fruple
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Post by fruple on Nov 27, 2009 19:08:22 GMT -5
Our drumline just fell through. There were some kids basically campaigning against it (which is a story for another day), and it ended with the program just... not happening. It sucks pretty bad because we were undefeated state champs two years ago in Scholastic A, and we got moved up last year to Scholastic Open and finished third.
This is just a really big blow because winter drumline is basically my life during this half of the year. Thankfully, there's a new independent line about half an hour away (there's one closer, but it's the one that basically started the whole negative feelings towards us, so that's a no go), which is nice. They also have it on the schedule to go to Dayton which basically just makes it fantastic overall (plus, it's only $600 for the entire season, compared to the $1,800 it would have been to do the one at the high school).
So yeah. Has this happened to anyone else? Our entire marching program seems like it'll be following suit in the next few years, so any advice for keeping us afloat would be wonderful.
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Post by ~*Not~a~Stalker~* on Nov 28, 2009 13:52:33 GMT -5
We haven't had a drumline for the marching season for the past two years, and this year we're starting up our winter drumline after not having one last year. Ours winter program pretty much ended the same way yours did. The big kahuna marchers that had our director wrapped around their fingers decided they wanted to quit halfway through the season. Don't people just suck sometimes?
I don't know the situation at your school exactly, but just try to keep other spirits high about band so they don't stop wanting to participate in other aspects of it.
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KUguardgrl13
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Post by KUguardgrl13 on Nov 29, 2009 15:07:26 GMT -5
you're from coon rapids, right? i went to eden prairie and graduated last year. that's too bad about losing you're winter drumline! personally, i'm hoping your winterguard gets to stay because Northstar Circuit is already one of the smallest in WGI, and i'm sure it's the same for MPA. to keep the marching band, just try to keep everyone's attitude positive and keep recruiting new members. also, fundraising and parent support also helps. you guys are one of the better 2A bands, and i'd be sad if the program died. i know eden prairie just keeps raising the required fees they have to pay. i didn't get to see any of their performances, but i went to a summer practice, and the band is smaller than it has been. they're just not at the same caliber we were in 07 and 08.
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fruple
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Post by fruple on Nov 29, 2009 23:18:36 GMT -5
you're from coon rapids, right? i went to eden prairie and graduated last year. that's too bad about losing you're winter drumline! personally, i'm hoping your winterguard gets to stay because Northstar Circuit is already one of the smallest in WGI, and i'm sure it's the same for MPA. to keep the marching band, just try to keep everyone's attitude positive and keep recruiting new members. also, fundraising and parent support also helps. you guys are one of the better 2A bands, and i'd be sad if the program died. i know eden prairie just keeps raising the required fees they have to pay. i didn't get to see any of their performances, but i went to a summer practice, and the band is smaller than it has been. they're just not at the same caliber we were in 07 and 08. Our winter guard is staying, which I'm also happy about. They're really good. We're hoping to get our parent support up for drumline (too much support for the summer season also contributed to the downfall), but who knows. We have 50k in our general marching band account, so we're hoping that means they won't raise the fee's for joining any time soon. Actually, this last year of marching, as we didn't compete they made it just a $50 fee and the school fee, which was nice. |
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KUguardgrl13
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I'm a sister in the bond of this kinship I am fond[F4:687065693]
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Post by KUguardgrl13 on Nov 30, 2009 21:57:06 GMT -5
yeah, eden prairie still competed, but i'll be honest and say i didn't really like their show. so what independent drumline are you thinking of joining?
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fruple
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Post by fruple on Dec 2, 2009 13:11:36 GMT -5
It's a new line that's just getting started up in Big Lake, River City Rhythm. Anoka and Becker both lost their lines this year as well, so all the equipment is from their schools. The people in it are really good from what I've seen, and it seems like we'll have a solid first year.
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290Piika
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Post by 290Piika on Dec 2, 2009 22:21:46 GMT -5
Wow, that's really lame of the rebels to mess it up for you and other percussion fans. :[
Last year, the winter percussionists weren't allowed to go to championships because a couple people were caught drinking, and another group of percussionists mixed genders in hotel rooms. I heard of both percussion and guard members quitting this season because they hate the staff.
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fruple
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Post by fruple on Dec 3, 2009 1:12:48 GMT -5
Wow, that's really lame of the rebels to mess it up for you and other percussion fans. :[ Last year, the winter percussionists weren't allowed to go to championships because a couple people were caught drinking, and another group of percussionists mixed genders in hotel rooms. I heard of both percussion and guard members quitting this season because they hate the staff. That's really dumb, about the championship thing. We had a guy that was high all the time (well, there were a few, but only one got caught), and all that happened was he wasn't allowed to compete. He was still able to come with us to finals and help with the floor and everything. And the mixed hotel rooms; did they sleep like that or just hang out? Because there's a huge difference there. Sucks about people not joining because of the staff. That's actually one of the reasons for campaigning against our line. 'S a sucky thing to have a program go through. |
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KUguardgrl13
Band Nerd
I'm a sister in the bond of this kinship I am fond[F4:687065693]
Posts: 442
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Post by KUguardgrl13 on Dec 3, 2009 1:59:20 GMT -5
yeah, it seems like a lot of guard members from up there are joining MN Brass or St. Cloud Eclipse. Sometimes they're alumni though. We had one girl get suspended for two competitions and another lost her captaincy, but eden prairie never had guard-wide problems as long as i was in it. anyway, i remember that the champlin winterguard got all new staff last year. south st. paul is the one that's really fallen on hard times though. they were down to 6 members last year which is really sad because they're the oldest winterguard to still have membership in northstar.
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Post by mike1234 on Jan 1, 2010 17:30:27 GMT -5
My school has had a winter drumline on and off. My director last year was going to restart it, but something didn't work out with the money so that didn't happen. This year my new director is going to start it again since he's a percussion guy and there won't be the issue of finding someone to teach it. We're not going to compete this year, and it will be standstill, however, it's a nice start and I can imagine him building it up to a big thing in the future.
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Post by saxophoneismylife on Oct 31, 2010 14:48:34 GMT -5
Our MB would SUCK without a drumline! There are a few ppl in the drumline that I don't care about, but it wouldn't be the same without them or the drumline! We kind of need them for our competitions...so they better stay!!!
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