KeithHall Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 27th Lancers ....."Danny Boy" Spirit of Atlanta...... "Georgia" A competitive DCI corps in upstate NY, just one would be nice. US Open....Marion, OH American-International Open.....Butler, PA World Open......Lynn, MA prelims starting at 8 am until 5pm and then another set of prelims the next day. "I like eggsssss!" Bill McGrath, Jr. driving the staff van 2 feet from the bus (I don't miss that) Tim Stoh's and the hitting of the cat on the NYS Thruway (meow!!!) Feel free to add yours too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walter Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 This is my list: - G BUGLES - A really loud, blow my face off horn line......therefore G BUGLES !!! - Retreats - two day long prelims...practising the whole time while we wait to see if we made finals. - the show day rehersal and anticipation of the show - the twelve hour rehearsal days (NOTTTTT !!!! ) - my drum corps friends - all girl color guards !!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puppet Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 (edited) Oh,Keith! You have pretty much broken my heart with this one. I miss: Inspections. The Great Weekend shows in MA! Driving all night from NYC to wind up in a Howard Johnson's to eat in Ohio where people would say things like: "I never saw a colored person in person before - you are much more behaved than we see on TV" (True!) The honesty you would receive from a corps that beat you and the admission that you did a great job in spite of that. The corps that would lend you equipment when you needed it. The fact that all the corps members you were competing against were under the age to vote. That when you had a hole in your horn line, it was because that guy was "over there." Sitting with kids you never met before and might not ever see again and sharing your experiences. Answering questions like: "How Do You Guys Do That?" and not really knowing the answer. Having to explain to kids in Kenosha, Racine, Jacksonville that being a Negro from NYC is not that much different from them. Not knowing (before the internet!) what the corps you would be competing against looked like. How boring Idaho is. How every Motel pool is exactly the same - it was very good to know that. That Indiana was even more boring. That every practice field before the show was a pit of holes. That hot dogs everywhere are different. That butter in Madison tastes better than anywhere. That we could eat butter. That we could eat food. That we didn't have to sleep in gyms on the floor. That our uniforms (we had two sets) were always clean. And because, when we were on the road, (on tour) people in the towns, (except Jacksonville Florida in the late sixties) treated us with good will and knew that we were just young kids out of our element. Those were great times to travel throughout this country and a great learning experience - our naive outlook at 15 & 16 was something that today's 19 & 20 year old participants cannot even fathom. Every single moment was new. Every mile traveled was an adventure. Every new town, show, morning and evening was something wonderful to perceive. I miss that the most. I miss the starting gun. I miss the comraderie. I miss coming home over the Verrazano Narrows or George Washington Bridges and seeing the NYC skyline and know we were home. And I miss knowing that we were going to do it all over again the next weekend. Puppet Edited April 25, 2009 by Puppet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pammy6917 Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 To add to the list MANNING BOWL CYO Finals The Mayflower Circuit The Drum Corps Mass in Boston. (really cool for back in the day) showering at any McDonalds that left the hoses out, often after a long bus ride. sleeping in firehouses, churches, as well as on gym floors, missing curfew and sleeping on the bus. having to enterain ourselves with no cell phones, computor games etc. marching on red clay in the south when your feet would turn red Everett Staduim South of the Border in the middle of the night! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puppet Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 (edited) Feel free to add yours too Keith - thank you again. Great topic. Puppet Edited April 25, 2009 by Puppet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piper Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 My age - or lack thereof. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdostie Posted April 24, 2009 Share Posted April 24, 2009 (edited) How about Casa Bonita? But seriously: 1. Friends, and people I didn't think were friends until I was much older and remembered them. 2. Coming back from showers and having the all the females in the corps have an entertainment show prepared for us; then us having to have a show ready for them when they came back. 3. The thrill of completing a show - and knowing I'd done my best. 4. Watching the other corps - show after show somehow it never got old. 5. Showday, preperation, anticipation . . . 6. In a strange way sleeping on a gym floor - certainly being young enough to sleep on a gym floor and get up the next day ready to spend the day marching - incredible. 7. Traveling - although it was mostly a lot of time in the bus, there were moments - Yellowstone, Banf, Mount Rushmore . . . some mall in the midwest . . . some mall in atlanta . . . Casa Bonita (oh, I said that). Edit . . . Might as well say it . . . tube tops and shorts, certain middle-horn players of the opposite sex, pretty much watching the color guard practice. Edited April 24, 2009 by jdostie 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill Posted April 24, 2009 Share Posted April 24, 2009 Although it still exists in some places/organizations.........it has become rare but a joy to be around; that aspect being it was always all about the unselfish "we" aspect and for the good of the cause, and not about the present "I" and/or "me" aspect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluecoats88 Posted April 24, 2009 Share Posted April 24, 2009 30 pound weight loss in two months. bus rides with a great seat partner Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DRB Posted April 25, 2009 Share Posted April 25, 2009 1) Being around great musicians who taught me a lot 2) Having great instructors who made be better than I could have imagined 3) Having the privilege of marching finals one time in my life - my last year of eligibility 4) The friends I still talk with 30 years later 5) The memories 6) Watching the reaction of younger marchers when they watched us up close at a clinic 7) The beautiful music 8) The competition 9) The other corps 10) The style, bearing and class that corps of the 70's and 80's had. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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