On Thursday, August 31, 2000 at 3:00:00 AM UTC-4, DrumPaulW wrote:
The following IS NOT an official statement by anyone associated with the Madison Scouts drum and bugle corps or by anyone associated with the Madison Drum and Bugle Corps Association. It is merely one person's interpretation of
what is transpiring these days told by someone who thinks you deserve to know what is happening.
What happened--
The Madison Drum and Bugle corps Association, a group of 9 people, voted to relieve Scott Stewart of his position as executive director of the Madison Drum
and Bugle Corps Association. This was a win by majority, so it only took 5 people on the board to do this.
The board--
The board consists of nine individuals with different experiences with the corps. Most of them have been around longer than the philosophy of performing
for the crowd. Scott Stewart gave birth to this philosophy that has been the driving force behind the corps for about 10 years now. The 5 people on the board who voted to remove Stewart have been with the corps longer than the philosophy, and obviously do not believe in the same things that the corps believes in now.
Why fire Stewart?--
The executive director of the Madison Drum and Bulge corps association is in charge of the staffing for the corps. To change the staff of the Scouts, the board needed to remove Stewart and replace him with someone that will hire a staff that will do what they want. As of right now the entire staff of the Scouts has been fired. They are to be replaced by a staff of people outside of
the corps, brought in to make the corps "win." This will be done using money Stewart has saved up for the corps to help the activity (AKA save Southwind, help smaller corps, etc...).
What could happen--
Most likely what would happen is that the Scout's philosophy of performing for
the crowd would be abandoned. You would no longer see the Scouts that you are
used to. You would see a corps out there to win. The members of the board that are doing this said that they would be willing to march 128 rookies next year if no one in the current corps wanted to come back to the new Scouts. I will promise you that the caliber of the new corps will be much lower than what
you have seen over the last 10 years if we don't do something.
What can we do--
We need as many people (that are 18+) to come to Madison East High School in Madison, Wisconsin on Sunday, September 10th, at 1pm (Madison East High School
is located at 2222 East Washington Avenue in Madison). There will be a meeting
in the forum of the school to take a vote (anyone 18+ who is concerned with the
future of the corps can come and vote) on whether or not to replace the current
board of directors. If we are able to replace the current board, then we can put in a new board that will rehire Stewart and the current staff of the Madison Scouts. If we win, we're not in the clear, there will still be battles
needed to be fought, but we have a good chance of keeping up the quality of entertainment you expect from this corps. If we lose on that day, it is over;
you will no longer see the Madison Scouts, you will see an impostor with the same name.
If you are unable to attend on the 10th-
Please show your support however you can. Call the current board and tell them
how you feel, write your friends and tell them to come on the 10th. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT!!!!! The board has supporters, most of them in the same boat "winning boat" as the 5 on the board. These are people that have been lied to by other people who need to feed their egos with a higher score. We need ALL SCOUTS SUPPORTERS TO HELP MAKE THIS THING RIGHT!!!!!!
Thank you very much for reading this. I will continue to pray for the life of this corps as we know it, and all of it's fans and supports.
Sincerely,
Paul Travis Weber
Madison Scouts Tenor line 1998, 1999, 2000, and (?)2001(?)
Was this ever dead on. The corps went to shit and the talent became awful . Sad
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