Want to join Alumni Corps

[kentfrederick]

I was in a junior corps as a teenager many years ago. I would like to march in an Alumni Corps. Our Alumni Association meets each summer for a picnic/reunion. I have tried to get someone interested in an Alumni Corps, but nobody has any interest in the idea. I live in Ohio and am far from any Alumni Corps. Is there anyone out there that has joined an Alumni Corps where they lived away from the place the Alumni Corps was located and can tell me how they made it work.

[lp1955]

I know the Bridgemen alumni have had members from Florida Canada and South Carolina. Maybe a check with them might help.

[Sayre Kulp]

Cabs Alumni are the same way. Even Sky Alumni has a handful of members that travel several states to participate.

[Gary Matczak]

Erie Thunderbirds have a few people that travel in from Ohio,...................Kevin Gamin, DCP writer and all around cool guy, makes the trek from the Cleveland area,........................

[MSJ Snare]

Mighty St. Joe's has members from western & central NY, PA and Canada. Car pooling generally seems to be the answer. Find a group from your area that would like to participate. As for rooming, many local members open up their homes for those that travel. And as for rehearsal schedules MSJ has gone to bi-weekly with additional voluntary rehearsals for those that can make it. Alumni Drum Corps is a much more understanding entity if there comes a time when it's members are unable to get to rehearsals or events.

[Grumpy]

I was in a junior corps as a teenager many years ago. I would like to march in an Alumni Corps. Our Alumni Association meets each summer for a picnic/reunion. I have tried to get someone interested in an Alumni Corps, but nobody has any interest in the idea. I live in Ohio and am far from any Alumni Corps. Is there anyone out there that has joined an Alumni Corps where they lived away from the place the Alumni Corps was located and can tell me how they made it work.

Isn't there a Sr. corps in Cincinatti? Don't know Ohio that well, so still maybe a ways for you...I used to march in an alumni corps that was an hour away, not that bad a drive except at times in the winter. The drag was that it was always a long drive to make the gigs. One year we did Plymouth, MA and was up at 4:30 a.m. to make the drive to catch the corps bus, which left at 6:30; did the parade in the a.m., show that night-bus got back at about 2:30 a.m. and add another hour to get home-made for a VERY long day! Still, wouldn't trade it for anything!

[BigW]

If you play a horn, Westshore Alumni might be the trick for you if you just want to have fun for a day or teo. Bit of a drive, but you might be able to meet up with someone in the Western PA area to get in for a practice or the actual SiB performance.

[Andyroo]

Cabs Alumni are the same way. Even Sky Alumni has a handful of members that travel several states to participate.

Hawthorne's Alumni has members from fourteen states and two provinces of Canada - Ontario and Quebec. Among the fourteen states are Maryland, Delaware, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Ohio, Texas, and Illinois.

In my own case, it's an 850+-mile round trip to each rehearsal, about 1,100 miles to places like Wildwood.

How does one do it? One gets used to motels and fast food. Yes, it can get expensive, and yes it does interfere with some other things (work around the house, the yard, etc.). The question is, how active do you want to be?

Hawthorne's Alumni has about twelve or fifteen appearances each year - not counting rehearsals. There's another corps described above that has a couple of rehearsals and one appearance per year. And there are other corps all over that range. Which level of activity do you want; can you afford; are you willing to drive to?

The choice is yours.

[Ray Priester]

Sky Alumni has members from Wisconsin, Indiana, Central Florida, Pittsburgh (400+miles each way), Connecticut (near Mass.), besides the "locals" from up-state New York ( 200+ miles each way), all over New Jersey, Pennsylvania, downstate Connecticut, Long Island, etc..

Those who travel a very great distance do not make all the rehearsals or performances ( finances being a big part of it), but they do make many and are treated as if they have been there all along. In fact, HornsUp was at rehearsal yesterday.

Keep in mind that these folks do have the music and mp3s available for their parts and do put in a heck of a lot of work and practice on their own. When they step into line, they know their ****. Most alumni corps have their fair share of long-distance members and those folks play where they play because they want to play THAT music and be a part of the history and traditions of said corps. As has been mentioned, Sky, Cabs, Bayonne, MSJ, BSGK are among the corps that do have long distance members.

More power to these folks for the time and financial considerations they overcome to wear a particular uniform. They are indeed a big part of the alumni corps movement and welcome at any time. Their presence means a lot to any corps.

Ray

[M. DeSouza]

I was in a junior corps as a teenager many years ago. I would like to march in an Alumni Corps. Our Alumni Association meets each summer for a picnic/reunion. I have tried to get someone interested in an Alumni Corps, but nobody has any interest in the idea. I live in Ohio and am far from any Alumni Corps. Is there anyone out there that has joined an Alumni Corps where they lived away from the place the Alumni Corps was located and can tell me how they made it work.

The St. Kevin Emerald Knights of Boston have had members from six states for many years .They all car-pool as do many of us in Mass. works well & if you love what your doing it is well worth the drive. Do it .

All the Best,

Mike D.