Drum Corps Update - April 2025

February Camp - 2025

Greetings Mandarins Families, Friends, and Fandarins!

I hope that Spring is bringing you good times and good weather. The drum corps is alive and well as we head towards April. Our next camp is April 25 – 27 at Granada High School in Livermore. We are excited to be going back to Granada High School, where we held our December NorCal audition camp. The full corps will be there. Yep, brass, percussion, and color guard will all be onsite as the WGI season will be over, and it's all about the drum corps. If you are in the area that weekend and want to stop by and check things out, please do so. If you want to get a little more involved by spending some time in Mushu (our mobile kitchen), serving up some awesome meals for our drum corps, we'd love to have you join us. If you are interested in volunteering, please sign up at mandarins.org/volunteer!

Many exciting things are happening with the drum corps as we have partnered with some new companies, including Vic Firth (drumsticks and mallets) and Yamaha musical instruments (brass and percussion). We are truly honored to partner with these amazing companies, and we look forward to a long and successful relationship with them. We are also happy to continue our partnerships with: Remo (drum heads), Zildjian (cymbals), Ultimate Drill Book (UDB - drill learning software), Creative Costuming & Design (CCD - full corps uniforms/costumes), Pageantry Innovations (PI - speaker and synth carts), Hammond Design (HD - brass instrument mouthpieces), California Drums (drum stick tape, muffling, and accessories) and Forte Athletics (winter conditioning program). We have a couple more partnerships in the works that we hope to announce soon (Check them all out at mandarins.org/sponsors). Transportation-wise, we are once again contracting Village Travel for our member charter buses as we have now been with them for several years, Enterprise Vehicle Rentals (cars and non-commercial trucks), and Ryder, our preferred commercial truck provider.

Show design continues with the music (brass and percussion just about completed), drill design well on its way, uniform/costume prototypes in progress along with the props design and procurement. And, no, I'm not yet ready to tell you the show title, theme, or storyline. However, I am very excited about what we have cooking. If you come out to the April camp, you just might get to hear some of the awesome music being played by the brass and percussion sections. Tour planning continues to be exciting and challenging as we get closer to spring training and our summer tour. That's just the nature of the beast nowadays. Getting schools to commit and sign paperwork continues to be difficult in California, but we make it happen.

Exciting tour update - the July 25 DCI show that is typically held in Murfreesboro, TN, has been moved to Nashville, TN, due to construction in Murfreesboro. The show will be at Nissan Stadium, where the Tennessee Titans NFL professional team plays home games. Now, that is going to be an exciting event! 

We have new souvie merchandise on order and we expect to have some of the new items at the April camp. You can be the first ones on your block to have the new gear. You will also be able to order your new gear online and have it shipped to your home (shop.mandarins.org).

We have turned on two of our major fundraiser programs – “Feed the Dragon” and “Dress the Dragon”. These programs directly support the drum corps members and are crucial to the financial success of the drum corps. Plus, the members love it when they see that a meal has been sponsored by a family, a relative, or a friend that they know. The “Dress the Dragon” program allows for each member to take their uniform home with them after finals as a very special memento of their season with the Mandarins. Please consider participating in one of these great programs and see your Mandarins smile because of your support! 

Last but not least, Thursday, May 1, is our annual scholarship fundraiser. The Big Day of Giving is a 24-hour community-wide fundraising movement in the Sacramento region, organized by the Sacramento Region Community Foundation, that unites donors and nonprofits to raise unrestricted funds for organizations that strengthen our capital area. This program funds our Mandarins scholarship program to assist members with financial challenges to enable them to reach their dream of marching in the Mandarins! We would be so honored if you would participate in this worthy program.

Until next time!

Ciao,

JW 

Corps Director