I love reading the stories about what happened when we were in Drum Corp. but what does everyone do now? Myself, I am a Senior Project Manager for a General Contractor in the Chicago Area. We specialize in renovation of Schools. Lets hear what you do!

What did you do in the Corps? Drums

After eight years as a high school band director and nine as an elementary music teacher, I am going into my third year as a Dean of Students at an elementary school in Orlando, FL. Once Shary is stronger, I will begin interviewing for Assistant Principal positions. I continued to teach marching bands until just a couple of years ago. I finally "aged out" at 46 years old!

What did you do in the Corps? Snare, Drum Major, Drum Instructor/Arranger

What years were you a Corps member? 1970-73, 78-79

Retired in Dec. 1999, after 40 years of driving a truck in the Chicago area.

What did you do in the Corps? Bass Drummer

What years were you a Corps member? '57-'62

Vince:

GREAT idea! Glad you posted that question!

After graduating from NU as an industrial engineer, I worked as an engineer, systems analyst and then administrative manager. Retired in 1998 due to downsizing!

Was a drum corps and marching band judge for 26 years.
Really enjoyed that.

What did you do in the Corps? drums

What years were you a Corps member? 1958-63

I left the corps before I aged out because of demands of engineering school at Northwestern. I ending up spending 8 years there and left with a PhD in Civil/Structural Engineering.

Worked for several companies early in my career and have lived in Maryland, Texas, Illinois, Minnesota and Michigan before being transferred to California about 23 years ago. I joined my present firm 20 years ago and have been based in the San Francisco Area all that time. My firm is a large (30000 employees) Design-Construction firm. I'm the firm's Technical Director for Geotechnical, Foundation and Tunnel Engineering. I travel a lot but that also gives me an opportunity to get into Chicago once and a while and see old Norwood friends (visited MOB practice last week).

I also have a second non-paying job as President of the Geo-Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers.

I'll probably work for another ten years. I'm fortunate to have picked a profession where the more experience you have the more valuable you become. It's also a lot of fun.

What did you do in the Corps? Cadets 59-61 Imperials 62-66

I am now Assistant Principal at Wyndham Lakes Elementary School in Orlando.

But, Rose, it appears it is YOU who has been resurrected. Where have you been?

What did you do in the Corps? Snare, Drum Major, Drum Instructor/Arranger

What years were you a Corps member? 1970-73; 78-79

I also started a part-time job 1n 2003, working 4 hours/ day at the Wheeling Township office. This is only 4 blocks from my house, the work is really easy and this gets me out of the house!

I work in the Transportation Dept there as a coordinator .. doing the daily bus schedules and reservations for their senior and disabled bus service. It is also a rewarding job, as I get to help a lot of people.

What did you do in the Corps? drummer: later: Quartermaster, assistant drum instructor

What years were you a Corps member? 1958- 63

I worked for Peoples Gas, then a company who did Airline Scheduling (OAG) and now an Electrical Contractor (Office Manager) after I went to College at age 35 for an accounting degree. This best be my last job.

I haven't grown up yet.
BUT, I play as a Global Procurement Manager, I've lived in China, Bemidji MN and Kewanee, Il right now I need a job. I have been spending time with a good friend I used to teach drums with in Joliet and go out for breakfast every Sunday, if anyone would like to join us we are at the waffel house on Rt30 in Joliet. I also saw Bob and his beautiful wife Shary 2 week ago, he looks good too.

What did you do in the Corps? rode in a bus

What years were you a Corps member? 1978 1979

Thanks, George.

And for those of you who didn't figure it out, the "good friend" George takes to breakfast every Sunday is my Dad - and I can't thank him enough for it. Even drums with the Old Man once in a while, and despite everything else he's lost to the Alzheimer's, Dad can still play!

What did you do in the Corps? Snare, Drum Major, Drum Instructor/Arranger

What years were you a Corps member? 1970-73; 78-79

Bob, George is a great friend to help with your dad!
George, talk to W.W. Grainger, Inc about global procurement. (I'll send you some contacts.)

What did you do in the Corps? drummer: later: Quartermaster, assistant drum instructor

What years were you a Corps member? 1958- 63

I work in the IT department at the Kohl's Department Stores Corporate Headquarters in Menomonee Falls WI. I have been here almost 12 years. I'm one of four Help Desk supervisors, although I really don't perform that role much anymore. About two years ago, I earned my ITIL foundations certification and have been working as the (only) Incident Management and Knowledge Management administrator. My goal is to be promoted to either an Incident or Knowledge Management manager, once the job descriptions have been created and put in to place.

Those of you that know me know that I'm happy here and feel fortunate to work for a stable and very well run company. Even in these rough times, Kohl's is still going forward with opening additional stores, increasing it's work force and completing many of it's planned projects.

What did you do in the Corps? Sop

What years were you a Corps member? 1979

I spent 23 years as a store manager for the big ole giraffe.. Toys R Us( I didnt want to grow up either). I left last year, after realizing my young family needed to see me more. I started my new job and 2 days into it got very ill and almost died. I now work for Factory Card & Party Outlet. A lot less stress... less hours.. less pay but well worth it. I run the store in Countryside (its a LONG drive from the NW burbs). I love retail.. working with the young kids and molding them really for what will be their work ethic as they grow up.

Well, I retired in June after teaching for 25 years in public schools. You know how they like to target employees at the top of the pay scale and up there in seniority? Well, I got a very nice buyout package and am just being lazy for a while. I have been sorting through all of the boxes of stuff collected through the years of teaching bands, as well as boxes of stuff from my many years in drum corps.

It's nice to think about all the good memories of the people, corps, bands and trips taken through the years. Once I am done with all of the sorting of the past, I will look for a part time job and start writing music again for some of the local bands. Was approached by about 6 groups to write their shows, but declined to give myself some time off. Spent the summer with Royal Airs which was a unique experience and a ton of fun playing my horn and not worrying about competitions or management details. Next year is up in the air as I have an advanced age parent who needs help with doctors appointments and other things. I don't mind the task all that much and will find a job when I start to get bored.

It's great to see that everyone has been so successful. My condolences to Bob. I wouldn't want to be a public school administrator at any price. I see too many of my friends who are administrators in high levels of stress trying to deal with today's kids and parents.

What did you do in the Corps? Brass Instructor, Corps Manager

Jerry,

Many of my teachers tell me the same thing! But I'm enjoying the challenge. And it's true that the kids are usually fine (at least in elementary) - it's the PARENTS that make life tough and sometimes miserable. But you keep the focus on the kids and the staff, and things usually work out ok.

What did you do in the Corps? Snare, Drum Major, Drum Instructor/Arranger

What years were you a Corps member? 1970-73; 78-79

I am currntly working on a contract at Chicago Mercantile Exchange until Mid-April on a Settlements project.

I work on IT projects on contract basis (Paid by the hour W2). My focus has been financial institutions.

I have worked as a Business Analyst, and Technical Writer on full time and contract basis since 1992.

Past clients: Northern Trust, Cargill Investor Services, Allste Investments, Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

Past Full-Time positions: Martin-Brower (Food Distribution), BankOne / JPMorgan Chase

In addition to my contract position at Chicago Mercantile Exchange, I am working on my Salvage Business. When a truck tips over on the highway, we are the ones that work with the insurance company to help them find a buyer for the cargo. We also work with companies to help them sell their excess inventory as well as used machinery. We've worked with everything from food to steel.

What did you do in the Corps? Cymbals, Bass Drum, Tenor

What years were you a Corps member? 1980 - 1983

Keith:

I have a very good firend that I worked side by side with at Bank One / JPMorgan Chase. We put the Infrastructure Operations Escalation processes and procedures in place for over 1 million mainframe transactions per month, as well as the UNIX and WIndows operations.

My friend is ITIL Certified and is looking for a new position. I asked him if he was interested in working in Wisconsin and he is open to that.

He was a manager at the State of Illinois handling the Remedy ijplementation and is now working as Change Manager / Remedy Expert / Root Cause Analysis.

I will send you an email to introduce him to you.

What did you do in the Corps? Cymbals, Bass Drum, Tenor

What years were you a Corps member? 1980 - 1983

I know you may find it hard to believe, but I am still in high school! I currently work as a special education/English teacher at a high school in Park Forest, Illinois.
I received my degree in English literature and writing in 1998. After my divorce, I returned to school in order to get my Master's Degree in secondary education with an endorsement in special education.
I got my "baptism of fire" at a school in Chicago where I dealt primarily with students with emotional and behavioral disorders. I learned quite a bit about Cook County Jail as well as interesting ways to break up fights without suffering any bodily injuries.
I am still working with these types of students, but it is in a suburban area. In addition, I also work at the local community college teaching a remedial English course. I find that keeping busy has a tendency to keep me out of trouble! I believe I may be a glutton for punishment, however, as I plan to return to school shortly in order to get my endorsement in administration and to work towards getting my PHD in education with an emphasis on special education. At this age, I need a job that will help pay off my student loans!
It is always nice to return to this site as it helps keep me young especially since I am now a grandma (yikes!) Take care everyone.

What did you do in the Corps? French Horn (against my will!)

What years were you a Corps member? 1975-1979

Jeannine,

Good to see you here! And congratulations on your degrees (past and future). Working with Special Ed student is indeed challenging. Before my current position, I was the Dean of Students at a school in a very rough neighborhood to start with, that also had an Emotionally Mentally Handicapped and a Behavior Disorder unit - talk about difficult! I was beat up on many occasions, sworn at on a daily basis, and had kids in restraining holds usually at least twice before classes even started for the day. But it was a great training ground for an administrator - I figure NOTHING can surprise me at this point!

What did you do in the Corps? Snare, Drum Major, Drum Instructor/Arranger

What years were you a Corps member? 1970-73; 78-79

After aging out with the Imperials in '70 I finished college at Northeastern Illinois University. Spent most of my career in Procurement and Logistics at Skil Power Tools and Emerson Electric.

Currently I am Executive Vice President of Procurement and Planning at Weber Stephen Products (the BBQ grill company) in Palatine, Il.

George, we currently do not have any openings but I know a lot of Procurement people and it doen't hurt to send to some of them. Send my your resume, thanks.

I'm always envious of engineers. I started in that direction and somehow wound up a long way from it. Now I'm just a tinkerer who breaks far more than he creates.

Joined the Army in '80, trained as a calibrations specialist but somehow managed to get pulled into JAG Corps and became a court reporter. After active duty, continued reporting, initially working freelance in MA and later as a Missouri official for 10 years. After that I worked as a closed captioner and speech engineer for a large closed captioning company in Pittsburgh. I am not a typical stenotypist, however; I am a voice writer. I use speech recognition to produce transcripts. I didn't get paid well enough at closed captioning working for someone else, so I'm back in Missouri and I am currently working for the St. Louis City Courts.

I also have a court reporting products line I'm readying for market, and I'm considering teaching at a local junior college or starting up my own school.

When I grow up, though, I thought it might be fun to be a Wal-Mart greeter, or maybe operate one of those new naked body scanners at an airport - as long as I can do it from the comfort of my bedroom, anyway. Maybe a potter, I don't know. But, more than anything, I want to be a Shriner, so I can wear a fez and drive one of those cool carpets in parades. I do realize it's not an occupation, but I got to use the word "fez", and really, how often do you get to do that?

- -

I'm shooting for a better job than a Wall-Mart Greeter when I leave my present job. Starter at either Pebble Beach Golf Course in Monterey, CA or Torre Pines Golf Course in La Jolla, CA. Job doesn't pay much but you do get to play golf for free on your days off and all you have to do is check to see that people have paid their fees and tell them when they can tee off.

Currently I am a High School Orchestra Director and am finishing up a Masters degree in Homeland Security this next semester

What did you do in the Corps? Quads

What years were you a Corps member? 1982-83

I think this is a good idea to network with former Corps members so here is my occupation. I am a Realtor with Century 21 Ambassador on the far northwest area of Chicago. I have sold some former Drum Corp members homes as well as some members of the alumni Royal Airs (I marched two years with the Royal Airs Alumni Corps) I have been a Realtor since 1990 and I am still going strong. If anyone is in need of any real estate services, or you have family members or friends that are thinking of buying or selling, please contact me. I do a lot of work in the suburbs as well as Chicago and I can find homes anywhere anyone wants to go.

What did you do in the Corps? flag

What years were you a Corps member? 1960's

Bob,
We had to do take-downs at the first school I worked at. I may be small, but I have a low center of gravity! I believe that coming from a family of eight and having four daughters really prepared me for that job.
In addition, when I become an administrator, I will be used to dealing with childish behavior.

What did you do in the Corps? French horn

What years were you a Corps member? 1975-1979

Jeannine,

Believe me, those experiences will definitely help you as an administrator. While I don't have those types of problems often at my current school, I have become the "go-to" guy when they do occur (mostly with our one autistic student) because of what I dealt with as a Dean. You hate to have to do it, but it keeps everyone safe - especially the child acting out, which parents sometimes forget.

What did you do in the Corps? Snare, Drum Major, Drum Instructor/Arranger

What years were you a Corps member? 1970-73; 78-79

I,ve been a firemen for 25
years in Arlington Co. Va.

What did you do in the Corps? horn line

What years were you a Corps member? 75 to 79

Feild service Engineer for check sorters

http://img92.imageshack.us/img92/3768/avatar8si.gif

What years were you a Corps member? late 60's to 70's

♪♫♪♪♫♪

What did you do in the Corps? Soprano

What years were you a Corps member? late 60's 70's

Jeff: what company?

Nice images. Are you a web junkie?

What did you do in the Corps? Drumline

What years were you a Corps member? 1960-1965

I just left Pitney Bowes and now work for Banctec.
I'm not a web junkie. Just mess around with html for the fun of it.

What did you do in the Corps? Soprano

What years were you a Corps member? late 60's 70's

I suspected Banctec. I was the Regional Support Manager in the Chicago Office for General Instrument before Banctec bought them out. So maybe you know folks that I worked with.

Small world.

What did you do in the Corps? Drumline

What years were you a Corps member? 1960-1965

BTW... I mess around with HTML, too.

That's how this web site got done.

What did you do in the Corps? Drumline

What years were you a Corps member? 1960-1965

What do you do now?

What did you do in the Corps? Soprano

What years were you a Corps member? late 60\'s 70\'s

Currently, I am the Graphics Manager for the US Army Environmental Command at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland.

Check us out at aec.army.mil - we've been doing the web site for 12 years.

What did you do in the Corps? Drumline

What years were you a Corps member? 1960-1965

I just read what I wrote. I am the Vice President of a General Contractor. I wrote Not instead of now. Sorry.

No one probably will remeber me, I was always very quiet. But I have been teaching preschool since 1984.
I work with two year olds.

What did you do in the Corps? colorguard

What years were you a Corps member? 76-81

OMG!!! Thanks to John Roberts, I have found this site.
I am a nationwide relocation specialist for the insurance companies, I temporarily relocate and furnish displaced insureds due to fire, flood or mold damage to their homes.
Amy, I remember you very well!!

First I would like to say that it is nice to see some new people jump on board.

Currently I am a Senior Consumer Loan Processor for a community bank in the Barrington, IL area. Most of our consumer portfolio consists of home equity lines of credit, car, and CD loans. I am proud to say that our bank is not part of any "mortgage mayhem" going on at this time. These banks made loans to borrowers who provided no income or assets (NINA loans) or no income, no job or no assets (NINJA loans). We are a smaller bank and we are very conservative with our underwriting so we are not in the mess like these larger institutions.

I have been in the banking/underwriting business for about 8 years now and the some of the best advice I can give to those who are looking to get a loan are the following:

Keep your credit clean - basically pay your bills and credit cards on time - oh, and those old parking or speeding tickets you hide in your glove box - they show up on your credit report as a collection - not a good sign.

You are entitled to a free credit report, from all 3 credit bureaus, once a year so take advantage of it. You want to check for any collections, or fraudlent activity going on. This is also good because medical collections will show up too. Don't assume your insurance handled everything and it was all paid.

Make sure you get your report from all 3 bureaus. Not all credit card companies or collection companies report to all 3 bureaus. If you find any discrepancies keep in contact with the company as well as the credit bureau.

When filling out an application fill it out thoroughly and completely and provide the necessary documentation. If anything is missing it will delay the process. Not is it frustrating to the borrower but it puts us behind as well.

One section of the application ask for a list of assets. Assets show how much you have in reserves in case you lose your job or get injured and are unable to work. The majority of the people never fill this out but it is used as a mitigating factor if the bank needs to do an exception for the loan. Remeber though, if you say you have $20,000 in an account you may be asked to provide documentation for it.

The necessary documentation we require when underwriting a loan include:

A signed application, 1 month current paystubs, last 2 years of tax rewturns & W-2s current tax bill and homeowner's insurance. If the property is in a living or land trust have that docuementation readily available too.

If you are uncomfortable about going to a large bank for a loan, check out your local community bank. Their rates may not be as competitve as the larger banks, but if you are the type of person who wants to see someone and talk to someone in person a community bank is the way to go. A commnuity bank is like a family and they want their customers to feel like part of the family as well.

Our bank has five local branches and I can say that I know everyone at each of those branches. The CEO and Presidents have open door policies for the employees as well as the customers. Though I work everyday I feel like I work with friends not just co-workers.

I am sorry if I rambled on, but due to this "mortgage nightmare" we are experiencing a lot of customers who are coming to us for help for their financial situations. When we take the time to explain to them what everthing means, they say that the other lender never told them anything or explained anything to them. The deal sounded so good that they didn't bother asking any questions. These customes are from all ranges of educational backgrounds.

A good rule of thumb when getting a loan, ask questions if you are unsure of anything and if the loan officer refuses to call you back or doesn't take the time to explain anything to you, then go with your gut feeling.

When you go to your closing bring along your intiial Good Faith Estimate (this docuemtn tells you what your fees are going to be) and compare them with the fees at closing. The fees should be consistent with the exception of the title fees because the each title companies have their own fees but the shouldn't be too far off the mark.

Even though you are at the closing and get a bad feeling you have the right to question the additonal fees and if you are feeling badgered into signing the docuemnts, you are not obligated to sign. You may lose a fee for the appraisal but it is better to lose $300-$400 then to get stuck with a loan that could cost you thousands in the long run.

If you are refinancing, you have 3 days after you sign to change your mind. For purchases, it is advisable to hire a real estate attorney. You may have a friend who is an attorney who will do it cheap for you but will you feel comfortable if something goes wrong and he says," I told you I wasn't familiar with real estate closings."

Again, I apologize rambling on, but it is all about being feeling comfortable and educated about the loan you are getting.

What did you do in the Corps? drums & horns

What years were you a Corps member? 1978-1981

I'm currently working for American Airlines,or I
should say have been for the last 23 yrs.I'm
working in AA's control tower.Maybe another year or
two I'll be retiring,maybe.

What did you do in the Corps? French Horn

What years were you a Corps member? 1957 thru 1963

I work for the Princeton Seminary in NJ as a human resources benefits manager. I basically deal with all the employees insurance problems and anything else that pops up with their benefits. I've been here for about 11 years. Can't beat the awesome vacation time and everyone is so nice here.

What did you do in the Corps? Hornline

What years were you a Corps member? Cadets: 1976-78, A Corps: 1979-83

I am a serial entrepreneur.

Currently CEO & principal of Tasty Catering, a Corporate Caterer based in NW Chicago.

Also, a principal in the following:
T.F. Processors, a contract baking company
That's Caring, an eco-responsible gift basket company
Touhy Capital, a funding company
Several real estate investment LLC's.

What did you do in the Corps? Soprano

What years were you a Corps member? 1959 - 1961 Cadets, 1961 - 1968 Imperial

Hey there to everyone!!
When I left the corps I went into the Navy and became an Aviation Electrician. Got bored with that and changed my job to Aviation Electronics Tech.
I was trained as a Calibration Tech and after 11 years with the Navy I chose to get out and went to work in South Holland IL. for a small calibration co. They moved me to Wisconsin where after 7 years I became the branch manager. Did not like where they were going and left to go to another calibration co. who transferred me from the east side of WI. to the west side. I lasted four more years as a field calibration tech traveling a lot. For the past three years I have worked for Boston Scientific in the Twin Cities area as a Metrologist. My wife Dee and I go to Drum Beauty every year held in Stillwater. Give me a shout if anyone goes next year.

What did you do in the Corps? Drumline

What years were you a Corps member? 73-75 Cadets; 76-78 'A' Corps

Jim,

Good to see you out here, and I like when we revive old threads for new people!

I remember the Drum Beauty show very well - marched it in 74-76 with Cavaliers and 1980 with Spirit of Atlanta. In fact, there used to be two shows there, on back-to-back nights, because the stadium was small and they couldn't fit everyone on the same night. One year the Anaheim Kingsmen marched in the first show, drove to Whitewater, WI for Midwest prelims the next morning, then returned for the second show, then back to Whitewater the next day for finals.

But I also remember it raining a few times there as well.

What did you do in the Corps? Snare; Drum Major; Drum Instructor/Arranger

What years were you a Corps member? 1970-73; 78-79

Just saw this post was busy finishing law school, if you think school is hard at 35 try it at 50+, what a drain on the poor abused brain. But now I have a juris doctorate and need a job in Georgia, and I do not want to take the bar.

What did you do in the Corps? drumline

What years were you a Corps member? 73-75

How are you?

What did you do in the Corps? Colorguard

What years were you a Corps member? 76 - 83

Haven't changed professions but left position as Chief Geotechnical Engineer for CH2M HILL and joined HNTB (Howard, Needles, Tammen and Bergdorf) in a similar position. The firm is focused on civil engineering projects (highways, bridges, transit, airports plus levees/flood protection). I have an office in Oakland CA but as with my former position my office is better described as United Airlines and any place with a WiFi connection which also includes my home.

Won't be traveling to places like Singapore, Indonesia, Austraiia, Panama, Korea and Spain on a regular basis anymore but won't miss the long airplane rides and dealing with third world places like Indonesia and Panama.

Greg, were you the marimba player?
I'm confused, why did you get a JD if you're not going to take the bar exam? Just using it for business?

What did you do in the Corps? Snare

What years were you a Corps member? 70's

Sheila,

It may sound like a strange question, but did Toys R Us start from Bargain Town in Chicago? I've always wondered...

What did you do in the Corps? Snare

What years were you a Corps member? 70's

Hello, Nice to see everyone reconnecting. My sister Katie shared this website with me. Fun. I am in auditor for the City of Chicago.

What did you do in the Corps? horn

What years were you a Corps member? 75-81