THREE DAYS IN PASADENA
THREE DAYS OF PRIDE
And so, the 2007 season comes to a close; but the memories and the pride of this Old alumni war-horse will linger on for the rest of my days.
Approximately three months ago I met with George Hopkins in a Paramus Shopping Mall at Starbucks (where else?), to discuss Cadet Alumni activities. Shortly afterwords I received a communication from George asking if I could arrange for a representative group of Holy Name Alumni to attend Memorial Brass, reason unspecified. I contacted quite a few, but because of holiday weekend family commitments and short notice, I was only able to convince two of my fellow 1957 Cadets to accompany me; John Avella and Ken Shedosky. We literally hadn't seen each other in 40 plus years. Neither John nor Ken had seen a drum corps perform or been in touch with the Cadets during that entire period of time. We had no idea why we had been invited, but we knew why we were going. It was way past time to reconnect the past with the present.
We arrived in Allentown wearing our brand new Holy Name Cadet jackets, and from the first moment we arrived we were treated like visiting royalty. George, the Yea staff, the Cadets' instructional staff, parents, board members, and spectators present to attend the concert, all welcomed us warmly and with reverence. Then it happened. The 2007 Cadets began to emerge from the concert hall following their rehearsal, and they were all wearing "the shirt." On the front was the program logo for the season, "I Believe," and on the back was the words "For Holy Name Shall Always Be." I will never forget that moment for as long as I live. John, Ken, and I looked at each other and began to cry, and for the rest of the evening the tears flowed freely.
At just about the same time we spotted the Cadets, the Cadets spotted us, and we were mobbed. I have no idea if the Cadets had been informed that we would be attending, or if it was just spontaneous; but it didn't matter either way. Cadet Alumni representing 73 years of Cadet history were symbolically reconnecting with "our corps and our kids," and for John, Ken, and I, it was moving beyond description. Our love affair with our 2007 Cadets began at that moment. Later we took the seats reserved for us in the theater and sat in stunned silence as the curtain opened and The Cadets, wearing "the shirts" appeared, and proceeded to blow us away with the most awesome display of talent any of us had ever witnessed in our entire drum corps experience. But, the best was yet to come.
Following other excellent groups participating in the program, The Cadets made a second appearance, this time in "the uniform." The three of us lost it completely. This time we just couldn't make the tears stop..
.and we didn't want to make them stop. Our corps was our corps again, and all was right with the world.
After intermission John, Ken, and I were invited out on the stage where we were introduced to the audience by George, and presented with a plaque for the 1957 Holy Name Cadets commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the 1957 American Legion National Championship, the last National Championship won under the Holy Name banner. This plaque will be on proud display at the Great-Gathering-of-the-Maroon in Atlantic City, September 12 thru 14. We had a surprise for George as well, and I think for once we caught him off-guard. We presented him with a Holy Name Cadet jacket and informed him that from that moment on we expected him to sing The Holy Name Hymn with all other Cadets, past and present. He might not have considered himself a Cadet, but after 25 years of service to our corps he is a Cadet, and it was time to join his voice with ours in the most beloved of all Cadet rituals. We left that night to drive home three very happy Cadet Alumni, and we proceeded to tell every other Alumnus w e were able to contact what we had seen, and what we had experienced. The re-bonding of our corps had begun.
The three of us also traveled out to Allentown a second time for the Cadets'
first dress-rehearsal performance of their "This I Believe" program. Once again we were blown away by the unbelievable talent of the 2007 Cadets. After the performance we went down to greet the Cadets at their food truck, and were once again mobbed. They had another surprise for us as well that was completely unexpected. Two of the young Cadets had "Holy Name Cadets" tattooed on their bodies. If you never marched Cadets you probably don't realize what an impact that had on us. The three of us were Cadets top to bottom, but we never reached the point of displaying our corps pride so indelibly. It was at that moment that we realized that the bond between our past and their present was now unbreakable. We became born-again Cadets in a dark parking lot outside the walls of J. Birney Crum Stadium, and we knew that it was our mission to let all Cadet Alumni know that the history, traditions, and legacy they had built, were alive and well.
Not too long afterwords many Cadet Alumni gathered for a reunion at Giants'
Stadium for the Cadets' home show. All the events associated with that reunion were packed, and all divisions between segments of the corps had disappeared. No one grouped themselves or isolated themselves by banner. We were still part of the Holy Name Cadets or the Garfield Cadets or the Cadets of Bergen County or The Cadets; but now that was a sub-title. We were all Cadets, and we were all Holy Name. We were one corps, and we began to realize that our history was not just our past, but our present and future as well. We realized that the modern-era Cadets are living history, and that through them the best is yet to come. At the end of the pre-contest reception alumni from all eras, and a representative group of Cadets, sang the Holy Name Song in unison.
There wasn't a dry eye in the house. The Chairman of the YEA Board perhaps said it best at George's Testimonial the following day celebrating 25 years as Director of The Cadets. Mr. Silverstein closed his remarks with this statement:
"Our job is to ensure that The Cadets will be around forever, and that Holy Name shall always be..."
We are part of a competitive activity. While competition may not be the primary component of the Cadet Experience; it is a valuable tool for teaching and learning a lot of life lessons. This year the DCI Championship Competitions were held in Pasadena, California. I was present for those competitions. The atmosphere was, to put in mildly, extremely hostile. Somewhere along the line a growing number of members of the drum corps community have lost their civility and self-pride, and become rude, obnoxious, and self-focused. Sadly, in Pasadena that group prevailed, and swept along with them a large number of people who in retrospect I would be willing to bet are now dismayed at their own behavior, and ashamed that they were a part of such a denigrating spectacle. I have been around drum corps for 57 years, and during that entire time I have never seen anything remotely similar occur. The most disturbing part to me was that many of the people swept along in the mob-like atmosphere that prevailed in the stands were wearing corps jackets, tee shirts, and other items advertising their allegiance. They did not seem cognizant of the fact that if they were members of any of the corps competing and they acted in the manner in which they were acting, they would probably have been thrown out of their corps.
For myself, I have never been prouder to be a Cadet or to display my colors than I was in Pasadena. The 2007 Cadets were magnificent; in their talent, in their performance abilities, in their behavior, and in their ability to stand tall as Cadets under the hailstorm of abuse they encountered. Yes, I suspect they did learn some valuable lessons in Pasadena. I suspect that you will never see behavior from them that was exhibited towards them. One of the primary lessons of the Cadet experience is the importance of personal accountability. How unfortunate that those booing and heckling in the stands never learned that lesson.
At the quarterfinals we had our first drum major, John Baumfalk, now 89 years Old, viewing The Cadets for the first time in 57 years. He was a guest of DCI in the press box. Interviewers and photographers from local publications, radio stations, drum corps publications, activity and corps websites, etc., were lined up to get his story on tape and on film. I don't think he heard much of what occurred. He was too busy displaying the grace and character of a man who planted the seeds for the corps he had come to see...The Cadets. If he did hear the boos or observe the behavior of the audience, I suspect he would have too much courtesy to comment on it to his hosts.
Did the boos affect The Cadets' performance? Absolutely! Who could have been prepared for anything even close to what they encountered. Did George do the right thing by pulling them off the field to permit the field to be relined?
Absolutely! The Cavaliers, performing just before the Cadets, experienced several members falling, and their Director not only notified George of the condition of the field, but was solidly in support of George's decision. The irony is that the Cavaliers were the only corps that would have benefited from a penalty assessed against the Cadets, but Mr. Fiedler, like George, chose to do the right thing rather than the advantageous thing. It amazes me how so many people both in the stands and in the theaters characterized what occurred according to their own distorted prejudices and/or invalid assumptions. On Thursday night in the Rose Bowl the audience became a mob, and our long-held belief that drum corps people were something special was tarnished forever .
At the semi-finals on Friday the Cadets came back with a vengeance. It was the finest drum corps performance I have ever witnessed. They placed second by one half a tenth. Should they have won? That's a matter of personal perspective. The judges had a near-impossible job, and I think for the most part they performed it well. Each judge has a single segment to evaluate, and sometimes the numbers don't work to your advantage. The Blue Devils had a fine corps, and whichever way the numbers fell, either corps could have emerged on top. The Cadets entered the field to be greeted by a hostile audience. They left the field with the sound of a standing ovation ringing in their ears. They turned the mob back into an audience again, with only isolated idiots playing out their self-assigned roles. All season people on the drum corps forums blasted the Cadets' program concept, the narration, the tonality of the Cadets doing the narration, and everything in between. Most of them had never even seen the Cadets perform live, but they still felt qualified to pass judgment.
In Pasadena there was a whole new element. People with signs and people yelling out comments that were either insulting, meant to disrupt, or five second routines by wanna-be stand-up comics. I sat next to one who thought he was so amusing and witty that his running commentary on the Cadets should be shared with the world. I hope he has a day job.
On Saturday morning I had the very great honor and privilege to attend The Cadets traditional Finals-Day breakfast. There was a huge turnout of alumni, parents, friends, and supporters. Most important of all was the long-anticipated opportunity for John Baumfalk, our revered first Drum Major and horn instructor, to meet the 2007 Cadets. These young people showered John with love and attention and reverence. They made me very, very proud. They made John very, very happy. Afterwords we got to witness one of the famous "Hop Meetings" with his Cadets. The young men and women of the corps were seated on the field, with the adult attendees standing facing them. George gave a short explanation of how he attempts to relate the Cadet experience to imminent life experiences, and he thanked the young Cadets present for the privilege of leading them, and thanked their parents for entrusting the most precious people in their lives to his care. Following that he opened up the discussion for anyone to speak. I am told this is a regular component of his regular meetings with The Cadets throughout each season. Several Cadets stood to thank him for the experience of being a Cadet, to thank their parents and/or sponsors for making it possible, to thank their instructors for the incomparable learning experience, to tell the alumni present how much their support meant to them this season, and to tell their fellow Cadets how much they loved them. The discussion was then opened to the guests present. Several parents echoed their sons or daughters by thanking George for what he had done for "their" Cadet. Someone else who seemed to be just a fan thanked the Cadets for the joy they brought into his life by their performances and by his observations of how they conducted themselves. Finally a Catholic Priest, Rev. Fr. Jim Reilly, asked to speak. He informed everyone present that he had been following the Cadets as a fan since 1947. He spoke from the heart about his feelings for the Cadets, and most particularly for the 2007 Cadets. He made us laugh, he made us cry, and he made us all very, very proud. His final words to the group of Cadets sitting on the ground sharing their final moments together with those of us gathered in tribute to them was, "and you truly are Athletes of God." Some people this summer have criticized and ridiculed that phrase. I will never understand why! As I watched the young Cadets, and Troopers, and Pioneer, and Scouts, and Bluecoats, and Crown, and members of every other corps enter the stadium gates for each of the three nights of competition, I was filled with admiration and conviction that each and every one of them was in fact truly an "Athlete of God." My opinion of those ridiculing or booing any single one of them is far less lofty.
Saturday was the culmination of my three days of pride in "Our" Cadets. I can't begin to imagine what was in the mind of each Cadet proudly entering the field wearing the maroon and gold. They performed magnificently. They stood tall in retreat formation and never wavered. They left the field with dignity and pride.
Now they are dispersed once again; to states near and far, to Countries most of us have never visited. They have begun their lifelong Cadet journey. I can tell you what's in my mind now. I think their legacy will live on in Cadet history forever. I believe they have honored our corps beyond measure. I believe that the words "I Believe" are part of a new Cadet creed. Thank you 2007 Cadets. You have made history! We now have a united corps that will work together, as never before, "to ensure that the Cadets will be around forever, and Holy Name shall always be..."
Dave Shaw, 1950-58
