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Texas Drum and Bugle Corps at HNHS

By Lamont Neal on Wednesday, June 16th, 2010 |

The 200 marching members, staff members and volunteers of the Crossmen World Class Drum Corps invite the community to visit during their upcoming rehearsals in Huntington, Indiana. If you love the big brass and percussion sounds of competition marching groups, you will love the jazz sounds of the Crossmen.
 
On June 23rd, the World Famous Crossmen Drum and Bugle Corps of San Antonio, Texas will be visiting Huntington North High School, as part of their 22 state eleven-week 15,000-mile national competition tour. The corps is composed of college and high school students from all over the world, who come to spend their summers in marching musical competition.
Local marching band students, along with fans of outdoor pageantry, are invited to view their open-to-the-public rehearsals. The staff and marching members of the Crossmen hope that the community will come out and visit during their rehearsals at the high school.  Huntington North High School is located at 450 Macgahan St., Huntington, Indiana 46750. Summer outdoor rehearsals usually last from sunrise to sunset as they perfect their competition field show. It is best to call ahead to find out what time of the day you will get to see the best parts of their rehearsal. This is often done in the later afternoon/early evening when the day gets cooler.
In years past the marching members have gotten a chance to meet local residents, and make new friends at the places they have visited. This year the Drum Corps International Championships will culminate their 2010 tour August 11th through August 14th at the new Indiana Colts Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana!
Many times local groups have been kind enough to bring the kids unique regional treats as they cool down from all day rehearsals in the hot summer sun. This may be the only time in their lives that the kids get to meet people from so many states. And they always remember special places, as they did in Louisiana last year when the group was treated by the community to Jambalaya for the first time. You can imagine what a treat for those who never even heard of it before.
Everyone is welcome to come out and see the dedication that the kids put into their 2010 Pat Metheny Jazz Show called “Full Circle.” If you would like to volunteer for the day helping to prepare meals for this hungry kids with our mobile food truck we would appreciate that as well.
A complete listing of competitions can be found on the Crossmen Website at www.crossmen.org or the Drum Corps International Website at www.dci.org including information of live theater and web cast information. To contact the corps on tour you can call Fred Morrison at 210-860-8228 or by emailing at fred.morrison@crossmen.org.
 
CHECK AT THE VIDEOS BELOW
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbVKUH-AJZI
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b319CYsManI&feature=related
 
We are a non-profit organization and you can imagine the costs of our competition summer tour on the road. Below is a list of the types of items that we are looking for if you can help.
 
If you are able to contribute or discount any of these items to the corps, email volunteers@crossmen.org. Or Fred Morrison at 210-860-8228.
 
Food Products and supplies:
• Gatorade powder - bulk
• Fresh produce for 180-200 people
• Bulk ground coffee
• Yogurt - quarts or inexpensive individual cups for breakfasts
• Peanut butter - especially crunchy
• Coffee creamer or 1/2 & 1/2
• Treats for baking - about 6 lbs each - chocolate or butterscotch chips, walnuts or pecans
• Dish rags and towels
• Cups and bowls
• Plastic forks, spoons, plates
• Band-Aids
• Ice Packs
• Ace-Wraps
• Sliced bread

ABOUT THE CROSSMEN…. Formed as a result of the merger in 1975 between two smaller drum corps in the outskirts of Philadelphia, the 507 Hornets and Keystone Regiment, The Crossmen Drum & Bugle Corps has grown to become a perennial Drum Corps International (DCI) World Champion Finalist, reaching the DCI Finals 22 times in the corps' 36-year history.
Now based in San Antonio, Texas, the Crossmen are the only DCI World Class Drum and Bugle corps in the Lone Star State. In the fall of 2006, the Crossmen moved operations to San Antonio from their former home in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and re-established themselves as an independent organization in the fall of 2007.
From their humble beginnings in Norwood, Pennsylvania, The Crossmen has served thousands of students providing, not only music education, but also life and leadership skills, goal setting and conflict resolution. Many of the 200 member unit, will continue their education after Crossmen in college to become future music performance professionals, high school or college music educators.
The corps will travel over 15,000 miles this summer entertaining hundreds of thousands of fans in both college and NFL size stadiums. Their International Championships will be held in the new Lucas Oil Indianapolis Colts Stadium August 11th through 14th in Indiana. The Crossmen will be competing against drum corps from throughout the United States as well as from Japan and Europe.
While it might appear that a “drum corps" might be easily defined, it is much more than drums and bugles. The modern drum corps is composed of 200 performers from around the world with ages ranging from 16-22. The compliment of performers, known for their big brass sound, includes percussionists, brass musicians and "auxiliary/dancers" or color guard.
They perform a 9-11 minute program on a standard football field. These programs are extravaganzas of musical excellence, marching precision, color, drama, dance, humor and emotion. All members of the corps (except the front percussion ensemble) are required to march intricate patterns, formations and transitions that are coordinated with the musical production. Their performances have been televised on cable channels networks, as well as live broadcasts in theaters throughout the country each year.
The group travels in buses for almost 11 weeks usually sleeping in the buses overnight on the road as they travel. Local high schools provide them practice fields along with shower facilities and overnight sleeping on air mattresses on the gym floors. The corps is fed with a mobile kitchen built into a semi-truck, which provides 3 meals and a snack each day during the hot summer tour. Volunteer parents and drum corps fans spend their own summer vacations traveling with the corps as vehicle drivers, cooks, seamstresses, instructors and a million other jobs that it takes to keep a unit this size on the road.
The Crossmen Drum and Bugle Corps is a program offering of Crossmen Productions, Inc. a nonprofit musical youth organization. A complete listing of competitions can be found on the Drum Corps International Website at www.dci.org including information of live theater and web cast information, or the Crossmen Website at www.crossmen.org. Crossmen can also be found on YouTube.com by typing in Crossmen Drum and Bugle Corps
 

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