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What I learned from a day with Pioneer


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18 hours ago, wigwam said:

After reading this, I decided to send Pioneer a donation.  Thanks!   

Wow - that is fantastic - thank you! They are amazing kids and I know your donation will go to good use.

Thank you everyone for the kind words.  We're never too old to learn and change and grow.

I will be travelling a lot in retirement so I will no longer be able to fulfill the duties of caption head for the Scout House Cadets. I helped start this corps five years ago, so this goodbye is going to be the toughest ever.  My last show with them is this Saturday and that student in Pioneer, Sienna, is going to saddle up and march quad with us one last time on that occasion. She was working the music on the bus ride home!  I couldn't be more grateful and touched by her gesture but she's that kind of kid. I'm going to be a basket case that day!

Moving forward I will help them out as a tech when I'm home, if needed, and continue on the board. I also want to help establish a small regional cooperative circuit up here so that the Cadets and other emerging corps in Ontario have more opportunities to perform at minimal cost. So to quote Monty Python, I'm not dead yet!

Edited by Grandpa
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Thanks for typing this up.

We knew where we stood compared to other corps and we didn't let it get to us. Our show was still a ton of fun to perform and was much cleaner than we expected it to be. To me, that matters more than a number.

Wednesday night was also cool because it was both the first time we got to see our own show, and when we performed, it was our chance to show some of our best friends the show for the first time. Those were my favorite runs of the year by far.

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Funny how time has put things into perspective with some of us oldtimers.  I, too, have grown to appreciate the experience over the placement as the years have gone by.  I cherish the friendships, the memories and the overall sense of accomplishment.  I marched in a small corps until I was 16, and then marched with a finalist for 3 years.  I went on to teach a top 25 corps back in the early 80's.  All of the experiences were equally satisfying in retrospect.  Bravo Pioneer !

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1 hour ago, resguy said:

Funny how time has put things into perspective with some of us oldtimers.  I, too, have grown to appreciate the experience over the placement as the years have gone by.  I cherish the friendships, the memories and the overall sense of accomplishment.  I marched in a small corps until I was 16, and then marched with a finalist for 3 years.  I went on to teach a top 25 corps back in the early 80's.  All of the experiences were equally satisfying in retrospect.  Bravo Pioneer !

Agreed completely.  I've had undefeated seasons as a caption head and DCA finalist appearance as an MM, whereas the Cadets have fluctuated between 22-30 members throughout our existence and we've certainly had our share of challenges - but it's been the best 5 years of my drum corps life.

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good stuff grandpa! I had the time to spend with Boston a little this summer, and saw many of the same things....sure the kids wanted to place well, but what I heard them talking about most was the reactions fans had to the show. They loved getting that roar at the end ( this was after they added the first burning)...I can only imagine as they added more to the fire!

 

I wasnt able to spend time with Phantom, but the last of any kids I taught marched his age out as their center snare. When i saw him in Allentown, scores didn't faze him...he was having a blast! He was so hyped about ":getting to play right in Jeff's face and seeing him nod in appreciation!", 

 

that to me said everything I needed to know...but the hug and high five helped!

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Absolutely great post, Grandpa!!!  Bravo!!!

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