BigW Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 Right on, Jim. The message was that the better we did, the less we had to pay out for dues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted January 5, 2015 Author Share Posted January 5, 2015 LOL message we got was Red Ink... Red Ink... Red Ink....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fran Haring Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 It would seem, in this day and age, that the days of corps making money or breaking even on show fees alone are long over. I would think it's impossible for a show sponsor to pay corps the types of fees those corps would need to cover all their travel bills to a given contest.... DCA and DCI. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fran Haring Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 Almost forgot... Happy New Year, everyone!!! Show fees or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 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. what band would they recruit to? nearest one is how far away? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigW Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 Mifflin County Regional is the new combined school that serves Lewistown. G3 band, active parents. The old HS band used to do an exhibition at the DCA show, one year they even got Shik to come down and perform as well in exhibition as part of the DCA show. Show was early June, still able to snag the kids to do the show. Not a bad deal 5 DCA corps, 1-2 HS exhibitions, I even think the Bon-Bon Girls came in '75 or '76 for the show as exhibition. Again, since they moved to Quad A in football since the combined school is large, they're getting their eyes opened badly as to what kind of stadium they *should* have for fans. Also, Fran, even BITD, the contest money was a proportion of the income. Maybe a fifth to a quarter of it at the very best. Most of the corps income came from Serenade in Brass, the Bingo, the occasional parade, and dues. Still, I believe coming in second to the Bucs instead of being 4th or fifth made the corps a grand or two extra at the end of the season. Factor in inflation and fuel costs, that was real money back in that era. Heck-- the Cabs had Bud as a sponsor and did how many special appearances all season to make ends meet for their corps as well. I remember seeing their schedule, and I think a few of our jaws dropped as to how busy they were all summer doing other stuff besides the DCA shows to make their money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigW Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 LOL message we got was Red Ink... Red Ink... Red Ink....... IIRC, the corps began to roughly break even around '79 or '80, Jim, and Larry was pretty excited about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted January 5, 2015 Author Share Posted January 5, 2015 Missed hearing about the break even news thanks. And in 1979 we got honest to goodness NEW uniforms so must have been a connection somewhere. Wonder what things would have been like in 1976 if the Internet was around and we came out with Blue Devils old unis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 having seen some of those old books, and later books, i'm sure he was happy. I remember after the 94 season being a room and seeing the debts and being told there would be no 95. luckily that changed....but 3 years later..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted January 6, 2015 Author Share Posted January 6, 2015 Yeah, would love to know how many people had taken out personal loans in 1974 to get the corps back. No names, just the number to see if I could guess which ones..... well I know who some of them were. Thanks to being so quiet people forgot I was in the room or car, etc and they would talk openly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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