Jeff Ream
-
Posts
111,433 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
791
Posts posted by Jeff Ream
-
-
8 minutes ago, MusicManNJ said:
This is not true. Plans for 2024 were well under development as there were positive indications of a settlement. That went up in smoke as soon as people started bashing the plaintiff on social media. he plaintiff ended settlement talks and that effectively ended any chance of the corps surviving. They could not withstand the expense of a lawsuit moving forward. That is what killed the Cadets. After an incredible finish in 2023 the goals for 2024 were even loftier. But, because of the move to go to trial and breakoff settlement discussions, that was the final straw.
Then why were assets being sold after the season?
-
3
-
-
14 minutes ago, MusicManNJ said:
That person is not telling the truth. It was crafted by the Board chair with the help of probono PR and legal input.
Feel free to educate him. If you listen to Gary he’s why they moved to Erie where he killed the Thunderbirds
-
23 minutes ago, camel lips said:
I had forgotten about that stunt. How crazy was it to think they could just gloss that over and pretend like it never happened??
Sorta like all these sock puppet accounts and dreamers that think that somehow belive that they keep on victim shaming the victims they are going to worm GH back on the podium or in a position of leadership at DCI?
I could totally see once he gets off probation that he becomes a ghost writer. BOA, DCI Winter Gaurd you name it. Butnif it was ever found out who the real author was those units would either get black balled or pay a heavy price . Or not. It's a fickle industry that's hell bent on self destruction apparently.
let's be clear....even before the new guy George was not coming back. he wasn't wanted by many, and in fact the aura in the room lightened instantly after he was gone.
-
1
-
-
44 minutes ago, JimF-LowBari said:
No response? What a freaking surprise. (Yeah blew up my sarcasm meter on that one).
i havent looked lately. i'll check.
-
1 hour ago, Icer said:
The board did not get involved in decisions relating to performance, so to that extent there was indeed a rubber stamp. That's what infuriated a segment of the community who wanted the corps leadership replaced (which was, unfortunately, contractually impossible without bankrupting the organization and taking down not only The Cadets, but US Bands and the youth dance studio). But the reason for the conflict was personality and results, not criminality. If you know the people involved, you know that this is an accurate description of the situation.
No one rubber-stamped sexual misconduct because it was not known at the time. If the Philadelphia Inquirer had broken the story in January - which is what should have happened - action would have been taken immediately. We still might be in the same position today, because 1982 was still a long time before and obviously still unresolved for the victim, but at least it would have been a clean break. Instead there was a bunch of anonymous communication that paralyzed the organization. The resulting fallout was 10x worse with no benefit to anyone.
i never said criminal. but the board allowed a culture where one person literally controlled everything. never called out on anything. if he said jump they asked how high.
-
3
-
-
7 hours ago, camel lips said:
Sex offenders yes. I understand. But how deep are they diving into these background checks? Are they excluding people from the activity with say non violent felonies such as tax evasion? Low level drug offenses ?
I'd think anything jail or conviction related is not good
-
7 minutes ago, TenHut said:
Someone yesterday that the Cadets have $13 Million in the bank. Is this true? If so, who gets this money?
if they had that in the bank, things would be a lot different
-
2
-
-
2 hours ago, camel lips said:
Makes me wonder how he squirmed his way into DCA and how he stayed in DCA for as long as he did with Cadets2 ? We will probably never know the details of that.
well, DCA needed corps. and he wasn't the full time guy at C2, there was always someone else representing them. the few times he did get in the board room, it didn't go well.....for him
-
1
-
1
-
-
3 hours ago, Icer said:
This is oversimplification to the point of intellectual dishonesty. From 1982 to 2017, the only thing that mattered to pretty much the entire Cadets community was whether the corps was winning, and to a lesser extent, solvent. If the winning had continued, it's entirely possible that things would have remained hidden for an indefinite period (with ongoing suffering by the victims). Starting in 2015, both of the aforementioned indicators began pointing down. 100% of the negative chatter in this and related venues were focused on personality and results, not criminal misconduct. As we know, in January 2018 the ground shifted, first quietly and then publicly. Any possibility of preventing a meltdown was undermined by a combination of lack of experience, legal/contractual obstacles, and one or more bad actors. In the end, everyone lost, starting with the victims but with a wide circle of collateral damage as well. I haven't decided yet whether to tell what I know - it will depend on whether any good could come of doing so. The reporter who broke the story offered me an outlet at the time, but I decided I wanted to be done with the whole disgusting mess. However, suffice it to say that the sexual misconduct was only part of the scandal.
if they werent lapdogs, they would have fired him immediately when the story broke 6 years ago, as opposed to the resignation approach that led to DCI taking a much harder stand than they wanted to.
and i actually know one of them, and he said they pretty much rubber stamped everything he presented.
-
2
-
-
3 hours ago, camel lips said:
Its what is done in the corporate world . They hope to lower the damages at trial by demonstrating to the courts that they separated themselves from the employee that instigated the lawsuit. In this case DCI separates itself from The Cadets demonstrating to the courts that they are no long affiliated with The Cadets and no longer condone that behavior and hope to get off with a slap on the wrist.
plus they can point to putting Cadets on super secret probation back in 18
-
3 hours ago, TRacer said:
We don’t know and that is the plaintiff’s business. However, having stood in that person’s shoes when I was 12 years old outlining to detectives in awful detail what took place, then having the perp (a martial arts instructor) show up at my front door several months afterward unannounced and relive those “not at all charming memories” I can say there are occasions where you want the person or party responsible DEAD. It’s been almost 50 years, and I am totally okay with the fact that that person is DEAD. Eff forgiveness.
“Sometimes you don’t have enough rocks.” —- Forrest Gump
yeah forgiveness sometimes can only go so far. and i'm sorry that happened to you
-
4 hours ago, waliman4444 said:
The Cadets(RIP) will ultimately be the organization associated with what goes wrong when sexual abuse/perversion etc. goes unreported and normalized..I can only imagine how lucky some feel today that they've escaped detection in other corps where this behavior was also existent..God bless the child..PEACE
well Spirit still has their issue out there
-
2
-
-
4 hours ago, camel lips said:
I mean at this point for them what does it matter really? They are bitter and sour and taking their ball and going home and at this point really don't care one way or the other who they offend. Its done and over for them and they are not coming back from it.
One would think they would consider the victims in this and consider the future they have professionally moving forward with other organizations but in the moment that does not always translate when you are so passionate about what you have spent years pouring your life into to. Perhaps that was not the intent but it is what it is I suppose.
someone in Erie on i think DrumCorps Coffee Shop claimed to have helped craft the statement and seemed quite pleased with it.
knowing that individual, i can't say i'm surprised he would be. a one note samba kinda guy
-
4 hours ago, scheherazadesghost said:
Yeesh. That statement wasn't about you and neither is this whole situation. It was a clarifying statement regarding what you said. You call call it scorched earth if you like, but it's completely aligned with the clarity provided by international safe sport research, and research regarding institutional whistleblowing/retaliation.
Perhaps don't take what I say so personally when I'm not explicitly implicating you. I get that tensions and emotions are high here, but those that are most-immediately important are those of victims. Especially those that are publicly known, taking additional hits of retraumatization and victim blaming on DCP and other socials. If you are an unnamed victim in this, I truly lament that, especially if you are taking fire behind the scenes. That's still not the same as taking public fire though.
That said, it's clear countless elders in this activity have not known, or done appropriate professional development, to neutrally support reporters of abuse and whistleblowers. Too many clearly still don't, to the detriment of Cadets alum and members/staff/alum of other corps. Again, I'm intentionally referring to the activity as a whole here. There are countless other examples that have nothing to do with you that I'm referring to here, of which I'm assuming you're aware to some degree.
on one of the zillion facebook pages where this has been discussed today, one of the people that claimed to write the press release seemed quite pleased with the wording. i called them out on the victim shaming tone, and was met with silence
-
1
-
3
-
-
4 hours ago, drumcorpsfever said:
I don’t like the way this is written. The press release makes it sound like the Cadets are the victims.
Sad.
yup
-
1
-
-
8 minutes ago, jwillis35 said:
I will definitely take your word for it. You were closer to what went on, or at least had better insight. I guess I was never impressed with YEA. I knew GH had burned bridge after bridge...but you are correct that the USSBA (and eventually USBands) was a money maker.
oh YEA was a #### show. read glass door and thousands of other posts. but the band circuit brought in enough to keep things floating along, even if barely
-
1
-
-
29 minutes ago, scheherazadesghost said:
The problem is not with those who wouldn't come forward or any supposedly unfounded rumors, it's with the institution that allows, enables, or encourages retaliation against anyone who does. The reddit thread points to that happening throughout the org's history.
Finally someone else is putting this to words. Triumph over odds that never should have been levied against young people.
i dont condone the institution allowing it and never said that. please dont speak for me
-
3 hours ago, ContraFart said:
So BD fatigue is not a thing? Jeff is right that you can call 15 and 19 toss ups (I would put 22 in there too) but when one corps wins ALL the toss ups, people get tired of it.
it is, just like Patriots fatigue, Yankees fatigue, Alabama fatigue, Duke fatigue...no wait. Duke is just evil LOL
-
4
-
-
3 hours ago, Terri Schehr said:
2014…. No one was beating them. That show was too close to perfect to be beaten.
oh no. that was clearly evident in June.
-
2
-
-
4 minutes ago, jimwolf359 said:
Is there any indication that DCI will make a statement about this or will they just ignore what happened to one of their Founding Member Corps?
I'm guessing the latter.
FHNSAB
as the lawsuit is still active and they are listed, i doubt it. Plus i believe Cadets membership was revoked.
when the rumors of everything being sold or returned this fall surfaced, the eventual outcome was known, just not the timing.
-
57 minutes ago, MikeN said:
Yes, the pointed language in it is very surprising to see, but they've been consistent about that all along the process. 😞
Mike
yeah i wasn't surprised with that at all.
-
58 minutes ago, jwillis35 said:
This is very true. In some ways you might say the Garfield Cadets were lucky to not have folded in the late 70s or early 80s. Being one of the older corps they were never setup for modern drum corps travel, education, and funding like many non-profits were that began in the 70s, 80s, or 90s (and this is not to say those groups were all setup perfectly either). The Cadets were essentially a church corps established for parades. Like many neighborhood corps of the 1920s, 30s, and 40s most of those groups do not exist today. I'm not sure if Madison and Cavaliers are the only two left. I don't think Racine Scouts are around anymore...or are they? But there is a reason most corps that were founded in the early 20th Century are no longer around.
What kept them afloat (Garfield)? It was not GH as some might say (despite all his criminal behavior off the field). I think they got lucky that Zingali, Sylvester, Hannum, and Jim Prime Jr came in and designed some shows (with the creative help from Cesario) that pushed the activity forward. This brought them popularity and brand name and many of the older alumni started giving again. This is what really saved them temporarily...the alumni/fans/donors and the instructional team. And even with GH robbing Peter to pay Paul (cooking the books) they managed to thrive in donor contributions and also changes in instrument deals and other spnsorships. YEA never really panned out to be the "educational" org they said it would be. To me it was more a front for money collection.
But by 2017 and 2018 -- when everything comes to light with GH and others -- we all knew that should have been the knockout punch. As much as my heart is bleeding due to the loss of an iconic and historic drum corps my head says this is the way it has to be. They had chance after chance after chance to make changes. They lacked the whistle blowers who may have known what was going on and who should have stepped up back in the 80s, maybe even the late 70s, and put a stop to the methods of operation and people within (no matter how high their rank) who were commiting crimes and/or who were engaged in behaviors not conducive to safety, education, and a positive learning environment.
The Garfield Cades were one of the few corps that somehow crossed the divide between the early days of drum corps in America (the neighborhood corps, Scouts groups, CYO, AL, and VFW days) to modern DCI days; BUT...that transition was frought with error that would make it difficult for them to last unless someone with real forsight and a progressive look at education, funding, safe travel, community involvement and real purpose were to redefine the corps mission statement and not just the design of a show. So even without the criminial ongoings of the corps' leader it was always going to be difficult for a corps from 1934 to navigate the modern DCI environment.
a correction...YEA did succeed with USBands and all its other names over the years. in many ways thats what kept the corps afloat. and when the end of YEA came, that was the only thing of value left when the corps itself wanted to go off on it's own.
I also feel horrible for all of those that were in Cadets2, the winter guard and CWP for their few years of existence.
-
4
-
-
52 minutes ago, Geneva said:
I cannot believe how incredibly unfair this result of the action by one individual over 40 years ago is to this organization. To think that the Cadets and the entire drum corps world should sustain such a loss is hard to understand. Is this really the desired remedy sought after by the plaintiff?! The memories and sense of accomplishment that future members are now denied as had past members and the drum corps community received. This is in no way justice.
well...reading between the lines of the press release....due to other issues well publicized 6 years ago this week, no insurance company was going to touch the corps with a 10 foot pole. so while this one incident may be the final nail in the coffin, other incidents put the other nails in.
-
3
-
-
2 hours ago, Terri Schehr said:
I talked to my bf down here who is one of the original survivors. It was clear to me that there was institutionalized dysfunction in the organization for decades. Even before you know who. She was in the Plebes so her knowledge goes way back. She is from Garfield.
yeah. i mean i have no idea what the ultimate reason for the lawsuit was. i don't want to speculate. it's just sad the event happened to where it got to this point, as well as every other thing mentioned now 6 years ago this week that caused the original explosion. i feel bad for the thousands that did things the right way and had no knowledge, as well those personally affected by the horrible actions.
and yes people will say some there should have known...well, apparently if people didn't come forward, all you had was rumor and innuendo if even that. you can't blow whistles on rumor alone.
-
4
-
Cadets and bankruptcy
in DCI World Class Corps Discussions
Posted
Oh he is on the board. Maybe he’s right. Except for victim shaming