stoods59

That looks like the Avant Garde in that picture, from Saratoga NY.

Hopefully your performance will be better recognized next year! I was terribly dissapointed with the score you were given. IMHO you should have been a few notches higher. Sitting in the upper level I heard a collective groan when your score was announced. I think there was shock all around.

This is great, thanks for sharing! Any chance you remember where this was shot?

Yeah, well, we came in 11th, only to slip to 12th with a 7 point drop!!!

Yes indeed, it is a great moment to see the Blue Stars back in Finals. I never expected them to be out of Finals for so long. It is a great thing for drum corps all over to see a corps of this caliber perservere and make it all the way back!

Let's face it, not everyone treasures their past. Some people may actually just need the money. I'm with the keepers-I would never part with my Guardsmen jacket, patches or medallion from Finals. Too many great memories there from a long time ago.

Well, the Blue Stars were definitely a powerhouse type corps in the early 70's, they have not made Finals since 1979. Perhaps this is the year they finally make it all the way back.

Tom, or Tommy Meredith.

I still have mine hanging in my closet. I did wear it to a reunion 3 years ago and like someone previously noted, I will never part with it. It still fits after 28 years! I will try to get a picture loaded of it soon.

Hey Geno! Not trying to flog a dead horse here, but I never understood who we only scored an 8 in musical analyis that year in horns. It was a tough book.

Actually, there was a fire at the DCI office in the late '70's that destroyed a lot of unreplacable items, including tapes/recordings from the 1974 finals.

I was in Miami in 1983 working the week for DCI. They would occasionally let me have some time off, which I filled that time with taking pictures from the sidelines. I do not pretend to be a drum expert but there was indeed no faking going on. BTW-it made for a great picture when they were blindfolded!

What a truly unselfish act the Scouts performed this weekend. Great show of teamwork.

How about dividing it up by decades? 1950's 1960's 1970's 1980's 1990's ........you get the idea. That way, if people want to look up by a decade, that might make it easier. Incidentally, I love some of the comments in this section.

Not in 1980 he didn't. Perhaps a different year?

I marched Guardsmen in 1980 (I get the KFC reference!) but we didn't add any snares in the middle of the season. Who are you referring to?

A couple more you can add that competed against the Canastota Saints in 1972: Drumadiers (Later to become the Grey Ghosts) Chittenango Avengers Stanwix Heights Ridge Runners

There are videos of prelims from 1980 out there. Quality is very grainy, but they do exist!

I want to add a couple that I haven't seen on here yet: The Bengal Lancers from Conneticut Fox Valley Raiders from Illinois Magnificent Yankees from upstate New York

Are you affiliated with the corps? Can you tell me if Mark Hudson is marching mellophone for them?

That's the right attitude! Just be entertaining, that's what the fans want. It shouldn't matter how many are there.

Kudos!

We attended this show last year. Kept thinking how nice it will look with the new bleachers! Can't wait to see it. Also, it seemed likea step back in time last year with the line-up they had - Blue Stars, Racine Scouts, Madison Scouts, Troopers and the Kilties. It could have been a show from the early '70's!

I remember this show, it was 1983. There were a few disgruntled fans in the crowd, but there was precedent. In prelims Geneseo scored a 68.85, then dropped to 61.90 in finals. I marched with the Guardsmen in 1980 and this type of thing happened to us on more than one occasion. At Whitewater Midwest prelims we scored a 70.2, then dropped to 63.8 in Finals. At Birmingham prelims we scored a 79.55, then dropped to 72.90 in finals, coming in 12th and getting passed up by Northstar. So, it had happened before and the point drop wasn't nearly as big as you thought. Did it seem fair to us? No, not at the time. But once we saw tapes of our marching performance differences between our prelims and finals show, well, it wasn't really a comparison - we probably deserved it, as much as that hurt.

Great answer! Took my wife to a show. She never marched, never even heard of it.She loved it 20 years ago and still does. Now she gets upset if there is a show close by and I have to work. She will call up one of my old corps buddies and go with them. She also understands the 'bond' that was formed years ago by spending your summers together trying to perfect something. She's a keeper!