Galen

I think if you look at the people who currently comprise the IBOD (not counting the 2 that have stepped down) there are competent people in place, and there are plenty of alums who have indicated a willingness to pitch in. The problem though is that they more or less know that it's "Roman's corps" and ultimately things will be done his way or not at all, so there is little they can do but wait for the Roman Empire to fall, one way or another.

DCI already suspended them for 2019, so the first part's already been done. Recourse-wise, they really have none while the Blenskis remain in charge. DCI isn't blinking and may well decide in January to make that one-year suspension permanent for all I kow. They certainly wouldn't crash DCI shows and tromp around playing Gary Owen in the parking lot, and I doubt DCA or WGI will touch them with a 10-foot pole. Becoming a parade corps or SDCA isn't viable long-term either. Their recourse is for the Blenskis to get out completely or let their corps go down in flames out of spite or stubbornness.

It's not. At a corps business meeting held back in either September or October, it was made very clear by the IBOD that Roman isn't going anywhere and that he will always have a role in the corps' leadership. Which means that the corps can keep their attitude and DCI will remain a Pioneer-free zone going forward until one side blinks. To quote Douglas Adams, we'll see who rusts first.

Yes, it would. And it also hasn't stopped them from ignoring what DCI has been demanding for the last 4 months. So, there you go.

I mean, they ARE still suspended from DCI for 2019. Nothing has changed in that regard. That said, it would be reasonable for them to take an optimistic view that they will be reinstated in 2020 and maintain some kind of recruiting network so as to keep some momentum up during the suspension year. It is possible that they're planning other things in 2019 that are not DCI related, so those wouldn't seem pertinent to this discussion.

Well, certainly not for this upcoming season...

OK, that was from a season I didn't march, and yes, that does look like Case HS on the west side of town. We tended to alternate between Case and Horlick during my time there. This would have been the first weekend of August, when the school's there were probably still on summer vakay.

I may be mistaken, but as far as this particular video, I think that was from a Racine Raiders (adult minor league football) game that was held at Horlick Field and not at a specific high school in Racine (although I don't know offhand if that facility is owned by the city of Racine or the local school district). During my time in that corps, we typically performed at halftime for one of those games each year. Again, I may be mistaken- the video's buried a number of pages back and hard to find immediately. If someone can point me to a page, I can review and confirm.

Man, there isn't enough popcorn in the world for all this ####.

More to the point, it's releasing such information with the malicous intent to embarras or cause harm to a person's reputation. There's a very gray line over how ethical this practice is , as the information released technically is publicly available and/or obtainable with minimal effort. That's basically the view that the alum in question who published this, along with a couple of their supporters, are taking: "Dude's info and history are publicly listed online and anyone, including anyone connected with Pioneer who bothered to do a background check, so it's fair game". They're taking a particular view, which Im not sure I agree with, that they're doing the corps a favor by dragging up old skeletons about criminal charges that appear to have been dismissed or expunged, and over on Reddit, they're being particularly vindictive about it.

And this is why I'm keeping my distance from wanting to get involved. I have no desire to be doxxed.

Dude seriously- educate yourself. Chuck has a great history in drum corps and should be a great fit for Scouts.

I don't know all of those names, but I'm encouraged to read about the ones I do know (Scott Stewart, Steve Vickers). The two alumni I recognize (Al Dobyns and Tim Osterbeck) have been very active online supporters well. All in all, should be a group capable of starting to get things turned around.

Bill was our tour director when I marched in 2001. Very glad to see he's involved with this.

Yep, the lawyers get to earn their stripes in situations like this. Transferring of titles for physical and virtual assets (ie websites, social media accounts, etc.), real estate, vehicles, IP and imagery, etc. Gonna be an awful lot of paperwork, "party of the first part and party of the second part", etc.

I have some thoughts about who I'd like to see take over.

As is the entire BOD- presumably Roman will also be stepping down as executive director.

It'd be good to hear the opinion of a non-profit attorney, particularly one familiar with Wisconsin laws.

It's also worth noting that in many industries, there are laws in place that protect people who report organizational neglect or malfeasance (aka "whistleblowers") from retaliation or threats of retaliation. I wonder if those laws would apply in this circumstance.

There's really not much else there besides the rehearsal field and one or two small buildings that are used for equipment and memorabilia storage and prepping and serving meals.

There is an observation platform (left side): As for parking, there's essentially open parking areas beside the storage building with the green roof in the background.

Makes me wonder what whistleblower laws in Wisconsin are like. In the industry I work in (insurance subrogation), there are firm statutes in place meant to protect people who report malfeasance from retaliation.

At the bottom of a lake somewhere, allegedly.

Yeah, between the statement that was published on the corps' website a couple days ago and the subsequent articles and stories that have run in Milwaukee and Philly media, his image has gotten worse and worse. Most people know to stop digging when you've put yourself that deep in a hole- I guess he doesn't.

Welp, get your popcorn ready, I guess.