IMO BILL COOK

[LabMaster]

16 minutes ago, Land_Surfer said:

It’s old news, from 2011.

 

Why did you dislike Star so?  Because they were so young and raced to the top?  If you have money, use it to do great things, and Star did.  They hired the best staff purchased the best equipment, etc.  I have no qualms with that.  Spending years growing, learning, maturing is great if you have time but why, when money can get you there faster?

Some dislike may not have been of Star per se’ but how they came about.  It was not built like other corps that were started and grew their talent. They recruited (aka poached) talent from other corps (mm’s and staff).  There is a story going around (maybe a myth) that a particular kid (other kids too) was about to go to a local corps and a private plane was provided to take him to Star to be recruited.  They were successful with the poaching and the local corps missed out.
 There seemed to be an arrogance about them as well as their DCI success grew.  The story goes, a corps had just gotten on tour, after others, because they couldn’t afford a lengthy tour.  Once arriving at stop number one, they were invited to a dinner from local show hosts.  A generous gesture for sure, but being late to the game and behind other corps (and after a long travel day) the corps respectfully declined believing a critical rehearsal was needed for the next day’s show (going on very early made a short day).  Mr. Cook was upset by the declined invitation and to show the hosts (friends of his) he could get the corps there, that he had sway and influence, he called the corps hq and complained (demanded) the corps accept and because the bus drivers were not able to drive, he’d send his busses.  The corps ended up going, and were gracious to the exceptionally nice hosts.  They refused Stars busses, convincing their drivers to take them.  No thank you came from Mr. Cook.  No apology or explanation to the touring staff for disrupting a critical rehearsal to establish a tour routine, came from Mr. Cook.  What was felt by the corps was a belief he cared very little for the corps he believed to be insignificant.  He felt it was more important for his status as a  member of DCI with power and influence.  This feeling was to stay with that corps for a long time.

[E3D]

15 minutes ago, LabMaster said:

Some dislike may not have been of Star per se’ but how they came about.  It was not built like other corps that were started and grew their talent. They recruited (aka poached) talent from other corps (mm’s and staff).  There is a story going around (maybe a myth) that a particular kid (other kids too) was about to go to a local corps and a private plane was provided to take him to Star to be recruited.  They were successful with the poaching and the local corps missed out.
 There seemed to be an arrogance about them as well as their DCI success grew.  The story goes, a corps had just gotten on tour, after others, because they couldn’t afford a lengthy tour.  Once arriving at stop number one, they were invited to a dinner from local show hosts.  A generous gesture for sure, but being late to the game and behind other corps (and after a long travel day) the corps respectfully declined believing a critical rehearsal was needed for the next day’s show (going on very early made a short day).  Mr. Cook was upset by the declined invitation and to show the hosts (friends of his) he could get the corps there, that he had sway and influence, he called the corps hq and complained (demanded) the corps accept and because the bus drivers were not able to drive, he’d send his busses.  The corps ended up going, and were gracious to the exceptionally nice hosts.  They refused Stars busses, convincing their drivers to take them.  No thank you came from Mr. Cook.  No apology or explanation to the touring staff for disrupting a critical rehearsal to establish a tour routine, came from Mr. Cook.  What was felt by the corps was a belief he cared very little for the corps he believed to be insignificant.  He felt it was more important for his status as a  member of DCI with power and influence.  This feeling was to stay with that corps for a long time.

The feeling is still with some today. As I tried to mention previously -not everyone was happy with them. I honestly still do not care for how they came along. I know they were good and I know they had success. Just tough to be around in a corps that had to fight for everything and watch them just ease into money and success. 

[Land_Surfer]

1 hour ago, E3D said:

Like I said in my post. I was jealous of the money and the talent they put together. Don't get all upset about someone's opinion. 🙂 

 

 

I’m not upset, just curious.  

[rpbobcat]

I have a very nice story about Mr.Cook.

This goes back to  when Blast was touring.

My wife and I were taking a weekend trip to Hershey Park.

We saw Blast was playing at the Hershey Theater.

Figured, while we were there,it would be great to see it again.

Problem was,the performances were sold out.

Tried everything to find  tickets.

Nothing.

I sent an email to Mr. Cook's  attention at his medical company,explaining the

situation and asking if he knew anyway we could buy tickets for Saturday night.

Got an email back from him,saying there would be 2 tickets for us at the

box office.

Called the theater to find out what they would cost.

We were told they were V.I.P. seats and that there was no charge.

Wrote back to Mr. Cook and told him thank-you and that

we would be donating the cost of the tickets to our favorite corps.

 

[seanconley]

1 hour ago, LabMaster said:

The story goes, a corps had just gotten on tour, after others, because they couldn’t afford a lengthy tour.  Once arriving at stop number one, they were invited to a dinner from local show hosts.  A generous gesture for sure, but being late to the game and behind other corps (and after a long travel day) the corps respectfully declined believing a critical rehearsal was needed for the next day’s show (going on very early made a short day).  Mr. Cook was upset by the declined invitation and to show the hosts (friends of his) he could get the corps there, that he had sway and influence, he called the corps hq and complained (demanded) the corps accept and because the bus drivers were not able to drive, he’d send his busses.  The corps ended up going, and were gracious to the exceptionally nice hosts.  They refused Stars busses, convincing their drivers to take them.  No thank you came from Mr. Cook.  No apology or explanation to the touring staff for disrupting a critical rehearsal to establish a tour routine, came from Mr. Cook.  What was felt by the corps was a belief he cared very little for the corps he believed to be insignificant.  He felt it was more important for his status as a  member of DCI with power and influence.  This feeling was to stay with that corps for a long time.

I am not familiar with that story but I did know Bill fairly well.  It sounds like the corps, in a perfectly reasonable attempt to be polite, declined the host's invitation citing that the drivers were unable to drive as the reason.  I have no way of knowing how the story would have played out if the corps declined because they had planned to rehearse or wanted to rest the kids but I'm am not surprised that Bill offered buses if buses/drivers were the stated reason.  If he believed something like transportation was an impediment it was certainly "on brand" for him to try to overcome it.

I have no knowledge of the situation and perhaps the characterization is correct but it is also very possible that Bill's actions were well intentioned and  misunderstood.

 

 

 

 

[troopers1]

Mr. Cook, through the Cook Group, financially supported a lot of drum corps and DCI.  He did it quietly, and didn't ask for any recognition.  

[totaleefree]

 I have read his book "So you want to start a drum Corps"  3 different times and every time I get a different view on what he did and how it effected the activity. I think as I have been more involved in logistics some things make more sense. He also explains why he took Star out of DCI, I am not going to paraphrase but I think it was for the good of eh activity.  

      Every other week I go and pay money to a woman to send painful electric jolts through my face to get rid of nasty hairs on my face. She is from Indiana so one day I was telling here about how we wind up in Indy every year and it turned out that her sister in law lived in the town that Phantom Regiment stays at during finals week.  I mentioned that there had been a Corps in Indiana at one time and then she told me that she knew about Bill Cook not from Star but because he had saved a town near where she grew up, restored lots of buildings and guarenteed living wage jobs to  people who worked at an old resort that had been closing down. His philanthopy extended well beyond drum corps.

    When I marched I think we were a little jealous of Star. A lot of Corps were not well managed Broken busses were an everyday thing and even food fir the corps  was not always a sure thing, So to see them with new busses and equipment for a corps that hadn't payed their dues made some folks jaded towards them.

[oldsoprano]

51 minutes ago, totaleefree said:

  I mentioned that there had been a Corps in Indiana at one time and then she told me that she knew about Bill Cook not from Star but because he had saved a town near where she grew up, restored lots of buildings and guarenteed living wage jobs to  people who worked at an old resort that had been closing down.

    

I'm guessing she was talking about West Baden and French Lick. Here's a story on the amazing job he did restoring the resort: https://www.worldpropertyjournal.com/real-estate-news/united-states/french-lick-resort-west-baden-springs-tom-saunders-larry-borst-donald-trump-steve-ferguson-pete-dye-legends-championship-legends-tour-cook-medical-9292.php

[Top Cat]

Here is another look at what a fine gentleman Mr. Cook was.  In the early days of Star, when DCM (Drum Corps Midwest) was in its heyday, there were a number of DCM shows in Kansas.  Being a week plus "tour" of contests, the judges panel needed to be switched out a bit to enhance feedback, and inputs to the  group of corps.  The logistics of moving the panel in and out were beyond the budget of DCM to manage.  Mr.Cook "lent" his jet to DCM to fly in "replacement" judges and take the others back to Milwaukee.  As far as I know, this was all at his own expense in support of the DCM organization.  As one of those judges, I was amazed and awed by the generosity he extended.  Is there anyone currently in the activity to match??????

[kevingamin]

8 hours ago, njthundrrd said:

4/15/2011
A great read for those who did not know him well and even for those who do. - https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/26/business/26cook.html?fbclid=IwAR2eH-GurR3k1q_mj0Sr00Ki0lRmRtr-6Od3gs2XafHBIg_uW2ZLs7OI90o 

I wonder what he would think about the activity today?

Do you have a Bill Cook story?

I met Mr. Cook once at Bill Lendman’s wake in 2011, just a few months before he himself passed away. I wrote about it on my website.

I Did Not Know Bill Cook