Santa Clara Vanguard 2024

[Jeff Ream]

24 minutes ago, Old Guy said:

Your absolutely right. However, organizations someday can the model to follow while being to opposite the following day. 
 

Then when you hit the hard days, it’s often one person who hold it together until the sun shine again. 
 

 

or one person that causes people that could actually help to stay away

[DFA1970]

13 minutes ago, Jeff Ream said:

or one person that causes people that could actually help to stay away

Jeff...do you ever sleep?

[Richard Lesher]

14 hours ago, ironlips said:

As a member of Bugles Across America, I regularly sound Taps at military services in the SF Bay Area.....

I can't tell you how many times I have bent over backwards to get a real bugler. I am embarrassed to say as an SCV Soprano alumni my chops are no longer able to play it respectably, my only excuse is that's not my role anymore. 

That said, both times I've had a Bugle Across America volunteer they have played very poorly. One sounded like they had been only playing a week. Now I force them to play for me before the services start, or I will send them home. 

As a Drum Corps alumni I presume Ironlips would rock Taps the way it is intended to be rocked, but Bugles Across America do not appear to have any sort of skill threshold to volunteer. 

When I end up getting a bugler assigned to the detail and he shows up, and he is in the military and his Military Occupational Skill (MOS) identifier is actually "Musician" a feeling of joy overcomes me, and I think quietly: OH THANK GOD

As for Buglers Across America, we don't know if we are getting the principle trumpet player of the San Francisco Symphony, or some wannabie that decided he wants the accolades of volunteering and picked up a trumpet yesterday.  It's frustrating to say the least. I already have enough to worry about without the trumpet player blatting out notes and missing articulations. 

[Richard Lesher]

2 hours ago, IllianaLancerContra said:

Key word is ‘their’; I don’t trust anything that SCV puts out.  I just hope that the potential members have a backup plan in case the whole financial house of cards collapses 

It wasn't until the middle of December that SCV decided to pull the plug last time. I'd at least give it a week or two. They are operationally month to month at best.  

[Phantom56]

SCV will proudly return to the field in 2024. Wouldn't surprise me if they make top six. 

[scheherazadesghost]

I'm guessing we've been too naughty here on DCP to get audition camp updates. Still, as concerned as I am for the org, I'd love to know more about my future fellow alum.

Saw some faces from 22 that I recognized which kinda made me tear up. 😎

 

[Richard Lesher]

2 hours ago, Slingerland said:

A solid organization doesn't depend on one person being there. Someone leaving shouldn't be the reason why an organization fails to function; Charles Frost leaving SCV after 2019 shouldn't have been a reason why no one at the BOD was able to make sure they stayed current., for example.

I mentioned this before, but it appears Charles Frost pitched SCV in the initial downward trajectory. 

When he left FY 2019 was entirely his baby. His actions of changing who was doing the bookkeeping, and at the time he left the entirety of FY 2019 was under his management. 

We now know that FY 2019 was a financial operating loss of -$545K when in that same fiscal year SCV had the highest revenue it it's history of $5.9M. SCV never lost more and never made more in the exact same year. 

It is FY 2019 that needed to be closed out in the books, and be audited, ect..... and submitted with the annual registration. That duty would have fallen on the new CEO, but the EXACT TIME those regulatory responsibilities were to be executed they were reeling from hiring a guy that was trying to terminate the Corps and COVID hadn't even started yet. 

SO when SCV finally got rid of the insane CEO hire we were into COVID shut down, and everyone on the Board and the new CEO/CFO team just figured they could let it ride and actually do nothing. 

Oh Thank God For COVID, right?????????? That gave SCV two year breathing room to just fumble around and figure out the operations that was pitched into the ground and they totally blew that opportunity. 

 

 

 

 

[OldSnareDrummer]

18 hours ago, JimF-LowBari said:

Father in law passed and his buddy from the local VFW asked the older daughter if she wanted military honors. She said yes but the guy didn’t explain the ceremony to her. Came time to hand her the flag she just sat there with a shocked look on her face. Felt sorry for her as I knew it was going to happen.

Then there was my dad (Korea vet) who hardly discussed his service time. We asked if he wanted military honors when it was his time. “You do and I’ll come back and haunt your ###”. “Ok we will take that as a no”. However we had the local American Legion include his name in their annual Post Everlasting ceremony 

To go off the rails just one more time, when my Dad (WWII and Korea Vet) passed, my sister, unbeknownst to me, made arrangements for the Patriot Guard to attend - complete with a Taps bugler. I was holding up pretty well during the service until I saw them lined up, saluting and hearing Taps. I completely lost it after that. 

To go back on the rails, I sincerely hope SCV gets it together and competes again in '24 and well beyond. My respect for the organization has fallen on tough times, but I'll always cheer the corps on the field. Perhaps I'm a little naive, but I really don't think anyone on DCP is actively rooting on an SCV demise. 

Edited December 1, 2023 by OldSnareDrummer

[Richard Lesher]

3 minutes ago, scheherazadesghost said:

I'm guessing we've been too naughty here on DCP to get audition camp updates.......

 

I would hope............... but recently the standard response from SCV is to flaunt and inflate any level of success they can. 

Otherwise they tend to be silent. 

 

[Richard Lesher]

2 minutes ago, OldSnareDrummer said:

I really don't think anyone on DCP is actively rooting on an SCV demise. 

I'm trying to embarrass them into compliance, and I think it's actually worked to a degree. 

Otherwise, does anyone here think if nothing was blown up on the internet that SCV would have magically corrected themselves through the letters the DOJ mails to SCV HQ? Do they think the letters would have gotten to the correct decision makers in SCV to light a fire and get things fixed? 

****************

Here is what I learned in regard to tax filings, and it now makes sense what happened to Troopers. 

For you see............ absent of all other actions from the local and state authorities, if a non profit does not file their Tax 990's three years in a row the Internal Revenue Service just terminates the organizations non profit status. There are no warnings, poof, it's just off. 

THAT'S what probably happened to troopers, and when an organization falls off the Nonprofit data file the IRS uses to allow little people like us to use the EIN as a write of that's when things get noticed. 

Vanguard was ONE TAX RETURN AWAY from an automatic termination from the IRS. 

If I didn't blow up the internet when I did and if SCV didn't respond in desperation when they did this would have been the year the IRS shut off SCV's nonprofit status. They got FY19, and FY20 registered, FY21 is "pending" but at least the 990 has been filed. 

So now from the IRS's perspective they are behind with 2022, and 2023 is due next. 

But at least it's not three years. 

2021 and 2022 were not submitted until September of 2023, and if they let it go as far to be late with 2023 then that would have been it.