GSNewell

Great turnout, especially considering that there aren't all that many PR alums on the West Coast. It was great for those people to be able to make it. If there was an award for greatest distance traveled to get to a PRAA gathering, I believe Elmar Zwart (PR '02) and his lovely wife, Mariska, would win it: they came from Hilversum, The Netherlands! DCP regular Chris Atkinson (PR '91) and his lovely wife, Allison, probably came in second for distance traveled (Fort Lauderdale, Fla. ... though apparently Chris fell in love with California and may be moving soon! :) ). I'm not sure if any '50s alums made it, but I know there were representatives from every other decade. See you all again in Indy next year!

Updated information... A memorial service will be held 6-9 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 25 at Pekin Moose Lodge #916 (2605 Broadway St., 61554) in Pekin, Ill. Nikki's mother, Dee, has asked that in lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Nikki Ely Scholarship Fund at Phantom Regiment. Please make checks payable to Phantom Regiment and put Nikki Ely on the note line. An online donation form will be set up next week. PR's office is 5050 E. State St., Rockford, IL 61108.

Just FYI...They're actually digital prints done by a company called PGDisplay (the Farrell family owns the business). The panels last year were done the same way. G

Too bad you didn't have good seats! :) G

This is a post I wish I wasn't making, but since so many PR alums read DCP, I feel I must... Greg Newell Nikki Ely, who marched in Phantom Regiment's color guard from 1988-95, died unexpectedly Saturday. She was 33. Nikki, who had been living in Miami, died from head injuries sustained after falling off a golf cart the day before. The Pekin, Ill., native earned a spot in the color guard as a 14-year-old and eventually would become the guard's C.O. A memorial service is being planned for later this month in Pekin, and a scholarship is being established in her memory. More details on both the service and the scholarship will be posted on www.regiment.org as soon as they are available. (On a personal note, Nikki sat across the aisle from me on the bus when I marched with her. When I first met her, she was an incredibly hard-working and talented young girl who earned a spot in the world's best color guard. I very much remember everyone in the corps being so impressed by her. ... Please keep her friends and family in your thoughts.)

How's that saying go? "It ain't over 'til the fat lady sings." :)

Well, I was born in the 60s and marched in the 80s, but my best friends marched in the 70s, so I'll be there. G

Just one bump, I promise.

Here is a story about the most recent Chevron Award recipient (Chuck McCurdy, who posts on DCP, was honored last winter). Check out the list of names at the bottom. Is there someone who's missing from the list? Let us know at prinfo@regiment.org. Thanks! http://www.regiment.org/chevron.cfm Greg

Brass Performance Paul McGarr Color Guard Nola Jones Ensemble Music Jeff Mitchell Ensemble Visual James E Sturgeon Music Effect Joe Allison Percussion Performance Jason Hall Percussion Performance 2 Jeff Prosperie Visual Effect Marie Czapinski Visual Performance J R Carlisle

Yes. Phantom Regiment does not require its conductors to have marched a previous season with PR. Will Pitts, the backfield conductor this season and the front conductor in 2005, is a clarinet player without previous drum corps experience. Tommy Feagin, who was a conductor in 1999-2001 (pardon me if I'm off a bit), also is a clarinet player and had not marched PR prior to being named conductor.

I knew I should have double-checked before posting (I can't keep track of all these guys in Texas!). And thanks for the correct dates he marched, Nikk. G

Re: Mark Waymire He's been in drum corps much more than a dozen years. He marched in Phantom Regiment in the 1980s and then started teaching the corps in the late '80s and continued with PR until 1995. Re: Patrick Sheridan and Sam Pilafian The "Tuba Dudes" were on PR's staff a couple years ago when JD Shaw hired them to help teach the Breathing Gym method. It was their introduction to drum corps. To add another person to the thread... Kevin Rabon, Phantom Regiment brass caption head Kevin is a middle school band director in Austin, Texas. He marched in Phantom Regiment in the mid-1990s (I don't recall the exact years, but I believe it was around 94-97). He's been on PR's staff since 1999. He's married and is the proud owner of a beautiful motorcycle as his ONLY means of transportation (it's become almost a requirement to be involved with PR --> Dan Farrell, Tim Farrell, John Baumgartner, Eric Sabach and I own Harleys. Andrea Brown owns a sport bike, JD Shaw is the adoptive owner of one of Tim's bikes, and now Kevin with his bike).

PR has been part of GoodSearch since late last year. Our search numbers are pretty decent, and we're certainly looking forward to receiving our check from GoodSearch! Check it out (no matter which organization you help). At least give it a shot.

How anybody who isn't actually on the field standing in front of the players can tell how it sounds is beyond me. The show was in a dome. Everyone sounded like a big pile of noise. And the Alamodome is acoustically good compared to the RCA Dome, Georgia Dome and the Silverdome! Kinda fun to watch the guards in a dome, though. Perfect weather certainly helps them perform at their best. Yes, I was there.

Sitting in Abilene right now... Weather is absolutely gorgeous today. Hard to believe that that statement could be made about Texas in JULY. Low humidity, 82 degrees at 7 p.m. Man, it was glorious. And there are almost no restaurants with dining al fresco! Very unlike my new home state of Florida. Haven't even seen a mosquito yet (been here for a week). G

And remember, of course, that reporters need to paraphrase comments sometimes. That comment likely was taken from a much larger discussion.

He didn't say PR aims for fifth place.

http://www.rrstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/articl...50059/1004/NEWS The Register Star has been a great supporter of Phantom Regiment. The paper runs the results of the shows each day, it sponsors the corps' Show of Shows with advertising and many employees attend the corps' events.

FYI... Here's a link to 66 of those commercials: http://thefuntimesguide.com/2004/10/bud_light_real.php I'm particularly humored by Mr. Way Too Proud of Texas Guy (I spend too much time in Texas) and Mr. Discount Airline Pilot Guy (I travel a lot). G

Update from Charleston... Show was delayed about 45 minutes. "It frickin' poured" is what my colleague said. Apparently it rained hard for about 2.5 hours or so leading up to the show. BUT, despite that, walk-up ticket sales were very good. Boston is on the field right now. G

Tuesday, July 10 http://www.regiment.org/drumsacrosstristate.cfm Come see a rematch of the 2006 Drum Corps International Championships TOP THREE as they battled it out in 2007! This year's Drum Across the Tri-State is presented in conjunction with the Phantom Regiment and sponsored by radio station V100 - West Virginia's Best Variety along with returning sponsor Kerr's Music World. Both sponsors look to bring a great family entertainment night with some of the best drum and bugle corps in the world back to Charleston. Tickets are general admission, so get there early and pick your seat!

It might have something to do with the fact that former members lurking around DCP have no idea what's going on internally with the staff. Almost everyone responding here is responding with their impression of what's happening or what they've heard from a friend of a friend of a brass tech's sister-in-law. I'm on the board, the program coordinator is one of my good friends, etc., etc. -- and I don't know the details of what goes on with the staff. I know a lot of things, but I certainly don't know everything. How in the world would someone on DCP know the details?! In many cases, as a personnel matter, it's simply none of anyone's business. I will respond to a couple silly things I read, though: -- Dan Farrell is the driving force behind PR's competitive resurgence the past 5 years. He hired the staff, he creates the schedules, he manages the design and instructional staff, he makes the final decisions. Without Dan as program coordinator, it's unlikely that PR would be in the top 6 right now. -- I bristle at the suggestion that the brass staff is just holding down the fort while J.D. is in Europe. Kevin Rabon has been the brass caption head for, I believe, four years now. He is extremely capable as our the other terrific members of the brass staff. Taylor Criswell, Mason Daffinee, et al, are very good at their jobs. -- Staff turnover has happened for a variety of reasons. Some people were fired, some quit, some simply moved on with their lives.

I'm almost positive Michael had a consulting role of some sort for PR in 1981 and/or 1982 (Spartacus).

A lot of people didn't care for the show, but I liked it. I thought parts of it were brilliant. The ending is amazing. It just leaves you scratching your head -- and thinking. Not sure what it was about Suncoast, but I was always kind of in awe of them for some reason. And I was in a corps that never got beat by them in 88 or 89. The 1985 Florida Suite show is still one of my favorites.