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Time to Say Goodbye, after 15 years


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17 minutes ago, WaxDCIFan said:

At the risk of getting back on topic, I share a lot of feelings as the OP.  As a MM and a fan from an early age, I was excited when my own my own kids demonstrated an interest in DCI.  After 5 years watching them perform in multiple corps, I can say that I have spent an embarrassing amount of $$ on tuition, tickets, T-shirt’s, and spent most of my company vacations for the past 5 years driving food trucks and prop vans, etc.

But it looks like both my MMs are moving on to other life things (jobs, study abroad, etc).  Given the state of the activity with mike’d horn players hanging from trapeze on the field, and that any real competition and parity long ago died away, I can’t see spending any more time or money watching the same 2 or 3 corps win every year. It’s just not that interesting anymore.

I can absolutely understand that. I think a few of the things that I've done to keep myself excited about DCI and DCA is that I:

1. Limit the number of shows I go to 

2. Don't follow the scores at ALL until just before Prelims. I watch the corps but I just don't care about the scores. 

3. Introduce new people to drum corps. I don't have kids. But I've gotten my girlfriend involved and she LOVES drum corps. 

I think it's natural that if you marched and then had kids that marched (plus the volunteer work,) you just get burned out on it. I'm going to try to do some volunteer work this summer with a corps. It's been almost 9 years since I was anything but a fan.

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1 hour ago, greg_orangecounty said:

Jeff,

You made an unsolicited comment to me. If I disagree and make a comment back to you don’t cry about it. If I upset you dont read or respond to my posts.

my reply was not specifically to you. it's to all pissing and moaning about corps vs band.

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45 minutes ago, cixelsyd said:

How stupid is it in 2019 that we still have people wading into a discussion group to tell others not to discuss something.

it's my lot in life to call out stupidity.

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33 minutes ago, JimF-LowBari said:

At least no one has brought up massive attendance at AL/VFW nationals in their hay day. Yeah lot of attendance but the crowd was there for the convention and the corps show was part of the convention. IOW it was something for the vets to attend as entertainment.

hell the regular season DCA/Legion show in Scranton was more legion people than drum corps fans. and their spectator ettiquette was horrific. Especially finals night on 05 when those presenting at awards went loudly bounding down the stands during Bucs ballad. I was ###### I wrote letters to the local, regional and national HQ about it

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6 minutes ago, Weaklefthand4ever said:

 I'm going to try to do some volunteer work this summer with a corps. It's been almost 9 years since I was anything but a fan.

Good on you, my friend. Nearly 40 years for me. Maybe there's a corps out there somewhere that can use me in the kitchen making PB&Js. Maybe not such a good idea. I'm not quite as quick and nimble now. Poor kids would starve before they got a sandwich. 

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1 minute ago, OldSnareDrummer said:

Good on you, my friend. Nearly 40 years for me. Maybe there's a corps out there somewhere that can use me in the kitchen making PB&Js. Maybe not such a good idea. I'm not quite as quick and nimble now. Poor kids would starve before they got a sandwich. 

My last year in DCI was 1990. The only reason why I came back was because I happened to run into something about DCA in 2004 and suddenly I was back in the fold for the 2005 season. CV was a great experience for me to come back to. Now at 48, I'm too old to march (my back just won't take strapping on the pigs anymore.) Britt actually asked me yesterday on the way back from work how I was going to stay involved this summer. The last 9 years have been spent building up my wood shop and filling orders for customers. 

I probably can't hold down a food truck, but I bet I can hold down that chair at the souvie booth!

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1 hour ago, Jeff Ream said:

hell the regular season DCA/Legion show in Scranton was more legion people than drum corps fans. and their spectator ettiquette was horrific. Especially finals night on 05 when those presenting at awards went loudly bounding down the stands during Bucs ballad. I was ###### I wrote letters to the local, regional and national HQ about it

Oh man... I remember it well. That was rough.

Those '02 through '05 years, when it was the combined DCA/AL title show... holy mackerel, the awards ceremony on finals night was absolutely nuts.

All those DCA awards (way, way too many... awards for captions, subcaptions, drum major, honor guard, sections like best pit, contra line, etc.)... plus all the Legion awards, which did not always match up to the current DCA captions (the AL awards were the same ones that had been given out for decades).  LOL.

Plus, we had to basically babysit the AL people who were presenting the awards, to make sure they heard which award was being given out and which corps was going to receive it.  My wife Barbara, with help from a few other DCA folks... Bill Thorpe, Tom Peashey, others... would literally escort the Legion folks out to the drum majors with the correct award, after I announced the award/sponsor/presenter/winner. 

No offense to the AL people. I thank them for their service to our nation. But wow, those awards ceremonies might have taken a few years off my life. :tongue:

Looking back at the years I worked the DCA title show, or any show for that matter... I have to put that '05 DCA weekend at the top, in terms of my best work. (For whatever that's worth.  LOL.)  Not only the Kilties tragedy at prelims... but that hugely long awards ceremony at finals. Managed to get through it all.

Edited by Fran Haring
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7 minutes ago, Fran Haring said:

Looking back at the years I worked the DCA title show, or any show for that matter... I have to put that '05 DCA weekend at the top, in terms of my best work. (For whatever that's worth.  LOL.)  Not only the Kilties tragedy at prelims... but that hugely long awards ceremony at finals. Managed to get through it all.

I remember all too well putting that black ribbon on my uni. I still have it in fact along with my star from that year. And yeah...retreat was kinda brutally long LOL. Then we went out to the lot and played for Renegades if I remember correctly. 

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2 hours ago, LabMaster said:

My son calls it a cult.  At a corps event all the alumni sang the corps song and he turned to my wife and said "see, it IS a cult".  I guess it kinda is.

It kind of is.  Like those clogging followers.
 

 I was at a hotel with clogging competitors and their parents many years back and I thought they were even more nutty and obsessed than we are. 

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1 hour ago, Jeff Ream said:

my reply was not specifically to you. it's to all pissing and moaning about corps vs band.

It’s all good. We all came in in different eras but we’re all still fans of drum corps. 
 

(until woodwinds are introduced) 

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