Photo of Citations Drum and Bugle Corps by Ken Martinson/Marching.com
For the 2010 drum corps season, audiences will welcome new groups and temporarily say goodbye to others. The Citations Drum and Bugle Corps from Burlington, Mass., which formed in 1967, will take a year off to restructure and pay off debt; the group had also been inactive in 2000 and 2001 for similar reasons.
“It’s difficult to be inactive because it’s an activity that we love so much, but every business model needs to take a look at itself every once in a while,” says Donna Monte, the director for 20 years.
The group has a policy not to maintain debt, and the decision came after meetings with the board of directors, Monte says.
Operations like fundraising will continue, and a 45th anniversary reunion is in the works for 2010.
The group plans to return in 2011.
Memphis Sound Drum and Bugle Corps, which formed in 2002, is also taking the 2010 season off and may reemerge in 2011.
The group had originally planned to relocate to Grand Prairie, Texas, to become Forté Drum and Bugle Corps. However, its plans have changed. Instead, Forté will become a new, separate Open Class corps with alumni and staff from Memphis Sound to lead the charge.
In addition, The Spartans Drum and Bugle Corps from Nashua, N.H., will return after taking last season off. And Spokane Thunder Drum and Bugle Corps, which competed with The Cascades in 2009, will return as its own group this coming season.
