Bring back Scott Stewart to Madison

[piae]

As an alumnus of this great organization, it baffles me why our own alumni continue to air our issues out in public.

I believe these issues should be dealt with privately and not on DCP. We have our own forums on the Scouts site and the Alumni site.

I believe the current brothers will overcome any obstacle that is before them. I think if all alumni think back, there years marching with the corps, not everything was rosy and easy. We have all earned what the corps has achieved. I ask you all to put your emotions and feelings into supporting OUR corps. Why do we have to tear down what our brothers have built. I never see other Division I corps do this, why do we?

I fully support Jeff and his staff. I also support the Board of Directors. Will this year be easy, no...will it be rewarding with every success we achieve, yes. When the corps wins or achieves a goal, the entire organization wins. Remember, the ultimate goal is not to win or even make finals, it is to give our fans what they deserve and the Men of Madison a piece of the history of this organization that has stood the test of time since 1938.

Let's make sure the goals and dreams of Mr. Beebe are always honored. Remember when you attack this organization that has given you and I so much, you are hurting your brothers.

Good Luck to the 2007 Madison Scouts and the entire organization. I wish there was more I could do...I only hope and wish, some of our brothers will think before they speak.

MYNWA,

Patrick L. White

MS 1987-88

MSARP 2006

[Scerpella]

Apparently, Scott learned that he had become director when the PA announced that the Kilties were under the direction of Scott Stewart!

Nope. Fun story but he assumed directorship and knew about it.

[gcurrier]

Scott Stewart probably would not come back even if asked nicely and was begged to. Not the way DCI is now. He's currently the director of the Kilties, anyway (how many of you knew that?).

I didnt until i heard it announced at the show online this weekend and was like--WOW!

[Bikes_a_lot]

[Steven Rocco]

Hey, my Bears didn't get the crap beaten out of them in the Super Bowl. They kept it close for a while there. Lovie, not Lovey, by the way.

Oh, and if Ditka ran the Scouts, the score at Finals would be Madison Scouts 105.35, Cadets 10.

If Ditka ran the Scouts, it would actually be just him, playing all instruments and going head to head

against every other Corps. The final score would be: Ditka 1,288.5 to ZIP! :P

[Lancerlady]

As an alumnus of this great organization, it baffles me why our own alumni continue to air our issues out in public.

I believe these issues should be dealt with privately and not on DCP. We have our own forums on the Scouts site and the Alumni site.

I believe the current brothers will overcome any obstacle that is before them. I think if all alumni think back, there years marching with the corps, not everything was rosy and easy. We have all earned what the corps has achieved. I ask you all to put your emotions and feelings into supporting OUR corps. Why do we have to tear down what our brothers have built. I never see other Division I corps do this, why do we?

I fully support Jeff and his staff. I also support the Board of Directors. Will this year be easy, no...will it be rewarding with every success we achieve, yes. When the corps wins or achieves a goal, the entire organization wins. Remember, the ultimate goal is not to win or even make finals, it is to give our fans what they deserve and the Men of Madison a piece of the history of this organization that has stood the test of time since 1938.

Let's make sure the goals and dreams of Mr. Beebe are always honored. Remember when you attack this organization that has given you and I so much, you are hurting your brothers.

Good Luck to the 2007 Madison Scouts and the entire organization. I wish there was more I could do...I only hope and wish, some of our brothers will think before they speak.

MYNWA,

Patrick L. White

MS 1987-88

MSARP 2006

Great post!

[J.C.]

...I was going to stop reading this thread. . . when something worthwhile was brought up. . . good beer! ...

All this talk about beer, drum corps and Scott Stewart makes me think that you all might be interested in the Great Lakes Brewfest on September 15th. It is a huge, very cool fund raiser for the Kilties, with over 100 craft brewers serving hundreds of craft beers, 2 music stages, a performance by the Kilties, and Scott will be there, along with 3000 or so other beer lovers. :)

Check it out:

http://www.greatlakesbrewfest.com/

[madalumni]

All this talk about beer, drum corps and Scott Stewart makes me think that you all might be interested in the Great Lakes Brewfest on September 15th. It is a huge, very cool fund raiser for the Kilties, with over 100 craft brewers serving hundreds of craft beers, 2 music stages, a performance by the Kilties, and Scott will be there, along with 3000 or so other beer lovers. :)

Check it out:

http://www.greatlakesbrewfest.com/

That might be a trip worth taking!

[J.C.]

That might be a trip worth taking!

We had people from 15 states purchase tickets on-line last year. They all loved it. B)

[Medeabrass]

Without getting into a ton of history, the simple story is as follows:

Scott Stewart was not "fired" in 2002... he resigned. He resigned because he was betrayed internally by the Madison BOD. The issue had nothing to do with quality of the corps (listen and watch the 2002 Scouts for yourself), but was directly related to the fact that Scott was actively resisting the DCI Board of Directors and their vision for the activity. He spoke passionately against the policies that were proposed and enacted because he knew those policies would change the activity (or destroy it, depending on your preference and perspective) to the point that it would not be recognizable as a youth service and development activity.

This was a significant problem for DCI because of the power and popularity of the Madison Scouts. Generally speaking, the Madison Scouts were consistently viewed as "the people's choice," regardless of where they placed, because their shows were designed to appeal to the members and the audience. For a long time, that public support kept the Madison BOD in support of Scott. However, under Scott's leadership, publically, the Scouts quietly defied DCI by not supporting and/or participating in the overly competitive aspects of the activity, by not attending judge’s critiques and by making the "Drums On Parade" contest an exhibition event. Privately, Scott blasted the DCI Board behind closed doors, and the board was consistently torn between the typical top 6 corps, and everyone else that knew the chances of their own corps making top 6 was slim to none under the system. This was increasingly disturbing to DCI because it constantly raised difficult questions about why the activity was changing so quickly, and more importantly, who specifically (individuals) was benefiting from the change. Scott's points helped to define who was "in" and who wasn't among the DCI corps and their directors. This was obviously an internal problem for DCI.

DCI could not respond to Scott's challenges in a public forum, simply because of his credibility as an effective leader within the activity, but mostly because he was just plain right and they were wrong. The only mechanism to quiet Scott was through the competitive process itself, by pressing on the Madison Corps itself through rankings and placements.

I will not go as far to say that there was a conspiracy among judges, because we all know where that will lead this discussion. I will however say that when the DCI internal negative or positive views and opinions about an organization or individual are strong, as a judge, you risk your own reputation and credibility by going against the grain. You don't gain any higher credibility and judging credentials in the pageantry arts than by having "DCI Judge" on your resume. The pressure is always there to stay in good with the top designers, instructors and executives within the activity. What judge would want to be on the bad side of any relationship with any of the top 6 corps directors? So, you do what you need to do.

The Madison BOD stayed with Scott through much of this building pressure from DCI (pretty much up to 1998), until they folded to the pressure externally from DCI, and internally from then Asst. Director Pat Siedling, who is extremely talented and persuasive, but has also left every organization that he's been associated with, under controversial terms or issues. Scott ultimately resigned when the BOD began to take action to remove him because of his stance against DCI, they simply felt that DCI would never allow the corps to be successful under Scott's leadership, so they believed in the DCI political machine too.

Scott left, Madison "reorganized," and the corps has never been the same since. People know this to be true, but it's unpopular to speak openly about. In less than three years after Scott left, the organization went from having a surplus of over $600,000.00 in reserves, to being over $600,000.00 in debt. After the Alumni Project of 2006, many alumni became aware of the ugly details of this saga, as well as the current (2006) internal strength of the organization, which was obviously headed toward its death. They rightfully took their organization back from those that were a part of the destruction, and against their own better judgment, they put the 2007 Madison Scouts on the field this summer. They are an inexperienced but well-meaning group that is unfortunately still influenced by some misguided fossils and/or Scott Stewart adversaries that still exist. Internally, they are on the path of the 27th lances, Bridgemen, V.K., Guardsmen, etc. Those classic corps that could not sustain the demands of the DCI structure in touring and compensation based upon placement.

Finally, Scott Stewart is NOT the director of the Kilties; he will assume the director position for the 2008 Kilties. He is currently getting a better feel for the organization and putting together his plans for growing the organization. He will NOT return to the Madison Scouts, solely because it exists in the world of DCI, which he knows to be an unhealthy activity that is counteractive to what he believes is good and decent for youth, families, communities, and the drum corps activity as some once knew it.

It's a sad story, but it's necessary that from time to time, people that know what happened speak openly, because it's also the story of DCI and the drum corps activity in general. Yes, those are two separate things.

So, I guess I did get into a ton of history. Sorry, but thank you for reading.

As usual, those that weren't there and don't have a clue about what happened, flame away.

Thanks for the insight nemesis and all of you alums who are willing to speak out on this subject. I'm sure it's very hard to do. This is very disturbing to hear, but it pretty much confirmed what I was suspecting. I really wish DCI would become a more transparent organiztion that is committed to equality instead of reinforcing the unhealthy "haves vs. have nots" elitism....but that's another topic all together.