Pioneer Brass and Guard spots available

[HockeyDad]

I think your Pioneer's policy to take the kids to church is OUTSTANDING. Thank you. And, if a kid has a serious objection, well, every other corps in the USA is available..... NOT having church available was a huge problem with one of our kids and drum corps. I guess in today's society, that makes us a significant outlier. It warms my heart to know that you make church available.

[Musicman1084]

I think your Pioneer's policy to take the kids to church is OUTSTANDING. Thank you. And, if a kid has a serious objection, well, every other corps in the USA is available..... NOT having church available was a huge problem with one of our kids and drum corps. I guess in today's society, that makes us a significant outlier. It warms my heart to know that you make church available.

There's a difference between making church "available" and "required." I know I personally would be offended going, but it wouldn't have stopped me from joining the corps if I really wanted to march.

[Donny Drum Corps]

Honestly I dont think that keeps kids from joining the corps. In this day and age, unfortunately it is the placement from the year before that keeps kids from joining. And that keeps the corps where they are.

I have been on here talking about membership for months, and I will continue until I leave for tour with this group. There are still spots available we are not going to stabilize our horn and guard numbers until the April camp. Hopefully you will see a strong Pioneer corps on the field this summer. No matter what....you will see Pioneer on the field this summer, regardless. They will doing their very best.

Church would be OK if the Blue Devils did it, I bet. If Bluecoats said Church was requirement, kids would still join. or Phantom, Cavaliers et al...I would hope that students would not let the fact that Roman brings the kids to church on some Sumdays on tour keep a kid from joining. We have actually picked up students that parents loved this idea so much, they put their students in Pioneer for that reason.

It seems like in the midwest. some corps have stuck to their identity more than anywhere else. Caviliers and Scouts BOTH have stuck to the all male guards, and Roman has stuck to his all female guard. I just see it as a way to preserve his traditions at Pioneer.

I will NOT allow this thread to be spun into a negative wave of garbage. Pioneer is a good place to get ones feet wet in DCI, there is no doubt in my mind. It gives the less talented a place to be, and the very talented often times stay. They have toured every year since the inception of the touring model of DCI. Prior to that they came east every year to compete. It is a good model of DCI corps, albeit true it is a bit more traditional than most corps.

And the staff actually teaches music, drill, drum corps, and life at Pioneer.

Pretty cool...

Donny

[copyright]

agreed.

Let's get this post back on the original topic rather than finding ways to flame.

Pioneer is a great place to march with a great family atmosphere. I encourage anyone thinking of marching drum corps to give Pioneer a fair shake.

[Donny Drum Corps]

So, we are still getting on line applications in daily.

If you know of a student that wants to march, or happen to be student who missed out at a different corps, we still have the opportunity at present to become a part of a family atmosphere while competing in World Class.

Why not give it a try for a year?

Donny

[euponitone]

Church would be OK if the Blue Devils did it, I bet. If Bluecoats said Church was requirement, kids would still join. or Phantom, Cavaliers et al...I would hope that students would not let the fact that Roman brings the kids to church on some Sumdays on tour keep a kid from joining. We have actually picked up students that parents loved this idea so much, they put their students in Pioneer for that reason.

It seems like in the midwest. some corps have stuck to their identity more than anywhere else. Caviliers and Scouts BOTH have stuck to the all male guards, and Roman has stuck to his all female guard. I just see it as a way to preserve his traditions at Pioneer.

Not to 'derail your thread' as you put it, but i have to disagree with most of what you said in what I quoted. For one, this 'garbage', is simply healthy discussion, and frankly the mild controversy is good for the corps (IMO). If you've been around here long enough, you know that the only kinds of topics that stick around (99.9 % of the time) involve some sort of controversy. Without that debate, you can bet this would be on page 4 by now. Its the same when a corps like the cadets puts up an uplifting story - it either somehow starts a raging debate, or its gone within a day. Frankly, the more the name 'Pioneer' is on page 1, the happier you should be (I think).

Oh, and pleeassssee dont play the 'it would be ok if the other corps did it' card. Thats about as big a mistake as you can make. We just had a HUGE debate on the all-male nature of the midwest corps, and the fact is that more talked about corps get picked apart MORE for every decision they make, not less. If George Hopkins wrote in his blog that he was going to start taking the kids to church every sunday on tour, this place would go nuts. If you dont believe that, then you probably havent spent enough time around here - then again, that's probably a good thing, since Im sure you have better things to do helping your corps

[Piper]

I've seen this quite a few times "back in the day" with Church sponsered corps. Many unitiated to Drum Corps would make the presumption that all the kids belonged to that Church or particular denomination, which for the most part was never true. Now some folks seem to be trying to put the Pioneer in the same situation, and for the sake of Drum Corps, I hope these people fail miserably. Just because the Corps is based on Irish tradition and provides the kids with the opportunity to attend services, some people automatically think "Roman Catholic". This is almost certainly untrue and most unfair to the corps and its members. It shouldn't matter what available Church the Corps chooses to attend. It's all about the same God, and when you die it's all the same to the worms anyway. Maybe it comes down to the old military adage "There are no atheists in foxholes".

Edited March 19, 2008 by Piper

[Donny Drum Corps]

Not to 'derail your thread' as you put it, but i have to disagree with most of what you said in what I quoted. For one, this 'garbage', is simply healthy discussion, and frankly the mild controversy is good for the corps (IMO). If you've been around here long enough, you know that the only kinds of topics that stick around (99.9 % of the time) involve some sort of controversy. Without that debate, you can bet this would be on page 4 by now. Its the same when a corps like the cadets puts up an uplifting story - it either somehow starts a raging debate, or its gone within a day. Frankly, the more the name 'Pioneer' is on page 1, the happier you should be (I think).

Oh, and pleeassssee dont play the 'it would be ok if the other corps did it' card. Thats about as big a mistake as you can make. We just had a HUGE debate on the all-male nature of the midwest corps, and the fact is that more talked about corps get picked apart MORE for every decision they make, not less. If George Hopkins wrote in his blog that he was going to start taking the kids to church every sunday on tour, this place would go nuts. If you dont believe that, then you probably havent spent enough time around here - then again, that's probably a good thing, since Im sure you have better things to do helping your corps

I dont have to blow my own horn...but I started in a parish drum corps. That is how long I have been around here...and on DCP probably one of the first customers. I aged out in 1974 and have stayed active as an instructor, arranger and promoter of this activity in DCI and DCA. I dont know why you want to challenge me. I actually find you a bit disrespectful. I am sure that you can see just how active I am on DCP with the amount of posts in my profile.

I am just trying to get members to march. When people threaten that I defend it. It is not that difficult to understand.

And you wouldnt be talking to me like that if my name was Gino....LOL.

Donny Allen

[euponitone]

I dont have to blow my own horn...but I started in a parish drum corps. That is how long I have been around here...and on DCP probably one of the first customers. I aged out in 1974 and have stayed active as an instructor, arranger and promoter of this activity in DCI and DCA. I dont know why you want to challenge me. I actually find you a bit disrespectful. I am sure that you can see just how active I am on DCP with the amount of posts in my profile.

I am just trying to get members to march. When people threaten that I defend it. It is not that difficult to understand.

And you wouldnt be talking to me like that if my name was Gino....LOL.

Donny Allen

Im sorry if you think I was challenging your credentials or something, i thought that was clearly not my intent. I can read your signature easily enough, and see your history. I also think that what you are doing for Pioneer is great, and I never challenged that either.

Is it so hard to have a discussion without people's feelings getting hurt?? I disagreed with a comment or two you made, and I brought it up. No insult to you, your mission, or your corps. Feel free to engage me in the debate (which you havent yet), but dont call me out for being disrespectful just because I disagree with something you said, and offer another point of view.

Oh - and I learned my lesson about talking back to gino on the field a few years ago, and its not a mistake I would make again. Now, if gino for some reason got on dcp, you bet I would let him know if I disagreed with him. This is a DISCUSSION FORUM above all else, and all the credentials and noble causes in the world doesnt change that...

[Kimmie Wallace]

I feel the need to put my two cents in on this entire thread and its contents.

I am a proud alumni and current staff member of the Pioneer organization. "Back in my day" dues were only $525.... but then again at that time most of the Midwest Division 1 corps were somewhere within a few hundred of that. It is my opinion that dues for all corps (no I have no studies or evidence to prove this) have jumped in the past 10 years due to a few things... the most being gas, bus chartering, and general inflation. Thank goodness for Bingo and other fundraisers that all of the groups do. Could you imagine if dues had to pay for everything on tour! From talking to friends and former students of mine, it seems as though Pioneer's $1700 for a full World Class tour is 'reasonable'.... once again, no formal studies or comparisons have been done to reach this conclusion.

As for the colorguard. Roman has expressed to us that the colorguard will remain all female, regardless of any trends. That's all there is to it. From watching last summer, it seemed as though every other World Class (still having a hard time adapting to the new title), co-ed corps (notice the qualification) had a co-ed guard. I could be wrong... but I know we didn't.

And church... I'm going to speak from experience on this one. I was raised with in one of the Christian denominations, so I cannot speak for all religious backgrounds.... but. When I marched with Pioneer, we went to church during camps and about 4 or 5 times on tour. No one ever told me I HAD TOO... it's just what we did. We would wake up on Sunday and go to a Lutheran Church in Waukesha (for camps, it varied on tour). We would sit in the back pews and observe the service quietly. Many of us did the standing up, sitting down, and kneeling as was called for at whatever mass we attended. When it came time for Communion (if there was any) some went up, and some did not... It was purely our decision. I personally viewed it as an opportunity to sit and relax for an hour. Sometimes I would listen and think, sometimes I would fight to stay awake, sometimes I would stare into space, and sometimes I would poke my sister in the side to see if I could get her to jump during a quiet part of the mass. At no point did I feel as though the Corps, or the staff, where trying to force any specific ideology on me. I did however always look forward to the pancakes, waffles, french toast, and/or eggs we got on those days!

I have never asked Roman about the church 'requirement'. I would like to think that if a member or a family had a personal, religious, or private objection to going to church, He would listen to and adapt for that families' wishes. I have NEVER heard of anyone being kicked out because they wouldn't go!

AND AS FOR THE 2008 PIONEER!!!!

There are some really great things going on with the organization. New Uni's last year. A switch to Bb Kings for the hornline and shiny new Pearls for the Battery. There is stability in the staff, with many returning from last year. The Tour Director, Brass Arranger, and many of the Brass, Visual, and Colorguard Technicians are returning from last year.... and of course there's the Incomperable Donny Allen. We also have a great new Percussion Arranger, Drill Designer, Percussion Caption Head, Pit Caption Head, Visual Caption Head, and Colorguard Designer/Caption Head. There are many great veterans back in all of the lines and some promising new members too!!! We just need those last few horns to help us really turn some heads this season.

I think that Pioneer would provide a great experience for anyone looking to start OR continue their career in Drum Corps!

"Better Every Day"

Kimmie