Eddie Posted March 24, 2008 Share Posted March 24, 2008 http://www.thesdca.org/ Okay, this is cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noneofyourbusiness Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 Does seem like a good idea. Too many corps out there struggling for members that can benefit from something liike this. Maybe this will bring back corps from the days of DCM . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Brace Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 Does seem like a good idea. Too many corps out there struggling for members that can benefit from something liike this. Maybe this will bring back corps from the days of DCM . That would be interesting...let's put together a list of the corps from DCM that might benefit from this association. Two immediately come to mind besides Americanos...Marquis and Northern Aurora. Are those folks' orgs still together? How about others? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noneofyourbusiness Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 That would be interesting...let's put together a list of the corps from DCM that might benefit from this association. Two immediately come to mind besides Americanos...Marquis and Northern Aurora. Are those folks' orgs still together? How about others? Geneseo Knights St. Croix Rivermen Emerals Knights Memorial Lancers Illiana Lancers Wausau Story Coachmen (think of them every time I see a camper with that name) Northmen Guardsmen Marion Cadets Railmen Black Gold Joliet Kingsmen etc., etc., etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Brace Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 Geneseo KnightsSt. Croix Rivermen Emerals Knights Memorial Lancers Illiana Lancers Wausau Story Coachmen (think of them every time I see a camper with that name) Northmen Guardsmen Marion Cadets Railmen Black Gold Joliet Kingsmen etc., etc., etc. how many of these orgs are still together? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WWonka Posted March 26, 2008 Share Posted March 26, 2008 how many of these orgs are still together? There is still a successful winter guard out of Dallas named "Black Gold" that was at some time I think connected to the original corps. But as far as the corps and here in Okla. there is nothing left I know of. When the old equipment trailer was broken into and the horns stolen years ago I think that was the final nail in the coffin. You hear rumors of alums starting something ever once in a while but nothing ever happens. With Union, Broken Arrow, Owasso, etc. Tulsa has turned into a BOA hot bed instead. I would like to think BG in the late 80's early 90's had something to do with that. Southwind had a connection to BA also and even held some camps there but they are inactive now so... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcf06 Posted March 28, 2008 Share Posted March 28, 2008 (edited) Cody i will let you read what Butch wrote to us back in June of 07. Hi All,I have been anxiously waiting for this day to come, when I can finally give you all an indication of where the Americanos Organization will be headed for the future. As you all are aware, the Americanos have been inactive for the past two years primarily due to financial reasons. The main causes of our financial woes were #1, the demands that are now placed on a touring drum corps due to lack of local shows. There used to be at least 15ish shows in Wisconsin alone and now there are maybe 4. In 2004, we were kind of forced to go all the way to Texas in order to get any kind of performance opportunities at all in the first part of the season. That together with the cost of vehicles, fuel, insurance, drivers, housing and the list could go on, the Organization simply could not continue to play the DCI game. #2, our bingo program had seen a drastic decline in revenues and could no longer keep up with the increasing financial demands, some of this due to the Indian gaming and the restrictions that we have to adhere to by State Law. One other reason for some of these things was also the decline in “local” membership. This is something that kind of got lost in the big picture and is something that is very important for the survival of any corps in the division II/III levels. For those of you that have kept up with DCI and what it is evolving into you may know that the top 12ish corps really don’t have much of a local base, but are more run to be big money, big business. Some of the elites have staff budgets that are close to or exceed our entire operating budget. DCI today in my opinion is a place where the strong get stronger and the smaller budget corps get left by the side of the road to die. 10 years ago there were at least 20 Division II/III corps in the Midwest, now there are TWO!! There are maybe a total of 30 division II/III corps left in the country. A trend I personally do not wish to see, but it is the reality of what is happening in drum corps today. There are several corps that disappear every year including some top division I corps. Enough about that, I could go on forever but that’s not going to do any of us any good. For the past two years we have been working hard to erase all of our debt and put us in a situation where we can forge ahead into the future. We will be at that point in roughly two more months. Yes, all of our debt will be cleared up and now that bingo has been on an upward trend, we will be able to become active again. Also, in an effort to put us in an even better picture we have decided to put our current facility on the market and hopefully find a buyer. This will get us out from the mortgage and hopefully put a sum of money in our checkbook. Our current building is way too big for our needs and the costs of maintaining it are no longer justified. If this building sells we will be relocating our bingo and office to a more suitable situation and location. At our last Board meeting on June 11th, we have decided to move ahead in our plans for the future. Starting this fall, we will be launching our new programs. For 2008, we will have a competitive winter drum line and a competitive summer parade ensemble. Both of these programs will be targeting the “local” youth from the Fox River Valley. We will also be holding several percussion and color guard clinics throughout the year, again targeting the “local” youth. We have also at this time hired an individual to serve as the Program Director for all youth programs. Julie Woodbury was officially hired on Monday and is already preparing for our new programs to kick off this fall. Julie has a long list of experience in music education, high school marching bands and drum corps. She is currently the Concert and Marching Percussion Ensembles Director at Xavier High School in Appleton and at West DePere High School in DePere. She also holds a B.S. in Technical Management from DeVry University and is currently pursuing a Masters of Public Administration in Non-Profit Arts with anticipated graduation in October 2007. Looking ahead to 2009, we are tentatively planning the addition of a second winter drum line (kind of like a junior varsity team) and an independent winter color guard, along with the summer parade ensemble. As you may have noticed, I have not mentioned anything regarding a “drum and bugle corps”. At this time we do not have the desire to pursue a competitive touring drum and bugle corps, mainly due to amount of financial resources it would take, and actually if you’ve been following drum corps today they are really playing trumpets and other b flat instruments. Instead we are going to form and provide programs that will directly effect the “local” youth of the Fox River Valley. With that in mind we have also decided to change the name of the organization from Americanos Drum and Bugle Corps, Inc. to simply Americanos, Inc. Serving as the umbrella corporation, Americanos Inc. will oversee and produce “Americanos Indoor Percussion Ensemble”, “Americanos Winter Guard”, “Americanos Parade Ensemble” and maybe some day once again the “Americanos Drum and Bugle Corps”. I personally feel that this is what is best for the organization, and I am anxious to get underway this fall. Our goal for 2008 membership is 34 in the winter drum line and at least 80 in the summer parade ensemble. That’s a total of 114 “local” Fox River Valley youth that will have a positive educational experience in the “new” Americanos! And things can only get better from here. Please, as always, know that your help and participation is welcomed and encouraged. As Alumni, it IS your organization too, and we all should share the responsibility to the future! Thank you for taking the time to read this and as always if you have any questions, concerns or input please e-mail me anytime at viva@new.rr.com VIVA AMERICANOS!!! Butch Kolosso President, Americanos B.O.D. The Americanos are alive and doing well. Here is Video of a rehearsal of AI and velocity I have talked to Julie She has informed me that her plans for this summer will be a samba group that will make apperances in the Fox Valley. I trust that the Board is making the right decision to start off small. They have learned and payed the price for taking more than they can chew. As far as the All Age thing goes the alumni are not ready for that yet. For over a year Nick Blank and myself have tried to pull an alumni organization together and it has not been an easy task. However there is a meeting being planned for sometime in April. In this meeting myself Nick Blank, Bill Schultz, and a couple of other Alumni from Bills era will get together to discuss the formation of an Alumni organization. I have an open invitation to any Alumni out there who would like to be apart of this. I have also invited Julie so that the Alumni can formally meet her aswell as hear her plans for the organization. At this time I can tell you that we have no plans on fielding a DCA corps or a SDCA corps. I have been approached by SDCA, but had to turn them down because of the lack of support. Things are slowly happening for both groups. The meeting is the Biggest thing that has happened in over a year. I jsut hopw that other Alumni see that The Americanos are missed and they have not been forgotten. If you have any questions please feel free to let me know and I will try and answer them for you. VIVA Sean Edited March 28, 2008 by dcf06 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanAndreasen Posted March 28, 2008 Share Posted March 28, 2008 (edited) how many of these orgs are still together? EK is gone. Indian gaming killed the corps' bingo game. Tama offered unlimited jackpots and free transportation whereas non-profits were limited to a jackpot of five hundred dollars. The board (and I was part of it) couldn't respond by diversifying its income base. Yep, mistakes were made and I wish we could have saved EK. I would love to see DCM back and thriving. Oh to see Geneseo, Railmen, Northern Aurora, Marion, G-men, and the C-men again. With no disrespect to remaining corps, man DCM used to be a powerhouse. And a tip of the hat to Ivan for fighting so hard to keep it going. I forgot to say it's great to see Bluestars, Troopers, and VK doing so well. I'm sure I've left someone out but I'm a huge fan of every corps. Edited March 28, 2008 by AlanAndreasen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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