Inside the Tunnel: a Cascades Blog

“Proceed as planned Mr. World Class corps director. ”

Those are the words I received from Dan Acheson, Executive Director of Drum Corps International, confirming the final approval for the Cascades to participate in the World Class tour. The process has been long and hard and at time seemed impossible, but after taking a year off, it is now a reality that the Cascades will return in 2009 as World Class.  I want to thank everyone for their efforts to get us to this point especially those staff members who rallied last summer to save the Cascades including Mike Leone, Kurt Jull, Rob Lewis, Pat Davis, Kristine Leone, Kelly Rogers, Mark Staley, John Lewis, Ron Comfort and Ben Adams. I also want to give Mike Bujnowski special recognition for his work to facilitate the merger of the Cascades with Spokane Thunder. The addition of their members and supporters has been nothing short of phenomenal. Lastly, I want to thank all of the current members and staff members who will be part of the 2009 program.

In a lot of ways, 2009 reminds me of 2002. In that year, the Cascades were in their first year as a World Class (Division 1) corps. The corps was young with an unknown staff. The expectations were low, however, by the end of the season, the Cascades finished in the Top 12.  We were the Cinderella corps that had gained the reputation of being “Giant Killers”.  When I look into the eyes of the 2009 corps, I see many of the same faces. There is one big difference, however. We are coming back after taking a year off. Many of our vets are now marching elsewhere or have decided not to march. Our numbers are down and we have a new staff learning to work together. In some ways, we have a world class organization with an open class corps. It is now our challenge to shape that open class corps into a world class corps by the time we finish in Indianapolis, but we need help. If you are a recent vet, please join us to march in 2009. We still have openings in the horn line and color guard. If you are an alumni or a supporter, come to our find-raisers and events. We have a great auction and golf tournament planned. As usual, we will have our annual Memorial Day Performance in Yakima and as an added attraction, we have also scheduled a wine tasting tour. Watch our web site for more details and see you then.   

A New Beginning

They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder which accurately reflects the feelings of many of the Northwest drum corps fans who missed seeing the Cascades in competition this year.  I certainly felt this way so I took the initiative to do everything I could to bring the corps back to competition in 2009. I immediately sent an e-mail to all of the local music educators, pageantry arts instructors and volunteers who had helped the corps in the past asking for their help. The response was overwhelmingly positive and so a a task force made up of representatives from all over the Northwest was formed to bring back the corps.

Initially we talked about the good old day but as the conversations continued we all realized that we wanted to do more than just bring back a drum corps. We wanted something better so we agreed on a slogan that reflected our views, Beyond Drum Corps. Firstly, we wanted an all-inclusive corps that would consist of primarily Northwest youth and instructors. The Cascades need to belong to the Northwest community. This involves changing the way we recruit, where we hold our auditions, rehearsals and all-days, and how many appearances we make in the Northwest. Secondly, we want the corps to be fun, otherwise, why do it. It our hope that we can build a large family of staff and members who like each other and are committed to our corps for the long haul. Lets work hard but make sure we also play hard. Thirdly, we want the corps to be educational and we mean more than just learning a ten minute show. We envision camps that have educational sessions on matters about life in general and to take time to stop at historical places while on tour.  Of course, lastly we want to be competitive. We plan to showcase the very best talent of the Northwest to the rest of the world. We will do so by hiring a world class set of instructors, recruiting and enrolling world class members, and participating in the DCI world class tour.

I am happy to announce that we are well on our way to fulfilling our dream. Our staff has been hired that includes designers and caption heads who have already led corps to the top 12 or have been DCI judges. Our Northwest themed show, Beyond the Forest, is almost complete with challenging music and intriguing drill that will entertain the very best DCI audiences. Our logistical staff and equipment is all in place and we have secured rehearsal facilities in the heart of the Northwest, AC Davis High School in Yakima, WA. Just last week, we learned that after an extensive review by the Participation Review Committee and a vote of the Board of Directors of Drum Corps International, the Cascades will be allowed to return to the World Class tour in 2009 pending a final vote of the other corps and another evaluation of our progress.

All we need now are the members. This will be the true and final test as to whether World Class Drum Corps will survive in the Northwest. Will the youth of the Northwest support it? Will the local music educators encourage their students to audition? Will this become a priority for everyone who supports music? The answers to these and many other questions will be answered on the weekend of December 12-14 when auditions are held at AC Davis High School in Yakima. Here is your chance to be part of "our new beginning". See you there.

Sal