It’s getting closer to being real – 2020 is just around the corner!
Phew – can you believe it? We wait months and months for the drum corps summer competitive season to start and then POW – it’s there and then it’s gone just like that! How does that happen? I’m still not sure on that particular point but I do know that the Mandarins Drum & Bugle Corps had an amazing summer. From the start of spring training on May 24th to the banquet on August 11th, the entire organization ran hard and fast. The corps enjoyed a second consecutive year in the prestigious Top 12 at the Drum Corps International World Championship competitions held in Indianapolis, Indiana. That is a tremendous achievement that we should all be very proud of. The drum corps maxed out their performance level and I was extremely pleased with their dedication and effort throughout the entire season. The Mandarins set several records this season:
This was the first time in 16 years that a corps which made its debut into the top 12 one year repeated the achievement the following year.
In placing 10th overall in competition with a score 89.300, this was the highest the Mandarins has ever earned.
And to top it off, the Mandarins came away with a new record score for 10th place in finals. The previous record for highest 10th place score in finals was set 31 years ago by Suncoast Sound in 1988!
The instructional staff was just amazing. The design team provided us with another exciting and challenging show that audiences nationwide absolutely loved! Our administration, Health & Wellness team, drivers, and kitchen teams once again were stunning in their support and professional management of supporting the drum corps. I would name names but I would forget someone and that wouldn’t be good. So, I will say THANK YOU to everyone who helped – whether for a day or for 80 days, each contribution made a difference and we needed every one of them. I’d also like to thank all of our sponsors and partners for their support and belief in our organization. And yes, we are already working on 2020. A majority of the design and instructional staff are being retained, admin staff is in place, camps are being planned, and the new show concepts are already in the works. Are you tired yet? Haha! So am I but big time drum corps is a year round effort – not like in the old days when we could take a couple of weeks or even a month off. Traveling home on the airplane was the off season break and I’m good with that because I know that’s what it takes to make what we do even better. And so as we close out 2019 and look forward to 2020 please take a moment to look back at all the good times we had together this summer and then just imagine what we can do in 2020! Ciao, JW Corps Director
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