stoods59

That would be Ira Arenson. He had the piccolo soprano solo in WASPS in 1980. He stayed with the corps till the end, then marched his age-out year in '83 as a soloist in Madison.

At the last Guardsmen reunion in Madison, 1976 prelims was of course discussed. The corps actually tied for 10th place-then indeed had to come back 3 hours later to march Finals. That's something that will never happen again. Funny side bit: Bill Harty told me that one of the rookies in the color guard heard the prelims score, turned to the vets and said "that's all we got"? They were about ready to Lynch her. ROOKIES!!! Gary Stoodley Schaumburg Guardsmen

Speaking of Kevin Hagopian, there is now a PHD after his name. That's right, he is now Dr. Hagopian.

Schaumburg Guardsmen Alumni are staying at the Radisson in Madison. It's about 10 miles from the stadium. Last I heard they still had some rooms, plus a bar/restaurant that will stay open late for us!

I have a question.......it seems to me that it's getting harder to see shows in the Chicagoland area. The biggest one around here is the Cavies show this Sunday. With at least 8 corps lined up, why does this have to start at 7pm on a Sunday night? Is this the best that could be done? I live almost 2 hours away from where this show is being held and have to start work early on Monday, so this really doesn't work for me. Any thoughts? Gary Stoodley 1980 Schaumburg Guardsmen

I can send it to you but I need your email address!

You go Bill! I saw a picture of you with Hedrick that was very recent. Gary

I was a member of the Schaumburg Guardsmen in 1980 and we were on first tour with Phantom. I think we changed our drill twice in 2 weeks. It didn't matter-we were never going to catch PR that year. They marched so cleanly we were never a factor to them. Gary Stoodley 1980 Schaumburg Guardsmen

I've got to go with the Muchachos. The single most exciting corps I've ever had the privilege of seeing. Jeff Kievit could single handidly pull fannies right out of their seats. Gary Stoodley 1980 Schaumburg Guardsmen soprano

No argument here. Gary

That is indeed a fact. We also had eye black on our faces during prelims that was in the shape of a 7. My question to you Tom is this: how the heck did you know that?! Gary Incidentally, the curse back then was just about not making Finals the following year, not about the corps folding.

I don't know about 'breaking' he curse Jim, but Guardsmen were 7th in 1979, then made Finals again in 1980-11th in prelims, 12th in Finals. We always felt that we broke the curse that year. Incidentally, check the Guardsmen website as they are planning a reunion again in Madison, staying at the Radisson. www.guardsmendrumandbuglecorps.com Gary Stoodley soprano, 1980 Guardsmen

Yes he is! Ira has been one of my best friends for years. Bill Leslie, are you going to be in Madison? Check out the Guardsmen website at : www.guardsmendrumandbuglecorps.com Ira also has a new site with a lot of pictures, you can find that at IRAARE.ORG Quite a bit of Guardsmen history there.

John Davidson! Yes, thank you. Any idea of his whereabouts? Incidentally, the Guardsmen are holding a reunion in Madison. We'll be staying at the Radisson. Hey Geno, how are the chops coming along? Can't wait to see you guys. BTW-Curly forwarded me your email. I'm no longer with Staples so lose that address. You can reach me at stoods59@yahoo.com

Being an alumni of the 1980 horn line (soprano), it really warms my heart to see all the kind things people had to say here. Tim Salzman WAS our horn instructor that year, through winter and into late June, including a camp at the High School he taught. After that, he didn't go on either tour with us. Who could blame him, he wasn't being paid! We also changed the marching instructors more than once and the drill about 4 times. I always enjoyed playing Greensleeves. Tiger of San Pedro was my favorite. Our lead Sops did indeed wail on it, but overall the solos were better in '79-mellos and baritone. Owen Raun was the same soprano soloist both years. Incidentally, in '81 when Tim was teaching SCV, 3 Sops joined him out there for their age out years, including John (?), the soprano that held the note at the end of Tiger. He and Owen had both come over in '79 from the Emerald Knights and I swear they could play like that all day. Also, the person playing the piccolo soprano solo in Wasps was a 16 year old Ira Arenson, who would be one of Madison's screamers in 1983. Due to an illiness in his early teens he had lost a lot of hair prematurely. Many people thought he was much older than he was. I think he probably has a much hair presently as the rest of us that marched with him back in the day.

The Guardsmen had Piccolos in '79 and '80.