84BDsop Posted May 10, 2008 Share Posted May 10, 2008 It is with regret that I must announce the cessation of En Garde activities for 2008. Things started out well....there were sufficient numbers at Open House to put out a good size corps for a first year...but as time went by less and less people came to rehearsals, people left or attended sporadically, etc....leaving the small number of consistent members to carry the load...and in the end it was not possible to field. DCI requires 30 bodies on the field....we never had more than half of that on any regular basis. DCI worked with us as much as they were able, extending the evaluation date, but our drop dead date was May 18....which is also THEIR drop dead date. Members trickled in during the last camp or two.....but at this stage we needed a flood. We simply ran out of time. It was a good run....the show had potential...the members who showed up and worked proved that they have what it takes to absorb the program and apply what is being taught...the flexibility and adaptation was excellent...had we had sufficient numbers early enough, we would be looking for our first show right about now. We learned a lot....and will come back stronger for next year. I would like to publicly thank the following people: Dr. Dave Tautkus: Our assistant director and provider of both facilities and equipment. Cliff DeArment: We butted heads occasionally, but I DID value your commentary Mick Koons: OK...we butted heads a LOT, but you made it possible for us to buy Dream’s old battery. Kevin Jackson: Thanks for running the battery when we had one to run Dave Rogers: For taking my brass arrangements and improving them Matt Seltzer: for writing the opener drill and coming out from Vegas that one time Carson Jeffries: for volunteering to write the ballad drill....sorry it never came about....perhaps next year Jason Hodges: for volunteering to write the closer drill....comments re next year that same as Carson. Also, thanks for reppiung the corps at the DCI meeting SoCal Dream: for selling us their old battery Anyone else who showed support for the new guys. We will likely come back as an All-Age corps in 09 – as was originally intended – but that must wait until the BOD meets again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eddie Posted May 10, 2008 Share Posted May 10, 2008 Sorry to hear that Sam. I hope it all works out for next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
84BDsop Posted May 10, 2008 Author Share Posted May 10, 2008 Sorry to hear that Sam. I hope it all works out for next year. Thanks, Eddie. What sucks is if everyone who attended at least one rehearsal had stuck around, we'd be fine... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EndzoneEric Posted May 11, 2008 Share Posted May 11, 2008 It is with regret that I must announce the cessation of En Garde activities for 2008. My hat is off to you for the noble attempt. Obviously, starting ANY new enterprise is tough... starting a youth services organization in the form of a competitive drum corps must be overwhelming, unless there is a huge grant (not to be confused with Hugh Grant) to help jump start the process. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
84BDsop Posted May 11, 2008 Author Share Posted May 11, 2008 My hat is off to you for the noble attempt. Obviously, starting ANY new enterprise is tough... starting a youth services organization in the form of a competitive drum corps must be overwhelming, unless there is a huge grant (not to be confused with Hugh Grant) to help jump start the process. Not so hard as it was before 2000...the any key rule helped a great deal (as it was originally intended to do). Manhy of the instruments we were using belong to Dave Tautkus' band program...all we REALLY needed was people behind the instruments. On the other hand, now that we're not fielding, that gives one of our members -- who is an instrument repair tech -- to do some repairs TO those horns...stuck slides, mostly. Both the corps and the band benefit....since LAUSD political stupidity keeps the instruments from being worked on for pay (kinda a turf war over who's responsible for repairs)...VOLUNTEERING to fix them however.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jocko the Wonder Llama Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 Skyuck! That really sucks. I was looking forward to seeing En Garde this year. I guess the best thing to say here is: Best of luck to everyone involved with En Garde, and I hope to see you on the field next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
84BDsop Posted May 13, 2008 Author Share Posted May 13, 2008 Skyuck! That really sucks. I was looking forward to seeing En Garde this year. You would've had to have some down here...we were only going to do 4 SoCal shows. Even inthe future we won't go north until we can do so without raising memebhr dues a lot...and the fees are an issue for a lot of people. It's not the travel that's teh killer...it's the housing...and you know that All-Agers tend to rent hotels. If we DO end up going north one year, I'll probably look to havingh us stay where Dream does in Sunnyvale...I don;t ever rememeber a problem there in 4 years of trips up north. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ouooga Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 Can't wait to see and hopefully work with the 2009 edition of En Garde, and Sam, let me know if you'll be at any shows this summer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crashhelmi36 Posted May 14, 2008 Share Posted May 14, 2008 It is with regret that I must announce the cessation of En Garde activities for 2008. Aww. As an ECR alum, I was really hoping to see a corps pop up in the San Fernando Valley... but with LAUSD the way that is, I'm still quite impressed you managed to get it as far off the ground as you did. Good luck next year! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Kirby Posted May 14, 2008 Share Posted May 14, 2008 We learned a lot....and will come back stronger for next year.We will likely come back as an All-Age corps in 09 – as was originally intended – but that must wait until the BOD meets again. Sam, I'm really bummed for you guys, especially after you revised your original plans to accommodate the situation in Cali. I'm hopeful of eventually seeing your crew at DCA. This may be a question for another thread, but do you think the atmosphere in CA could support 4 All-age corps? From my seat in the Midwest/South it seems that 'Gades, Dream, Kingsmen and En Garde have the potemtial to exhibit four very different personas, and that all have something to offer potential members. Are there members enough to go around? How about sponsors and other resources? At any rate, best wishes for En Garde redux. Robert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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