garfield Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 (edited) My first drum corps show was the 1972 US Open in Marion, Ohio. After school I settled in central Ohio and bought a home right next door to the Harding Hospital, a psychological hospital started by George Harding, a relative of Warren G. Harding, the 29th President of the United States. I know Dr. George well. President Harding called Marion, Ohio home where he purchased a local newspaper. As a newspaperman, he attacked the established No.1 paper in Marion in a series of scathing editorial attacks that became an all-out war between the papers and the town-folk. In his presidential campaign he staged his "front porch talks" from his home in Marion. Ironically, his campaign theme was "Return to Normalcy". President Harding's term in office was, controversial, to say the least as he was lampooned in the press even as the historical record shows an impressive array of political programs credit his name. President Harding was also a music lover and, at a young age, developed a talent on the cornet. Later in life, his Marion Citizen's Cornet Band placed third at the competitive Ohio State Band Festival. He used the $200 prize to pay for the "snappy" uniforms that Harding had bought on credit. During his presidency, Harding developed a particular love for what became his favorite musical instrument -- the sousaphone. There, my story is complete. The world makes sense. The circle of my life is closed. Edited February 17, 2014 by garfield Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IllianaLancerContra Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 no -- it's assuming everyone was a certain percentage of full (which was listed right there in the table). and i suspect the % in 1999 for div 2,3 corps was probably lower than it is currently. kind of interesting that this metric (number of MM served at finals) has never surfaced before. For Open class in 2013 an average membership of 58% seems high. 58% of 150 is 87; of the 14 corps in Michigan City I think only 4-5 might have been that big. And many were MUCH smaller, in the 30-40 members range. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corpsband Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 For Open class in 2013 an average membership of 58% seems high. 58% of 150 is 87; of the 14 corps in Michigan City I think only 4-5 might have been that big. And many were MUCH smaller, in the 30-40 members range. NEB states the 2013 numbers are accurate (based on counting actual members via FN) . I see no reason to doubt those numbers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HockeyDad Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 (edited) My first drum corps show was the 1972 US Open in Marion, Ohio. After school I settled in central Ohio and bought a home right next door to the Harding Hospital, a psychological hospital started by George Harding, a relative of Warren G. Harding, the 29th President of the United States. I know Dr. George well. President Harding called Marion, Ohio home where he purchased a local newspaper. As a newspaperman, he attacked the established No.1 paper in Marion in a series of scathing editorial attacks that became an all-out war between the papers and the town-folk. In his presidential campaign he staged his "front porch talks" from his home in Marion. Ironically, his campaign theme was "Return to Normalcy". President Harding's term in office was, controversial, to say the least as he was lampooned in the press even as the historical record shows an impressive array of political programs credit his name. President Harding was also a music lover and, at a young age, developed a talent on the cornet. Later in life, his Marion Citizen's Cornet Band placed third at the competitive Ohio State Band Festival. He used the $200 prize to pay for the "snappy" uniforms that Harding had bought on credit. During his presidency, Harding developed a particular love for what became his favorite musical instrument -- the sousaphone. There, my story is complete. The world makes sense. The circle of my life is closed. Edited February 17, 2014 by HockeyDad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 My first drum corps show was the 1972 US Open in Marion, Ohio. After school I settled in central Ohio and bought a home right next door to the Harding Hospital, a psychological hospital started by George Harding, a relative of Warren G. Harding, the 29th President of the United States. I know Dr. George well. President Harding called Marion, Ohio home where he purchased a local newspaper. As a newspaperman, he attacked the established No.1 paper in Marion in a series of scathing editorial attacks that became an all-out war between the papers and the town-folk. In his presidential campaign he staged his "front porch talks" from his home in Marion. Ironically, his campaign theme was "Return to Normalcy". President Harding's term in office was, controversial, to say the least as he was lampooned in the press even as the historical record shows an impressive array of political programs credit his name. President Harding was also a music lover and, at a young age, developed a talent on the cornet. Later in life, his Marion Citizen's Cornet Band placed third at the competitive Ohio State Band Festival. He used the $200 prize to pay for the "snappy" uniforms that Harding had bought on credit. During his presidency, Harding developed a particular love for what became his favorite musical instrument -- the sousaphone. There, my story is complete. The world makes sense. The circle of my life is closed. This is a great post about a person who was introduced to drum corps in Ohio along with a historical anecdote about President from Ohio who loved music with his favorite instrument being a Sousaphone. Which, if taken to its intended conclusion, is a position that can also support adding woodwinds to DCI. Many people have been introduced to DCI in the State of Arkansas; former President Clinton is an admirer of music and he plays the Saxophone; and when woodwinds are allowed in DCI then the story will be more complete, the world will make more sense, the circle of life will be completely closed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 no -- it's assuming everyone was a certain percentage of full (which was listed right there in the table). and i suspect the % in 1999 for div 2,3 corps was probably lower than it is currently. kind of interesting that this metric (number of MM served at finals) has never surfaced before. ah I missed the %....and why it never appeared before...who actually took the time to count? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garfield Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 (edited) This is a great post about a person who was introduced to drum corps in Ohio along with a historical anecdote about President from Ohio who loved music with his favorite instrument being a Sousaphone. Which, if taken to its intended conclusion, is a position that can also support adding woodwinds to DCI. Many people have been introduced to DCI in the State of Arkansas; former President Clinton is an admirer of music and he plays the Saxophone; and when woodwinds are allowed in DCI then the story will be more complete, the world will make more sense, the circle of life will be completely closed. And don't forget the connections between "George" and the psychological hospital. And, of course, buying stuff on credit on the hope that you're good enough to pay back the debt. Now, if I can find any evidence that President George hated the south, my world's atoms will vibrate at the same frequency. Pfft. Edited February 17, 2014 by garfield Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 I hand out water at the parades or play trumpet/mellophone - no way I'm trying to do the silly cart / PA thing. At the games I have a big speaker and PA support. I try to play the low sub notes underneath the sousas to make them sound bigger rather than trying to play over them. Have seen a bass player with a poor slub pushing the cart in one of the Hanover area High School bands. End of the Hanover Memorial Day Parade which finishes on this big hill...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.E. Brigand Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 (edited) For Open class in 2013 an average membership of 58% seems high. 58% of 150 is 87; of the 14 corps in Michigan City I think only 4-5 might have been that big. And many were MUCH smaller, in the 30-40 members range. NEB states the 2013 numbers are accurate (based on counting actual members via FN) . I see no reason to doubt those numbers. Thanks. Jeff may be astonished, but I really did count how many members were in each corps. It wasn't that hard. Some counting I did live last summer, but most I took from the Fan Network or in a few cases, Youtube; it only takes a couple minutes to count the dots in a high-camera freeze frame. I listed my counts for Open Class corps here last fall, when comparing their sizes to that of Tampa Bay Thunder, who were then announced as moving form DCA to DCI. Doubtless I made some mistakes, but I feel confident the figures are pretty good. Note that the figures I used for this discussion were only for corps appearing at championships, so Coastal Surge, Columbians, City Sound and so on were not included in my calculations. Edited February 17, 2014 by N.E. Brigand Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slingerland Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 Harding had many loves, as it turns out. Most of them had names much more mellifluous than "sousaphone." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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