BlueByYou2000 Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 Crazy story. I sell food for a living and am lucky enough to service the Madison Scouts at periodic times throughout the summer. So I work in Madison daily. One of my accounts, simply named Madison's has a young chef that does all the ordering. His name is Billy Howard. His dad is the legendary Bill Howard. Ever since we figured that out, we talk drum corps all the time. I'm always jamming drun corps in my avalanche and am waiting for the day when someone waves or gives a thumbs up instead of that blank deer in the headlights stare I've gotten in the past. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
year1buick Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 A couple of years ago, when I was studying at a San Antonio Panera (this was during the DCI off season), I inadvertently overheard a man at the table next to me mention drum corps, so I struck up a conversation with him. It turned out he was the director of the Blue Knights. (He was in town to see his daughter in a sports competition.) I also once ran into JD Shaw in a Dallas model train store. (This was around December 1999, I think). I was there shopping for a TV show prop; he was with the rest of Boston Brass, killing time before a performance. About as random as it gets... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MalletMom Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 Over the Christmas holiday my son and I traveled to Walt Disney World and Universal Studios. We had numerous random drum corps encounters since my son basically only took various corps shirts and his corps jacket. While sitting down to eat, a group of 4-5 kids all wearing different corps shirts came up and asked my boy who he marched with. A long conversation ensued as these kids were at Disney with their high school band and had been in the Magic Kingdom parade. It turned out, one of the kids had auditioned at Madison a few weeks prior with my son (different section). I took a picture of all of them since it was so crazy. Standing in line for another ride a family told us their son had been with Bones and Cavies. We met an old Trooper on the bus stop at Port Orleans French Quarter. At Universal Studios, a ride worker who was letting us onto Men In Black marched Carolina Crown the past two years. He said he was planning to audition for BD because he wanted that RING. We tried to talk him out of a switch as Crown is a fav. Today at work, a patient saw my son's picture in his uniform. Turns out he marched for a local corps in the 40's and now his grandson is interested in marching. He asked for my son's info so he could have his grandson get in touch for some advice. I love random drum corps encounters. It makes up for all the times I have to explain corps and what a marimba is. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BD9 Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 Eating at a local pizza joint wearing my corps jacket, when what can most accurately be described as a group of giggling fangirls come up to my table and ask if I really marched. I said yeah, and was with some of my corps buddies. I felt like I was a rock star. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navillus WP Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 Two summers ago (before I had a need for EZ Pass) , I was driving thru the Hookset (NH) toll plaza. My car stereo was playing an old recording of the Skyliners. As I approached the toll booth, I rolled down the window. When I pulled up to the toll booth, the attendant cocked his ear and said "1972 New York Skyliners, right?" I grinned and nodded. He thumbed himself in the chest and said "I.C. Queensmen. Winchester, Mass." 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRASSO Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 My freshman English teacher marched in Muchachos. On the first day of class (my first day of college), he called me out on my Garfield Cadets shirt, noting that they used to "beat the #### out of those guys when I marched." .... and quite the salty English it was indeed by your College English Teacher. I'm sure the others in that Frosh class got a kick out of the College English Teacher's English... haha!.... good stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Doherty Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Two more stories: A sad one - Mr. Ralph Silverbrand's passing reminded me that his nephew, Ralph, and I were classmates in elementary school in Pompton Plains, NJ in the early - mid 50s. The Cabs were doing an exhibition there and Ralph and I saw each other and started chatting. This caused our parents to introduce themselves and my parents found out that Ralph's Mother, Mrs Dryden, was Mr. Silverbrand's sister, and Ralph was named after his Uncle. Apparently my parents got to know the Silverbrands from dinners at the Drydens. As an 8 year old or so, I was was much too intimidated by the 9 foot tall Mr. Silverbrand to ever approach him as I also was by the Cab's then sop soloist, Mr. Don Angelica. More positively, in 1962 or 63 I was playing snare in a pathetic little summer parade corps, but fortunately our drum instructor was the Drum Sergeant for the Cadets and the color guard instructor was the No. 2 snare, Billy Ridings. Billy has bright red hair, so he tends to stand out. In 1994 I was following the Cadets around Texas and was walking through the Rice Stadium parking lot where a small all-age corps was warming up for a pre-competition exhibition. The lead snare had bright red hair (and a bright red beard). I stuck around after the warm-up and introduced myself to Mr. Red and sure enough, it was Billy Ridings over 30 years later. Nice surprise. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kwalski Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 (edited) Not long after the 2011 season I was wearing my Troopers shirt in the grocery store when an older gentleman and his wife came up to me and he said "Excuse me, but is that Troopers as in the Casper Troopers?" After I said yes, we got into a little conversation. He had marched with the Black Knights from Belleville, Illinois but had told me that he hadn't payed much attention to DCI for a very long time, evidenced by the fact that he asked me if the Chicago Cavaliers were still around and if they were are they any good. He told me how back in the day the Cavies used to give his group the biggest trouble in the local contests and was wondering if they had survived when the other Illinois corps fizzled out. EDIT: Just thought of another one! My friend (Who marched Cadets this past year) and I taught Vis at a local high school who went to Grand Nationals. After we all got settled in and the kiddos were tucked away in their hotel rooms, we decided to go get some food. We put on our corps jackets and stopped at the Steak 'N Shake ( the same popular drum corps destination finals week :P) and ordered some food. When we were ready to go and pay, the gentlemen sitting at the table behind us stopped us and asked if we had marched before. After a short conversation we found that while neither of the two had marched, they had both been photographers for DCI for years and were there to photograph the PASIC marching competition going on at the same time as GN at the convention center. After sharing our experiences back and forth, the two insisted they pay for our meal. Amazing the people you meet! Edited February 1, 2012 by Kwalski 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kdaddy Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 This is great stuff to read through. A couple to contribute, though on the fringe of what has been discussed: My buddy and I sat next to Mike Freaking New of DCP fame at the 2001 San Antonio show. I didn't catch his name at the time, but when my buddy told me later, I recognized it from RAMD. The same buddy and I were eating breakfast at a Hampton Inn in Bloomington in 2008. Someone commented on the University of Tulsa cap I was wearing. I told him I grew up near Tulsa. As it turns out, he had lived a few years in my (small) hometown, and had been the choir director at my church when I was a kid. I remembered him, but he hadn't crossed my mind in 20 years or so. He was living near Indianapolis at that point and had turned into a big drum corps fan through his kids being involved in music. He travels with his work and hits a ton of shows every summer and also helped with a few Colts camps. And now I'll utter the oft-used quote: small world! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Doherty Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 This topic is one of the most positive and elevating themes working through the DCP channels. I hope we will give it great tolerance, respect , and politeness. If you don't, I'll meet you in the parking lot. K 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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