Residents@JV

30th Annual 'Drums on the Ohio'

Thursday, June 28, 2007, the Downtown Civitan Club of Evansville, IN, sponsored their 30th Annual ‘Drums on the Ohio’ at Central High School. The ‘Drums on the Ohio’ is a Drum and Bugle Corps competition sanctioned by Drum Corps International (DCI). The Evansville Downtown Civitan Club - Civitans Serving Drums and Our Community - has sponsored this fund raising event for Evansville since they began in order to benefit the disabled community and specifically children’s groups. The proceeds from this year’s event along with others will be distributed out to The Advertising Club of Evansville and Jacob’s Village - Dedicated to Enriching the Lives of Adults with Developmental Disabilities. The Downtown Civitan Club arranged for the Jacob’s Village residents of Wanda, Debbie, Donna Kay, Mike, Michael, Scott, Home Coordinators Janice and Barry to attend ‘Drums on the Ohio’ for their second year. This year for scheduling reasons, they were unable to have it in the Reitz Bowl overlooking the Ohio River, so it was held in Central Stadium. When the Jacob’s Village bunch arrived at the Stadium parking lot it was already beginning to fill up. Needing handicap-accessible parking, they were directed to the access drive inside the fence, beneath the bleachers. The Civitan personnel, all volunteers, taking tickets were expecting the Jacob’s Village bunch and ushered them in to their reserved seats on the bottom 1st row of the bleachers, behind the fence on the 40 yd. line. They were good seats, but lacking a good view of the designs and patterns that were being created and formed by the marching, competing teams. For this, one needed an Eagle-eye view high in the stands looking down on the field instead of seeing it at eye-level. The Reitz Bowl, unlike Central Stadium, has their handicap seating up at the top of their concrete bleachers. The Boom Squad from the New Hope Music Academy in Evansville, IN. was providing the introductory and entertaining preview for the night’s entertainment at 5:45pm with their usual choreographed routine of marching and drumming. Although the Boom Squad does not compete against the night’s featured Drum Corps teams, they provide a professional type of warm-up for the audience of what can be expected. Following the Boom Squad, Civitan club member, ‘Drums on the Ohio’ staff and advisory member Ron Faust, welcomed everyone and addressed VIP guests from the 50 yd. line. Current Downtown Civitan President Martin Fraering acknowledged other businesses, dignitaries and groups responsible for the evening’s event and expressed gratitude and Thank You’s while giving the signal for the Drum Corps teams to begin the contest. Performing first in the competition were two Div. III teams, the Revolutions of San Antonio, Texas and the winner of the division Memphis Sound of Collierville, TN. Followed by four Div. I teams: the Troopers out of Casper, WY, Blue Stars from Lacrosse, WI, Spirit of JSU from Jacksonville, AL, and the overall winner of the event, the Blue Devils of Concord, CA. Members of these Corps must be 14-22 years of age. All competing unit teams fit into one of three divisions: A Division I Corps has 90 to 128 members, a Division II Corps has 30 to 128 members, and Division III Corps must have between 30 and 60 members. Each Drum Corps team was performing to perfection and with each one; the choreographed routine and required skill levels were increasing, saving the best for last. There are three sections to the Drum Corps: Brass, Percussion, and Color Guard. Teams perform to a 15 minute production. Each competing unit within their division is judged on a different scale of achievement, creativity, and content. In the categories: general effect in Visual by performance, ensemble, and color guard and in Music with the brass, ensemble, and percussion units.

DCI is headquartered in Addison, IL, and was founded in the Winter of 1971“To promote, develop and preserve the operational and artistic standards of the competitive musical sport and to provide organization and leadership for the activity and to develop and successfully operate musical events for the participating drum corps community. DCI has no affiliation with any school or university, although, they were originally part of a VFW and/or an American Legion Post. After WW I, veterans organized Drum and Bugle Corps to perform in parades to display the “Stars and Stripes”. In the 1960’s, Drum Corps began to grow musically, it became more competitive and many started to associate with the local Boy Scout troops or other local youth organizations. Drum Corps repertoires also began to integrate jazz, classical, pop, and Broadway music. Through the 1960’s, 70’s, and 80’s they evolved from quasi-military units to competitive marching and music units. Today, DCI is a cross between a Broadway musical and a marching band show, a modern day junior Drum and Bugle Corps. There is more than 250 corps operating in the U.S. and Canada, with an additional 100+ around the World. Of the 250 North American corps more than 80 regularly participate in DCI’s Summer Music Games Tour. DCI produces The Summer Music Games Tour and it consists of over 150 events in 39 states and 2 Canadian provinces. A competing corps’ season begins in November when they line up a teams placement. The teams have up to six weeks of rehearsal that includes marching practice on a football field. The rehearsals end up with an eight-week North American city-bus tour that prepares them for the DCI Championships that are held in Pasadena, CA, this year August 7-11, 2007. All the residents of Jacob’s Village send a ‘Big Heart’ Thank You to the Downtown Civitan Club for their generosity.

posted by J V Resident Blog @ 11:58 AM