October 2001

Crown Announces 2002 Show

From the majesty of Zeus to the fiery pits of Medusa, Carolina Crown brings back to life those once thought to be immortal.  Greek mythology has captivated the imagination of millions throughout the ages and the 2002 edition of Carolina Crown will be no exception.  Crown will unlock the myths of the ancient world with their 2002 show, "Greek Mythology, Stories of Gods and Heroes."

More details will be released soon on this website!

Crown Returns Core of Design Team for 2002

Carolina Crown is pleased to announce the return of the following members of their highly successful show design/caption head team:

Bill Register, Program Coordinator - Bill is a charter faculty member of Carolina Crown having been the corps' percussion caption head for several years starting in 1990.  He became Program Coordinator several years later.  Bill is originally from Clinton, NC and received his Bachelor's degree from the University of South Carolina.  He now resides in Ft. Mill, SC where he is the Percussion Coordinator for the Ft. Mill High School and Middle School bands.  Bill's other interests include tennis, running and the culinary arts.

Michael Shapiro returns to Carolina Crown as our guard designer and caption head for his sixth year. Born in Miami, FL, he now resides in Dayton, OH. Michael, 30, has taught at numerous other drum and bugle corps including the Cavaliers (1996) and the Crossmen (1994-95). He is also in his sixth year as the guard director at Carroll HS and has directed Carolina Crown’s own Crown Guard for the last two seasons. He has worked with many other winter guard programs including Chimeras and the Company. Michael’s hobbies include reading, painting, and independent films. His future plans include interior and fashion design.

Paul Rennick, Percussion Arranger and Caption Head - This will be Paul's 5th season with Carolina Crown.  He has a B.S. in Music Education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and a M.M. of Percussion Performance from the University of North Texas (UNT).  He lives in Denton, TX and is on the percussion faculty at UNT as well as the being the Percussion Director/Manager of Blast!  Paul started his drum corps career in small corps of the northeast, and marched two years in the snare line at the 27th Lancers.  Away from drum corps Paul enjoys skiing, golf and cars.

Marty McCartt, Brass Arranger - Marty is a well known freelance music arranger, composer and clinician.  He has arranged for many high school bands in the Southeast including Tarpon Springs (FL) and Ft. Mill (SC).  Marty attended Western Carolina University and began his drum corps career as a soprano player with Spirit of Atlanta.  He was on the brass faculty with Crown '92-93, and was the corps' arranger from '94-97.  He returned to that role again in 2001.  He enjoys progressive house/trance disc jockeying.

Larry Markiewicz, Brass Caption Head - Larry returns for his second season as Crown's brass caption head, and we are looking forward to him building upon the success of last season.  Larry is presently the band director at Bridgewater-Raritan High School in Bridgewater, NJ.  His career has included five years on the brass staff of the Cadets of Bergen County, and also three years as the staff co-ordinator and music director of the Syracuse Brigadiers, DCA 3-peat champions between 1999-2001.  Larry started his 15 year drum corps career as a member of the Crossmen and later went on to teach the hornline after he aged out.  Before he came to Crown Larry spent three seasons with the Glassmen.  Aside from corps, Larry works as part of the design team for North Penn HS in Lansdale, PA and he also freelances as a clinician, judge, and guest conductor.  Larry enjoys baseball (YANKEES) and spending time with friends and family.

2001-2002 Event Calendar Announced

Carolina Crown has announced its 2001-2002 Event Calendar, including drum corps camp dates, honor band event dates, and other important program information.

Camp dates for this season will be as follows (and are subject to change):

Audition Camp (new members only)             11/30 – 12/2

Camp #1                                                    12/14 – 12/16

Camp #2 (Brass and Percussion only)           1/18 – 1/20

Camp #3 (Brass and Percussion only)           2/15 – 2/17

Camp #4 (Brass and Percussion only)            3/22 – 3/24

Camp #5                                                      4/19 - 4/21

Camp #6 (Brass and Guard only)                   5/3 - 5/5

Leadership Camp Move-In (tentative)             Friday, 5/31

Move-In For Spring Training (tentative)           Sunday, 6/2  

The audition camp will be held at Indianland Middle School in Indianland, SC.  Directions are posted in the Calendar and What’s New section of this website.

Carolina Crown’s annual Member Banquet will be held during the first regular camp, December 15, at Fort Mill High School.  More information regarding this event will be posted as it becomes available.

The remaining camps will be held at Fort Mill High School with the possible exception of the February camp, which may be at Indianland Middle School.

Spring Training, including the 2002 Student Leadership Camp, will again be held at Clover High School in Clover, SC.

Two of the four proposed Middle School Honor Band dates have been confirmed including York County Middle School Honor Band for April 12 and 13 at Fort Mill High School Auditorium and Union County Middle School Honor Band for February 22 and 23 at Wingate University in Wingate, NC.  Two new Honor Band events are being proposed and include Cabarrus County and a combined event for Rutherford and Cleveland County.  Dates and locations for these two events have not yet been confirmed.

The second annual CrownClub Weekend at the Beach has been tentatively scheduled for April 19, 20 and 21 at SpringMaid Beach Resort in Myrtle Beach, SC.  The weekend conference/workshop open to all parents, faculty, volunteers and supporters of Carolina Crown will be a fun-filled event including informative presentations, panel discussions, brainstorming sessions, and some social time.  Mark your calendars now for the 2002 Carolina Crown Volunteer Weekend!

4th Annual Carolina Crown Golf Tournament A Big Success Despite Rain

The 4th Annual Carolina Crown Golf Tournament, scheduled for September 24, 2001, was rained out, but the spirit of the golfers was not dampened.  Held again at the Emerald Lakes Golf Course just east of Charlotte, NC, nearly 80 supporters of Carolina Crown arrived at 8AM only to wait nearly two hours while the rain worsened.  Finally, the decision to cancel was inevitable and participants drew names for the 50/50 Raffle and Chinese Auction gifts inside the clubhouse.

Mike Bradshaw, winner of the 50/50 Raffle gave his $251 winnings back to the organization as a donation, as did all the golfers who contributed to the “skins game.”   Carol Srdar, the event’s founder and chairperson, had suggested to the golfers that the tournament be reschedule for the following week or end of the month and they all cheered in unison to just DONATE the funds to Carolina Crown.  It was a very moving gesture on their part and we were all very appreciative of their generosity.

There was a group of golfers that decided to take the event to the bowling alley later that afternoon.  We hear reports that everyone had a great time! 

Carol Srdar, one of DCI’s 2001 Volunteers of the Year, has organized a tremendously successful one-day fundraising event, raising over $75,000.00 in 2001, far surpassing her personal goal of $60,000.00.

We would like to thank Carol and all the volunteers who helped make this event a success.  A great big  “THANK YOU” goes to the players and their generosity to whom we are most grateful!

Carol is already planning for the 5th annual Golf Tournament, but no official date has been announced.  Everyone is hoping for drier weather!

We thank all those who gave their time and talents to the tournament:

Event Founder and Chairperson - Carol Srdar

Preparing participant “goodie bags” - Carol Srdar, Deann Ellisor, Luanne Bialecki, Alan Estrin, Mike Bradshaw, Mike Rowe

Event Staff - Carol Srdar, Mary McCrary, Brian Bambauer, Mike Walker, William Osborne, Patti Walker, Sarah Osborne, Moe Smith, Doug Madar, Greg Lowe, Larry Gibson, Ray McCrary, Shirley Gibson, Tracy Markham

I Spy….Carolina Crown Alumni

Julie Gilley (Guard ‘91) now Julie Little resides in Irvine, CA.

Lee Sudduth (Brass ‘90-91) is now living and working in the Triangle area of North Carolina.  Still thinks of Mac and Cheese and Diesel fuel when remembering tour.

Heather Spradlin (Percussion ‘94) has married and is living in Lawrenceville, GA.  Her  last name is now DeWitt.

Michael DeBerry (Percussion ‘92) is employed by Aerial Photography Services, Inc.,  located in Charlotte, NC.  Michael also works with the Mooresville HS Shockwave Drumline.

Chris Goldston (Percussion ‘90 ) is teaching at Sherwood Conservatory of Music in Chicago.

Travis Bryan (Brass ‘97) is in the United States Marine Corps. as a FLIR (forward looking infra red) tech.

Danny Lloyd (Percussion ‘93) finished his Masters Degree in Music Ed. At ASU and is currently director of a new christian drum and bugle corps in the Winston-Salem area.

Andy Hudson (Brass ‘9­­4-95,97-98) now resides in Centerville, OH and works with the Centerville Jazz Band.

Jay Armand (Brass ‘99) is a member of the Fightin’ Texas Aggie Band at Texas A&M.

Jason B. Smith (Percussion ‘93-95) is teaching and living in Enterprise, AL. with his wife Lisa and 2-year-old son Braeden.

Lopez Reese (Guard ‘90-92) is a History teacher at Braddock HS in Miami-Dade County Schools and has taught with the Cadets of Bergen County, Braddock  High School, and is currently guard caption head of the Crossmen Drum and Bugle Corps.

Jessica Smith (Guard ‘97-98) is working with IBM as an Indirect A/R & Credits operations team leader.

Volunteer Profile - Ray and Mary McCrary

Ray and Mary first discovered drum corps "accidentally" in August 1985 on PBS, and have been "hooked" ever since.  They began their time with Carolina Crown in 1991 when their daughter Ebea was a rookie member of Crown's guard.  It wasn't long after that the two of them began doing some of the many things that they have done for the organization over the past 10 years.

"I can't even begin to remember all the times when we were struggling to do something for Crown or NightBEAT,  Ray and Mary would mysteriously appear with smiles on their faces, saying What can we do to help?", said Crown board member and longtime NightBEAT Chairman Doug Madar.  "For the past 5 or 6 years, maybe more, Ray and Mary have manned the Crown Jewels table at NightBEAT and have been very successful at signing up new Jewels members.  Occasionally, their daughter and Crown alum Ebea, would come with them and work the alumni table.   A real family affair!"  Ray and Mary always commit the entire day to NightBEAT helping set up the reception and run a multitude of last minute errands.

In fact, alot of the things Ray and Mary do are the less desirable and "spot-lighted" tasks that need to be done to keep the organization running as well as it does.  As Crown's Director of Operations Brian Bambauer tells us "Ray and Mary have always been willing to do whatever we ask, in fact Ray has been volunteering in the office as much as once or twice a week whenever he can get down to Ft. Mill from their home in Elkin, NC."  He helps in the office with processing orders for TheCrownStore.com, pressing souvenir shirts, having maintenance work done on our vehicles, organizing and cleaning up our storage area(s) and the office, preparing bulk mailings, etc.

Ray and Mary also find ways to help at Crown's Preview, at many of our winter camps, and with public relations.  "One of Ray's best idea's was to get all the Crown members to send in their local newspaper's name and address. Then he would follow up with Carolina Crown and NightBEAT articles to those respective newspapers and radio stations.  Wow, you should have seen the response!", remembers Doug.  Ray is also really into ham radios and is the corps' savior when it comes to keeping their communications systems (among other things) in proper working order for the summer tour.

One of the greatest examples of Ray and Mary's dedication to Carolina Crown was seen this past summer.  Since Ray is retired from IBM after over 30 years of service and Mary is a retired school teacher, they spent the entire summer traveling with the corps in their camper.  They went ahead to make sure schools were open when we needed them to, or stayed behind at a local hospital to wait on a sick or injured member while the rest of the corps went on ahead.  But that was only a part of it!  As Support Services Coordinator Teri Brinson recalls, "Mary spoiled me this summer.  I never had to worry about mending the uniforms....she came every morning looking for the day's mending, and when she wasn't sewing she was washing dishes.....it seemed that every time there was a dirty dish in the sink, Mary appeared to wash it!  Then there was Ray....always checking to see what I needed...eager to go get bread....milk...propane or run a member to a doctor.  He told me countless times...'just tell me what you need me to do', and he would do it.  Having the two of them on the road this year was like having 4 extra set of hands attached to my body......and 2 extra brains to help me get it all together.  They are a couple of years older than me.......boy, do I hope I have that much energy when I get their age!"

Ray and Mary McCrary are genuine people.   Always there when you need them most. The two of them exhibit a true love for the activity, Carolina Crown and of course the students!   Thank you for being there, Ray and Mary!
 

Crown Elects New Officers and Board Members

The Carolina Crown Board of Directors met for their fall meeting and annual election on Sunday 10/7.  Several board members were re-elected, and four new board members were added to new three-year terms on the board.  In addition, per the organization's bylaws four officers and several at-large representatives were voted to one-year terms on the Executive Committee.

Board members re-elected to new terms include:  Alan Hobbs; Ron Lordo; Doug Madar; Keith Miller; Mekel Rogers; Rich Schalabba; and Carol Srdar.  New members of the board are Teri Brinson; Greg Lowe; Rena Morton; and Charles Wilkerson (see bios in accompanying article).

Bill Loelius was elected President of the Board.  Bill is no stranger to the Crown board or the President position.  He was one of the founders of the Charlotte Drum Corps Association (which we all know today as Carolina Crown) and served as president of the organization from its first year in 1988 through 1994, and then again in 1996.  Bill was born and raised in Secaucus, NJ until a job transfer brought him to Charlotte in 1986. While in NJ, he marched in the percussion sections (tympani, quad, and snare) of the Meadowlarks from 1972-1976 and the Royal Brigade from 1977-1980. He has a BBA degree from Montreat College, where he is also just 9 credit hours away from completing an MBA degree.  His business background includes operations management, procedural auditing, financial analysis, and consultative sales.  He is currently employed as manager of business development in the southeast for Creditek, a revenue cycle outsourcing and consulting firm.  Bill's wife's name is Kathie, and they have 3 boys, ages 13, 11 and 2 (Billy, Luke and Max).  He is a member of Morningstar Lutheran Church in Matthews, NC and serves as the percussionist in their contemporary ensemble ("So I guess all that work in the drum line paid off after all", he says!)

Joining Bill on the Crown Executive Committee this year is the following slate:

Vice President - Keith Miller
Secretary - Andy Crews
Treasurer - DeAnn Ellisor
At-Large Reps - Doug Madar, Mekel Rogers, Steve Tant and
David Whitesides

Crown Adds Four To Board

Through the following bios we would like to introduce you to the four newest additions to the Carolina Crown Board of Directors:

1. Teri Brinson's hometown is Jacksonville, FL.  She currently resides in Claxton, GA where Sam L. Brannen, Attorney, employs her as a secretary.  Teri is married to Ben Brinson, who is the real cook in the family. (She says, "I probably should mention how supportive Ben is of Crown and of giving me up in the summers for touring!")  Teri has three children: Larry, 25, a music education major at GA Southern University; Jeremiah, 20, a photography major at GA Southern; and Loraine, 18, a freshman at GA Southern.  Crown is truly a "family affair" as all three have marched and Teri says drum corps dominates their conversations when they all manage to get together.  Teri never even heard of drum corps until Larry asked to go to a show in Warner Robbins 7 years ago.  Teri took him, Jeremiah and Loraine and another drum corps family was born.

Teri has volunteered for the corps for 5 years.  She has driven countless miles back and forth between Claxton and Ft. Mill to lead the other volunteers on the food trailer at each winter camp, and has toured the entire summer as the corps' volunteer support services coordinator for the past several years.  The motorhome leading the corps' caravan down the road the past few years is compliments of Teri and Ben.  "For someone who didn't even know what drum corps was 7 years ago... it sure has become an integral part of my life", she says in her trademark Southern drawl.

2. Greg Lowe is from Wilkesboro, NC, and currently lives in Salisbury, NC. Belk Stores Services, Inc in Charlotte employ him as a Systems Development Project Leader (aka Software Developer).  He marched in High School band and was introduced to Drum Corps at age 12 when he attended his first show.  Greg attended Appalachian State University, and marched in the band for his last 2 years of college.  He worked several summer percussion/color guard camps as counselor and taught several local high school drum lines in Western North Carolina and Virginia area (1984-1986), while in college.  He was a member of a 21-piece drum line in Durham, NC called "Percussionist" in 1986.

Greg and his wife Dawn have been married for 10 years and have four children; Carmen (age 7), Shelby, Chaney & Jocelyn (age 3) - yes triplets!  His hobbies include golf, tennis and music of all kinds (except really "sappy" country music).  He is a member of "SONLITE" contemporary Christian group, sponsored by his local church.  He is also a member of Granite Quarry, NC Civitan club and Civitan International.

Greg became involved in the organization in 1990.  He attended his first meeting with Doug Madar, who was another Belk employee at the time.  As a result he was immediately "drafted" to serve as Crown's Tour Manager/Coordinator from 1990 through 1997.  He also serves as a NightBEAT committee member, and has been their show housing coordinator since 1991.

3. Rena Morton is originally from Chicago,IL and now lives in Charlotte,NC. She received her Bachelors of Music Education from Western Illinois University and graduate studies from Arizona State University, Northern Arizona State, University of Phoenix, and Vandercook School of Music.  She is currently employed by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (2000-2001 Assistant in a BED classroom at Northwest School of the Arts and 2001-2002 Assistant in the Bright Beginnings Program).  She taught elementary, middle school,  and high school bands for 28 years.  She was the first female band director to be hired in Washington School District (Phoenix,AZ).  She has been a Percussion Consultant for several high school bands in Ohio, was the first female "roadie" for Coyle Music in Columbus,OH, and managed a music store for Martin Music in Pueblo,CO.  Her oldest daughter Cydney is at the University of Southern Colorado as a music education major and her husband Vaughn is a performance major and also the music camp director for USC.  Rena's grandaughter Maddy is 2 years old and "will play the drums", she says.

Rena helped work Crown's souvenir trailer last fall, helped with registration at the winter camps, screened a few t-shirts, went on tour with Crown working in the food truck, and had a wonderful time pushing percussion equipment around.  She has worked at NightBEAT the last 2 years.

4. Charles Wilkerson's hometown is Charlotte, born and raised there.  He is the owner of Moonlight Graphics, a small printing company in Charlotte. He is very active with the Olympic High School Band (a Crown Partnership in Education band) serving as past booster President, VP and current Treasurer.  He is also the current Marching Band Contest Chairman, a post he has held for the past 6 years.

Charles has been involved with Crown since 1997 when his son (Matt) marched in the Contra line.  He has helped out where ever he could over the past couple of years, most notably serving on the NightBEAT committee.  Through his Moonlight Graphics business, Charles has donated (or provided reduced prices on) many of Crown's and NightBEAT's printing needs over the past several years.