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The Last Don


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14 hours ago, Hook'emCavies said:

Seeing what xandandl posted, I would like to share a story.

When my older brother moved went to high school, I was just a random 7th grader that fell in love with music. When I went to my brothers first football game and watched his half time show, my mom asked me what I thought of marching. I smiled and said "it looks like fun". I remember watching the DCI finals highlights on ESPN and I thought how amazing this activity was! Then if we skip to my sophomore year in high school I began to explore deeper into marching, but it wasn't until my junior year that I just became a proud Cavies fan. Back when Myspace was a thing I had a friend request from Colt Foutz, the author of my favorite book, Building the Green Machine. I remember random conversations with him and gave him a quick background of what was then my young musical career and why I was a fan of The Cavaliers. Sure enough he said he would get Don Warren to sign my copy of the book and leave a note in there for me. Ya'll better BELIEVE I was extremely excited. I remember driving home from school after full orchestra rehearsal with a big grin on my face. I went into my room and saw the package on my bed and I did not hesitate to open it. The note Don Warren wrote was "Looking forward to seeing you in the green (the and green are underlined) Best wishes enjoy the book" then his signature. Now, I sadly was never able to march for personal reasons, but this book has stayed by my side as soon as I got it and I keep it right on my nightstand in my room. That quote is better than any award I have ever received. While I was never able to march, I hope that I might be able to teach/work with them someday. 

Sorry for the long post... I hope ya'll have a great evening!

In Colt's book relating what went into the early years of the Cavaliers an episode is told by Don about what happened on the East Coast, I believe it was at the Dream Contest which was often held by one the parishes at Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City pre-Vatican II.  Anyone who knew Don knew what a competitive but fair minded Midwesterner he always had been. But he was getting frustrated with how often the priests who were moderators/directors/chaperones of the CYO corps (St. Vinnies, Holy Name, Blessed Sacrament, Most Precious Blood, St. Mary's Nutley, et al., etc.) would be chatting most easily and friendly with the judges on the field before the contests. As judges for contests also tended to be local even at nationals, visiting corps sometimes felt at a disadvantage.  In Colt's book Don relates his reasoning and response by wearing a black shirt and sticking a white piece of cardboard into his collar over the neck button as if he were wearing a Roman Collar and thus entitled to be part of the pre-contest bantering between clergy and judges. "Msgr. Don" effectively ended the pre-show posturing, and judging standards and practices began to take on a more national and consistent footing, particularly once DCI began in 1971-2. 

I'm wondering now that he and his beloved Jan who also died earlier this year have made it to the Pearly Gates before us, will he be attempting the same influencing with St. Peter and the Almighty???  We will all be led to wonder as scores develop this season for his beloved Cavaliers.

Edited by xandandl
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58 minutes ago, xandandl said:

In Colt's book relating what went into the early years of the Cavaliers an episode is told by Don about what happened on the East Coast, I believe it was at the Dream Contest which was often held by one the parishes at Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City pre-Vatican II.  Anyone who knew Don knew what a competitive but fair minded Midwesterner he always had been. But he was getting frustrated with how often the priests who were moderators/directors/chaperones of the CYO corps (St. Vinnies, Holy Name, Blessed Sacrament, Most Precious Blood, St. Mary's Nutley, et al., etc.) would be chatting most easily and friendly with the judges on the field before the contests. As judges for contests also tended to be local even at nationals, visiting corps sometimes felt at a disadvantage.  In Colt's book Don relates his reasoning and response by wearing a black shirt and sticking a white piece of cardboard into his collar over the neck button as if he were wearing a Roman Collar and thus entitled to be part of the pre-contest bantering between clergy and judges. "Msgr. Don" effectively ended the pre-show posturing, and judging standards and practices began to take on a more national and consistent footing, particularly once DCI began in 1971-2. 

I'm wondering now that he and his beloved Jan who also died earlier this year have made it to the Pearly Gates before us, will he be attempting the same influencing with St. Peter and the Almighty???  We will all be led to wonder as scores develop this season for his beloved Cavaliers.

I REMEMBER THIS!!  When I got to this part it was when I finished my Spanish quiz. I bursted out laughing and the class was REALLY confused.

In terms of scores for this upcoming season... I believe we are going to see something quite good. I know if I were a marcher I would make sure I was marching at a 110%. 

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i didnt attend Indy in 09...or i guess Bloomington, but my wife did and got me an autographed copy of the book. When she mentioned i had marched Westshore, he immediately remembered seeing the corps at nationals way back

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I only met Mr. Warren one time, and that was at the Madison Scouts 75th Anniversary Banquet, which he spoke at. I took a picture with him, which he was more than gracious to allow me to do. I remember him speaking about the early days of DCI, and the special bond between the Scouts and Cavaliers. He seemed like such a class act.

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I still have the letter Don wrote me when I was in Viet Nam and it holds a special place in my Heart. My last year marching was in '64, I enlisted in march 0f 65 and Don

Called my Mother to see how I was doing, that's how he got my APO address. He was my mentor and savior. Now he's with alot of the guys who marched and I'm sure

He will be revered for a VERY LONG TIME...........R.I.P.  POP

 

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