in the stadium. "Let's give them a nice hand..." "Let's give them a warm Rochester welcome.....".

Hi Jay. It would be useful to know where you will be rehearsing. If it is southwest Florida I'm interested:))

I finished college in the summer of 1971 and settled in Tonawanda NY (just north of Buffalo). Had my choice of 45 minutes to Hamburg or 45 minutes to Rochester to march the next summer (1972). I choose Hamburg because I had friends there and always liked the corps from the time I was in high school - and they were coming off of some great years at the end of the 60's start of the 70's. I marched 1972 to 1976 with Hamburg - we probably competed against Crusaders 35 times in those five years and never came close to beating them. No regrets whatsoever about my choice but the Crusaders had some great corps then, especially 1972. They weren't called Fabulous back in those days for nothing:))

And people are always asking me how I can stand the summers in Florida:)) Best wishes for next weekend!

1965 Grey Knight Crusaders - a show I never saw but have always wished that I had. 1969 Yankee Rebels - a show for the ages. Saw them at DCA that year. 1972 Skyliners - competed against them several times and they scared the *&*^ out of me:)) What a sound.

I'll sign up as a charter member!

My bank account could stand to be bigger:))

Hi Donny. Your list and mine have many names in common - that speaks volumes for these gentlemen, especially coming from you (not me):))

I will echo Mike's sentiments. Bill Sr. was show coordinator/drill instructor when I was with the Hamburg Kingsmen. He had a unique way of inspiring people to work harder and do more and he was able to bring out the very best in our corps the one year that he worked with us (1973). Vince was truly unique. He had the same qualities as Bill Sr. but to an even greater degree. People simply wanted to follow his lead and he took them places that they never dreamed they could go. He was the type of guy you just could not say no to when he asked you to do something. I first met him on a Drum Corps Hall of Fame cruise and later worked with him when I was Business Manager of the Royal Lancers drum corps. I will add some additional names: - Ed Cozzolino. Coz instructed brass for the Interstate Ambassadors and the Hamburg Kingsmen when I marched with those corps as a young man. He helped me grow as a player and he was sure fun to hang out with. He also tried to keep me from being so serious:)) Steve Cooley - a true gentleman in every sense of the word - I have known him and played under his instruction from 1974 (Hamburg Kingsmen) until 2012 (Hamburg Kingsmen Reunion Corps). Tom "Bucky" Swan. I played with the NY Skyliners in 2000. John Areitano was our arranger - Ken Mac Lean was in charge of cleaning the line - and Bucky was in charge of getting us to play like Skyliners. At the end of the season, the night before DCA, Bucky came over to me, shook my hand and congratulated me on my work ethic for the season. He told me that I had worked my a$% off and was a true Skyliner. That meant a LOT to me, Tom. Finally, Jeff Gibbens. I marched Mellophone in the 2002 Erie Thunderbirds Alumni DCA Champion Mini-Corp. Jeff made me believe that I was a champion and that we WOULD win. Combined with what I learned about performing from being a Skyliner in 2000, I rode Jeff's broad shoulders to a championship in 2002. Thanks to Jeff and all the other members of that corps - it was a magic moment.

Goose bumps:)) Thanks for the good wishes.

I read an article in the New York Times about the life and work of Dave just before I saw this post this morning. He continued to write and perform up until very recently - an inspiration for us all. According to the article in the Times, his mother would not allow him to listen to the radio at home - if he wanted to hear music he had to play it!

LOL - I remember hearing references to Sun back in the 1970's as being the "Milk and cookies" corps of DCA. You are right Jim - the milk and cookies fueled a champion.

Their website indicates "all ages" - www.saintsbrigade.org

Hi Keith. I wasn't there either, but as devil's advocate - let's say for the sake of argument that there was a tear. The job of the judges is to get the corps in the right order from top to bottom. The score is entirely relative. If the second best corps so far scored a 98.5 and another corps comes along that was better (with a tear included), then the corps with a tear deserves a score better than 98.5.

I believe that the fundamental issues are geography and the scale of the DCA Championship - not weather or the age of the participants. Back in the day when DCA was started, the corps were (virtually) all concentrated in the Northeast and prelims and finals were both held on the same day - Sunday of Labor Day weekend. It was no problem for corps to travel on Friday night or Saturday, perform Sunday, and get home in time to go to work or school on Tuesday. Mini-corps did not exist. There was no Alumni Spectacular. The championship was a one-day event. As an example, in 1972 I marched with the Hamburg Kingsmen. We left Hamburg early on Saturday morning on two buses traveling to Jersey City NJ for DCA. After arriving we practiced that evening until 9 PM and then hit the sack at the Holiday Inn. Sunday was prelims and finals. We got on the buses after finals and were back in Buffalo for breakfast on Monday morning. The weekend was a little more than 48 hours door-to-door and one night in a hotel. Today, much is different. This year there are events scheduled beginning on Thursday evening. There is an I&E/Mini corps show on Friday, prelims on Saturday, and an Alumni show and Championships on Sunday. There are corps traveling from California and Florida and everywhere in between to attend the DCA Championship. The problems that Tampa Bay Thunder faced this year are a function of their geographic location and the demands of the Championship weekend schedule as it now exists. In my opinion, it is not realistic to think that we now have a weekend-only activity if it involves busing people from Minnesota and Florida to a place like Annapolis for a multi-day event. Edit: An issue that I did not mention in my original post is the fact that schools today start much sooner than they used to, i.e. around mid-August here in Florida as an example. Back in the day when DCA got its start, the school year typically did not start until after Labor Day.

Forget Issac - worry about Joyce. She has formed in the Atlantic and is on a beeline for Annapolis right now, although she is forecast to hook north and east before making landfall. Us folks here in Florida will take the hit from Issac on behalf of all DCA fans:)) The real problem is that DCA schedules the championship right in the heart of hurricane season each year. Of course the Republicans made the same mistake this year, putting their convention in Tampa at just the right time for Issac to attend.

I recently marched in a parade with the Hamburg Kingsmen Alumni Corps, formed specifically for a one-time parade on June 16th to commemorate the 200th birthday of the Town of Hamburg NY. One of our drum majors from the 1950's, Ike Chatley, marched every step of the parade at age 90. Check the Hamburg Kingsmen group on Facebook for many photos, videos and comments about the reunion, including some of Ike.

I wish I would have been able to produce a review of this quality when I was writing for Drum Corps World - fantastic job!

Plane ticket is purchased - music is memorized - shoes are shined - I'm gonna be there on June 16th.

1973 - Eli's Coming off the line, Chester for color pre, The Look of Love concert, Proud Mary, and Theme From Shaft to finish the show. Who am I talking to??