Well, this is clearly the new "thing to do"! AND, it is great to see them. 27th Lancers did it a few years ago, then the Royal Airs. Madison, now the Cavaliers.

All have been great.

Now, it appears to be the Cadets turn!

What did you do in the Corps? drummer

What years were you a Corps member? 1958- 63

Don't forget Kilties. We had an anniversary alumni corps in 1986 which may have been one of the first, then they did it again a couple of years later and performed at DCI when it was in Madison. Also, I believe that the Kingsmen reunion was also timed with an anniversary.

It's a great trend and may be, in some way, the kind of spirit that revives the drum corps activity on the local level as DCI takes it's show on the road and becomes even more elitest in nature. Eventually us old farts are gonna get too old to march anymore and will want to stay in the activity, hence the possibility that many (old farts) will consider helping in the organization and teaching of new drum corps and new associations, such as the type that Chris Fererra is attempting to organize with the SDCA.

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

The Kingsmen Alumni Corps performed on semi-finals night, last year, at the Rose Bowl. I, for one, thoroughly enjoyed their show.

The Kilties Senior Corps is still performing, to this day. They are fun to watch, also; I've seen them. They do such a good job!

I just plain love drum corps... 18 year olds and 68 year olds... I just enjoy the heck out of it!

Probably only a technical point, but it seems to me that there is a difference between being an ANNIVERSARY corps and an ALUMNI corps.

The ANNIVERSARY corps exists only for one year, for a special event .. such as a corps major anniversary or special event (as with the Royal Airs, the induction of Sie Lurye into the DCI Hall of Fame). As such, they approach everything as a short term venture, including membership.

An ALUMNI corps is planned to exist for many years, as an ongoing group.

The RA started as a "one time" corps but decided to keep going. The Cavaliers recent anniversary corps was just for their 60th anniversary, so far.

What did you do in the Corps? drummer

What years were you a Corps member? 1958- 63

One thing is clear, it is much easier to have an anniversary corps when your corps is still active!

The Cavaliers had 60 years worth of alums to draw on for the corps. Same with Madison.

If the IMPERIALS were to try this, we'd have some trouble. Our last alum marched in 1984!

But, it WOULD be a real hoot!

What did you do in the Corps? drummer

What years were you a Corps member? 1958- 63

The two types of corps are definitely different, as you point out, Dave. If you got together an Imperials corps, I'd love it! Would be a hoot all right! Fun!

What I referred to with the 1986 Kiltie Reunion corps is NOT connected to the still performing senior corps. That was a one time deal, then repeated a couple of years later for a performance at DCI. It wasn't until the early 90's that the Kilt senior corps formed. Those first corps in 86 and 88 were strictly one time deals with ex-Kilts only, so they would fall into the category of alumni reunion corps.

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

I, vote for Dave to be Corps Director.

As long as he's not drum instructor. He'd probably put me in the cymbal line, and my Dad would get into a fight with him again (inside joke, but Dave will understand)!

Like Dave said, it's easier to have an alumni corps when the current corps is still active - or, certainly, inactive for less than the 28 years since Norwood left the scene.

I bet Stojak would still march! In fact, he probably still IS marching somewhere...

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 Shreffler wrote (on another thread ) about the anniversary corps ... Cavaliers in this case:

"One reason they didn't want to continue past one year is that they didn't want to compete for money, time, etc. from the active corps".

This is a major factor for some alumni/ anniversary corps - there is still a junior corps active to support. In fact, one of the benefits of having an anniversary corps is that more alumni may become involved in supporting the current corps. But, an ongoing alumni corps could be a "competitor" for alumni support.

What did you do in the Corps? drummer

What years were you a Corps member? 1958- 63

Bob, you'd make a GREAT cymbal player!

What did you do in the Corps? drummer

What years were you a Corps member? 1958- 63

VERY funny...

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

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