Personal Favorite years in DCA

[Donny Drum Corps]

What were your personal favorite years in DCA? Was it your favorite because you won?

Mine probably had something to do with winning but when I think hard about it, 2004 with the Hurcs comes to my mind quickly as well. They were so bad in Reading, I wondered how I could help put this corps into finals on their 50th anniversary. They worked their tails off and we just had a ton of fun with the staff...especially Eddie and Duke. That year would get a high ranking and that corps came in 10th.

1994 was probably my favorite with Empire...we won.

1991 was in there...we won.

1997 with Brigs was bittersweet, but based in revenge so not as fullfilling, won prelims, tied with my former corps for finals in a controversial end to the season.

1975 Phoenix has to rate very high on the list, the corps came from nowhere to place 5th at finals...4th in prelims.

1981 Crusaders...Flip, Flop, and Fly!!!

Least favorites...1998...personal struggles, 2001 I was very sick and almost didnt make it through the season.

What were yours?

Donny

[skajerk]

I'd have to say 2003 for me.

It was my first time back on the field with a bugle in 20 years. I was on the field with friends that I'd marched 20 years ago and with new friends that I'd competed against 20 years ago. No, we didn't win but it was the first time that I ever got to experience the "throwing babies" phenomenon and what an incredible rush and ego booster that was!!

Oh, there was that whole penalty and the "boo heard 'round the world" thing too. B)

2004 was great also. The 6 standing "O's" and all that. But it still didn't comapre to that feeling I had coming off the field after our final(s) show in '03.

[kusankusho]

81 because we made finals and I had a great girlfriend in the guard.

[boswell666]

My favotite year in DCA marching with a US drum corps.

2002, I think it was and will be one of the best year I ever march with all the talended member we had that year.

1999 playing Chanel One Suite in Madison Wi. at DCI finals it was like going back 23 years (1976/1999)

With a Canadian drum corps my best year it's 1994 with Les Mets. And the my least fevorite year it's 1997

[Jeff Ream]

1996 could win cause we won, but...well..intra corps drama took some of it out of contention.

fav: 1989.

nobody expected us to be anything. #### we didnt even know we were that good. finding out the week before finals we got a 19 in drums almost had Dan in cardiac arrest...he was afraid our egos would explode.

we werent super talented, but we worked our ##### off. if we had had a visual/guard program, we would have been higher than 5th

[LisaLisaMoMeesa]

DCA 2003 = my favorite DCA.

[kevingamin]

1st - 2001. The corps was loaded with inexperienced rookies and, if we had taken out the small percentage of over 21 members, we could have fielded a DCI Division II corps with ease. New brass arranger, new percussion staff, new drill designer. I wasn't even going to march that year but I came back for the Bush Inaugural parade and got re-hooked on drum corps. There was no way we were going to win, especially after scoring over 9 points behind Brigs at the "stumble-through" in Buffalo we did. No pressure and a fun show, along with a great trip to the Netherlands, led to my favorite DCA experience, hands down.

2nd - 2000. My first year in DCA and it was a totally new experience for me. The competitive juices flow a lot more in the senior circuit. I never got into that myself and, in fact, was sleeping on the bus when we won our first show of the year in Clifton, New Jersey. If Lawrence hadn't run on the bus screaming about it... :P The drop from 2nd to 4th at Finals was a complete shock for me and the major ensemble tear between brass and percussion as we marched off the retreat field seemed to be the bitter iciing on the #### cake we were fed that night. I was convinced I was done with senior corps after just one year but, as you read above, that didn't last.

3rd - 2002. Easily my worst drum corps experience ever. I've neve marched a show where it got harder to march with each repetition. I've never cried because of drill moves that I had to step out of when my legs stiffened up. I've never cried after a performance but I did in Syracuse when I came off the field and realized I felt NOTHING, not even relief that I got through the show. I was burned out on drum corps and it scared me because I saw myself as a lifer. I think I was the only person happy after our Finals performance that year, although I can't listen to it because of how lackluster it was. I was just glad I didn't have to march anymore.

Dishonorable mention - 2003. I didn't actually march 2003. In fact, I wasn't even planning on going to any reherasals that year. Then Shawn Halquist called me and asked me to come back. I said no. Then Les Johnson called me and asked me to come back. I said no again. Finally, Al DiCroce called me and not only asked me to come back, he challenged me to come back. I said yes. Mistake. At first, I was excited to be back with my Statesmen friends, but that lasted about one-two camps. I hated the dancing in the show, hated the "scat" vocals, and, to tell the truth, wasn't a fan of 42nd Street to begin with. On top of that, I was still healing from surgery back in January. Well, I WAS healing. Apparently, the stress was such that the healing completely stopped. I finally made the choice to drop out of the corps in June. Dave Bruni was furious, but, if I had stayed, what he would have gotten out of me would have hurt the corps more than my leaving. I just had no desire, no emotion, nothing but despair and hatred for drum corps at that point. I haven't had the desire to march again since then.

[Fran Haring]

1977...... man, was I ever in the right place at the right time..... a rookie with the Sunrisers, and the corps won its first DCA title.

1978..... a great season for the Sunrisers. We lost three shows all summer (out of 17 performances, including DCA Prelims) and defended our championship with a 2.8-point win in Finals, and the first-ever perfect "10" in a General Effect caption in DCA history (a 10 in brass GE that night).

1980... we didn't win a thing that season...... ended up in 6th place at Finals..... but we had a LOT of fun during what turned out to be a very wacky summer! Some of the best Sunriser "war stories" come from that season.

Fran

Edited June 19, 2006 by Fran Haring

[Sars Lindstrom]

I guess 1995...when some of us old farts got together and decided that we should go DCA...of course it was the Deanmeister who had the vision..and the will...but as he always said ..surround yourself with good people and it will happen....and happen it did..I was a cynic but you know what with all the stuff it happened...we placed in DCA and the youngins took over and Don kept the corps in the show for another 10..11 years ....It was a good time...watered down parts for an older snare line that had not played in a while...Jeff Mac Kay what a great guy...he knew what we needed and he even played ..so go figure.....It was an exceptional year...great memories of that year and the next... and then the Grenadiers were always a welcome to any show line-up......well next year again...2007... we rebuild....and for the kids?? coming on board in Sept. ...soon that will be their memory of their best year ..when they made the show!!! As a Grennie whether American or Canadian.....just all good stuff!!! And yet RCA Rocked Right??

[Sayre Kulp]

It was the best of times...

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1997 was special because we won the first Class A Championship and for our little family corps, that was a big deal.

2001 was kinda special, because I was at the stadium before we were to take the field for prelims and was visiting the mens room, and I happened to run into an older gentleman (probably about 85) who saw me in uniform and told me he had come just to see us. (Yeah... all 9 horns, 6 drums and 8 guard or something like that), and he was being sincerely honest about it.

2006 is off to a great start. I'm having a blast with my new family at the Sunrisers. It's a great bunch of people who are really doing one helluva job. I can't wait till we take it to Dover and show the world. I'm having so much fun this year, I wouldn't trade it for the world.

It was the worst of times...

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2000 wasn't cool. Alot of people who had come out in 1999 decided to bag it and we missed out on what could have been the foundation for Shore's return to a bigger, brighter future.

2002 was probably the worst year of my life. The corps I loved folded for good. So I picked up and went to the defending world champions. Didn't feel like I really fit in there, but was doing my share and doing rather well. Then I was at college towards the end of Winter and I slipped and fell down a flight of stairs on my knees. (My knees were never that good to start with.) The injury pretty much ended my year... or so I thought. A handful of people from Shore went up to help Sky who was struggling with limited numbers. So I got the call and went up to help out their pit. I gave all I could and ended up being dismissed from the corps because of one of the instructors.

2005 sucked in particular because after the whole 2002 fiasco, I agreed (after much pleading) to go back to Sky. I brought people, helped teach, and did everything I could for the corps (even as far as playing contra in parades even though I was competing in the pit.) Then last year being the ONLY contra for the great majority of the year. And at the end of last year, as I was having health problems and needed to get off the field, I did the work necessary to perform with the pit so that I could at least help the corps some how, and after all that, the corps turned its back on me. And it hurt... alot. It was like they were saying "yeah, but what have you done for us LATELY?" I know I may come off sounding bitter, but my feelings were hurt very much by people I knew as friends and family.

Anyways... my now 15 year span in the activity has had it's up's and downs, but it's been one helluva ride. And as much as I joke about it, I have to face the fact that I am indeed what you would call a "lifer" and I'll likely still be doing this till the first shovel full of dirt hits my face. (A great drum corps legend once said something to that effect...)