ajlisko Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 W, who sponsored the Lewistown show? All this talk about venues supplying most of a corps budget needs got me thinking about the 70s local shows and why a lot crapped out. Ones I remember had to raise ticket prices to meet corps needs and higher prices meant less people and eventually they went under. Lot of RCA shows in middle of no where were like this and remember bunch of non-corps sponsors (fire companies, HS bands and a bicentennial committee (Frackville?)) comes to mind. In the middle of nowhere? ... how about Waverly, Herkimer and Altoona in the 60's? ... Yikes! :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted January 4, 2015 Author Share Posted January 4, 2015 (edited) Rostrovener(sp) Twp, PA in the mids 60s is on the Thuderbirds site and had to ask Gary Matczak about that one... Also loved when we went to Bradford, PA one year and overheard: Where's Bradford? Oh it gets mentioned a lot on TV over the winter. Why? Always coldest ##### part of the state. Would include Johnsonburg as outta the way but at least they had a corps. And have been to Altoona as part of a Western PA long weekend vacation. No other way to get to the Horseshoe Curve..... Edited January 4, 2015 by JimF-LowBari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigW Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 W, who sponsored the Lewistown show? All this talk about venues supplying most of a corps budget needs got me thinking about the 70s local shows and why a lot crapped out. Ones I remember had to raise ticket prices to meet corps needs and higher prices meant less people and eventually they went under. Lot of RCA shows in middle of no where were like this and remember bunch of non-corps sponsors (fire companies, HS bands and a bicentennial committee (Frackville?)) comes to mind. The Lions sponsored the Lewistown, PA (NOT Lewisburg, two different towns) contest. The final one was in 1985 or 1986, IIRC. I believe Bush won, Steel was very good- the first time I ever saw HB and Sandy flat out. Very memorable. My first DCA show I attended was... gah! 1977-8? the year "Southwind" (Y-R under another name because of the mess) competed at the show. Typical corps there throughout the time the show was run were Bucs, Y-R, Crusaders, Erie, and Westshore in the 70's. Sky came in '78, Royalaires in '79 or '80, but pretty much the DCA West group. The problems started in like... 1980. The show chairman was a nice enough guy, but could quite a bit difficult to deal with in some aspects from what I was told from very reliable sources. I'll let folks fill in the blanks if they want to. Not toooo hard here. The contest chairman was a BIG fan of one of the corps that weren't normally part of the DCA West package. He REALLY wanted them to come. Back then- and I have no idea of this goes on now-- there was an additional 'appearance fee' paid under the table to that corps above the standard DCA stipend. Not insignificant money, either. The Chairman did this on his own without consulting the rest of the Lions, etc., and when they found out, well they weren't happy. I believe they took the show away from him at that point or put him in a very short leash. I also think the tie-ins with the local HS bands decreased, which helped to bump up attendance and interest. I think without the chairman's interest and passion for it and combined with the lack of the local interest/tie-ins, it died a quiet death. The thing is, Mitchell Field only underwent a slight upgrade fairly recently with new bleachers. I have no idea if they've upgraded to turf. I don't know if they could pack it in enough to really make a good show happen there now even if the stadium was up to snuff. It might not be big enough. The location's very good for people to get to as is Harrisburg/Hershey. But, could they draw even with say... a show with... Bucs, Shenandoah Sound, Lightning Brigade, White Sabres, Sky, maybe someone like Fusion or Bush? I just don't think so unless the HS band there would take a serious risk and promote like crazy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigW Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 In the middle of nowhere? ... how about Waverly, Herkimer and Altoona in the 60's? ... Yikes! :-) Been to Herkimer. There was a show there in the 90's. One of the shows like Ogdensburg, NY, Sheffield, PA, and Ridgway, PA with the small stadium, small attendance, etc. That happened in the '90's. Sheffield and Ridgway, also kind of remote and inaccessible as well. At least Lewistown is way more accessible by 4 lane limited access then Herkimer is. Why? It's between Harrisburg and State College, and well, the Penn State Fans need a lot of highway on football weekends. The missing links were completed a few years back, easy drive to get there, actually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajlisko Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 ... Back then- and I have no idea of this goes on now-- there was an additional 'appearance fee' paid under the table to that corps above the standard DCA stipend. Not insignificant money, either. It was never a secret in DCA that some corps negotiated their own "guarantee" to appear at a particular show ... it was never under the table ... but it was private ... in the 60's or 70's it was more like 1st prize money regardless of where the corps placed ... later it indeed became "appearance" fees for a corps to show up ... and you're correct in that they are not insignificant ... the Barnum is a prime example of having to recruit "corps sponsors" to pay some fees ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigW Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Hmm, well there were the Johnsonburg Diplomats and the Gardner Guards out of Altoona BITD. Forget what the Gardner Guards called themselves later- Keystone Guards, something like that? There was also the rather abortive Altoona Mainliners corps that came to a show or two early in '92 or '93 then collapsed. Well intentioned guys who knew how to teach music, but no business sense. Went down like a house of cards. Likely one of the bricks in the wall leading DCA to set the rules up they have currently. Not the biggest, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigW Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 It was never a secret in DCA that some corps negotiated their own "guarantee" to appear at a particular show ... it was never under the table ... but it was private ... in the 60's or 70's it was more like 1st prize money regardless of where the corps placed ... later it indeed became "appearance" fees for a corps to show up ... and you're correct in that they are not insignificant ... the Barnum is a prime example of having to recruit "corps sponsors" to pay some fees ... Yes, there is a distinct difference between private and under the table, but when the contest chair doesn't tell the Lions that they're spending x money extra to get his favorite corps to show up for his show when they could have saved that money and obtained someone else until after the fact or it was discovered by the accountant.... it just didn't set well with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajlisko Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Yes, there is a distinct difference between private and under the table, but when the contest chair doesn't tell the Lions that they're spending x money extra to get his favorite corps to show up for his show when they could have saved that money and obtained someone else until after the fact or it was discovered by the accountant.... it just didn't set well with them. Understood ... I meant private from the other corps (even though most knew) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigW Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Understood ... I meant private from the other corps (even though most knew) Heh- I frankly don't know if Westshore ever got any additional fees. I do know when Larry did the yearly business meeting with the corps, he told us they budgeted for the corps to come in dead last at every contest, and that the fact we were coming in second a lot at the shows made a substantial boost to the corps income and it was very appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted January 4, 2015 Author Share Posted January 4, 2015 (edited) Larry always wanted us to go to DCA shows than RCA because "We get more for coming in last at DCA than coming in first at RCA". Heard that one night when someone whined about getting our heads kicked in at DCA and why couldn't we go to more RCA shows. Got real cold when Larry said that, tone of voice was just frigid.... Lewisburg run by the Keystoners for decades...... Edited January 4, 2015 by JimF-LowBari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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