For my Non-Corps Friends

I'm sure some of my friends have looked at this site now and wondered: "What the heck is The Boston Crusader thing and what is Curt doing with them". So today is a little background.



The Boston Crusaders is a drum and bugle corps. They perform competitive marching drill and music shows..similar in some ways to the half-time band shows that you are all familiar with. The difference is in the level of skill, and complexity of performance involved. The Crusaders are part of a small, elite group of World-Class competitive Drum Corps competing under the Drum Corps International organization (DCI). In-fact, with a couple of other corps groups, Boston, or BAC, as they are affectionately called, were the founders of DCI. This is like the NASCAR or Indy 500 of halftime performances.

The Boston Crusaders have been in existence continuously since 1940, making this their 68th season. As did many other corps of the time, Boston began as a neighborhood, after-school activity sponsored by the local church parish--in this case, The Most Precious Blood Parish in Hyde Park, of Boston, MA. Since that time, and through some pretty bad stretches of time in our nations history, BAC has endured to become one of the most storied corps in the America with a truly world-wide alumni and fan following.

One of the more interesting stories of the early corps years concerns the winter when a fire destroyed the storage facility and took all of the corps uniforms with it. President John F. Kennedy intervened and arranged to have surplus West Point cadet uniforms provided to the corps--these were used for the entire season. John F. Kennedy became the first honorary member of the Boston Crusaders.


Today, the Crusaders are made up of members from approximately 16 years of age through 21, when they "age-out" or become no longer eligible to compete. 150 young men and women from several nations and across America are members of the 2008 Crusaders. Since the first audition weekend camps held in several locations in November, the best of the best have been meeting one weekend a month in Orlando to refine their musical skills (which are very high to begin with) and develop the marching drill style of BAC. The culmination of the practice weekends occurred over Memorial Day weekend when the entire corps moves into a three-4 week "move-in" camp to practice 12-16hours a day. Today is the end of that camp--the corps loads up on 3-4 tour buses, a semi-truck equipment trailer, full mobile kitchen in a second semi trailer, a sleeper vehicle for the kitchen crew, and a couple of other support vehicles. They will travel this way throughout the summer and perform their show in competition at venues all over the US. The tour reaches a climax in Bloomington, IN on August 9 when corps in several divisions meet to determine a World Champion for 2008.



The corps is made up of four main sections or "captions" as they are called in corps language. The Brass or hornline consisting of trumpets, mellophones, baritones, euphoniums, and tubas. These were originally referred to as bugles--coming I suppose from the very earliest military drum and bugle corps.





Second is the drumline, part of the percussion caption--consisting of several types of field drums and the "pit" or front ensemble. The on-field drumline or "battery" is made up of several tuned bass drums, snare drums, and quad-tenor drums. The battery is part of the on-field drill and moves as part of the drill.
The front ensemble, consisting of more orchestral-type instruments, makes up the non-moving part of the percussion caption. Referred to as the pit, it consists of marimbas, xylophones, bells, chimes, tympani, cymbals, more base drums, and a myriad of other percussion and keyboard-type instruments depending upon the show.

Finally, the color guard is the visual icing on the cake if you will. Employing flags, rifles, sabers, and other spinning, flying, flapping, unfurling, and dancing moves, it adds visual punctuation to the drill performed by the battery and hornline.

Last year, the finals were held in Pasadena CA at the Rose Bowl in front of nearly 40,000 fans, and after three days of elimination rounds preceding the big show for the top 12 on Saturday night.



So...next week Saturday is the very first show of the season outside Toledo, OH--then on to Dublin, OH (Near Columbus)--then Port Huron, MI and Belding, MI (Near Grand Rapids).

I've been volunteering at the winter camps since November (Since I've driven my son and several others each month from Michigan). Yes, 7 round trips to Orlando in 7 months! So I have watched this seasons group develop from the first auditions through the early full-show rehearsals at move-in in New Hampshire. It is most rewarding and I feel blessed to be able to spend time with this group of outstanding musicians, performers, and engaging young men and women. Win or lose on the field, they are all outstanding role models for what we all want in our young folks.


If you have sent an introverted, quiet, shy, and perhaps self-doubtful young person for their first experience away from home like I did, you will be surprised and proud to meet the young person that returns from Bloomington: Confident, self-reliant, courteous, reliable, and positive- thinking. Being able to watch this metamorphosis take place--to be able to say I may have had some small part in enabling it--that is why I'm going along again.

I am reminded of a quote:

A great tradition can be inherited, but
Greatness itself must be won.

C.A. Lindbergh

The 2008 Boston Crusaders have inherited a great tradition--in the coming weeks, they'll be earning their greatness.

My hope is that anyone considering volunteering for service with Boston consider this blog as my high recommendation to do so without reservation--the rewards are many.

Tomorrow, a typical day on the road.

Curt


For more information on the Boston Crusaders and links to DCI see www.crusaders.com

For more on the history of BAC, see the new website www. BAChistory.com