November 1, 2003

CrownBEAT

The Official Newsletter of Carolina Crown, Inc.

Volunteer Profile  - Debbie Pike

In November, Debbie Pike will begin her third year as Carolina Crown's volunteer medical operations coordinator.  This coincides with her daughter, Emily's third season of marching with the corps.  Debbie is a Registered Nurse, so Executive Director Kevin Smith was quick to realize the great opportunity that presented to the organization , and especially our members, if Debbie agreed to volunteer in the medical operations coordinator role at camps and on tour. Since then, Debbie's value to the organization has become apparent to everyone that has come in contact with her.  Support Staff Coordinator Teri Brinson remarked, "Debbie was one of the greatest additions to tour over the past two years.  Before Debbie, whoever was in the food truck when a sick member came calling had to play nurse.  Now, when a member isn't feeling well they have a professional to help them through it.  Since 'bedside manner' is an oxymoron on tour (we never get to go to bed), I guess you would have to say that Debbie has a wonderful 'side door manner' (as in, side door of the food trailer).  She keeps up with whose ankle is hurt, who has the sniffles and who needs to go to the doctor.  She deserves a halo for the number of hours she has sat in doctor's offices and emergency rooms, or just riding around trying to find them in strange towns."

Crown's 2003 Drum Major David Roth adds, "The summer is often long and demanding, and Debbie has always been like a surrogate mother for everyone on tour-- whether it's mending a sprain or taking care of a cold, offering an ear to talk to or a shoulder to lean on, or simply being a smiling source of positive energy for everyone, Debbie has always been wonderful to work with and is a well-loved member of the Carolina Crown family."

Teri concludes, "In addition to being a wonderful nurse, Debbie is always willing to pitch in wherever needed.  She doesn't want to sit around, so if she isn't tending to a sick/hurt member, she can be found helping prepare and serve meals.  Her dedication to the organization and the members shows in everything she does.  Working with her for the past two tours I admire her commitment and feel honored to call her a friend."

So, thanks Debbie for volunteering to take care of all the members of the Carolina Crown family over the past two years!

Living the Dream

Hey everyone! Well, here we are. Getting ready to embark on another unbelievable year at Carolina Crown, and the excitement and anticipation of the 2004 season could not be any greater. I have personally spoken with almost 30 interested individuals who are excited about joining Crown. Already, our registrations have far exceeded last year's count and it's all due to a remarkably competitive 2003 season.

While sitting at home as a kid spending countless hours in front of the television watching video after video of DCI finals performances, I never thought I'd have the opportunity to march with a Division 1 drum corps. I would gawk at the television screen, thinking to myself, “You know, I really want to do that!” It wasn't until January of this year that all my doubts came to an end. I received a random ‘instant message' online one day from one of the rookies who had already been to a couple camps. She had gotten my screen name through my AOL profile and thought that I might be interested in marching.

She explained to me that Crown had a mellophone opening, and that they would be thrilled to have me. Just like that, without any hesitation, I bought my plane tickets and was on my way to the February camp. Since then, I have never looked back and all of my childhood dreams came true when I wound up becoming part of a 10 th place Division 1 drum corps.

The experiences I've had and the friends that I've made over the past 8 months are things that I will always hold close to my heart and will never forget. I can only imagine the number of kids out there who are going through the exact same thing that I did. Moreover, I can only hope that these kids are made of aware of the outstanding drum corps that we have here, so that they can experience something that will mean so much to them for the rest of their lives.

Now, after another extraordinarily successful season, it is time to get those chops back into shape, our bodies back into full-gear, and our ambitions set high for what is to come with the 2004 season. I am personally very excited, and I feel so honored to be given the opportunity to be one of Carolina Crown's drum majors. I can't wait to see what the turnout at our first camp will be like. Buckle your seat belts; it's going to be wild and thrilling ride!

Justin Nicolson 2004 Drum Major

Carolina Crown Holds Annual Board Meeting and Elections

Carolina Crown's board of directors met Sunday, October 5th, for their annual board meeting as required by the organization's bylaws.  The agenda for this annual meeting includes delivery of year-end committe/project reports, approval of the budget for the upcoing fiscal year, and the annual election of board members, officers and at-large members of the Executive Committee. Board President Bill Loelius chaired the meeting.

Re-elected to fill expiring 3-year terms were past board members Jason Ford, Ray McCrary, Larry Gibson, Steve Tant, DeAnn Ellisor, James Turner, Kirk Godbey, Chris White, Tim Martin and Joe Gulledge.  In addition, Steve Sugar, Kelly Tucker and Jonathan Rudd were elected to fill vacant seats on the board (see bios below).  The board then re-elected the entire Executive Committee to another year in their positions as follows: Bill Loelius (President), Keith Miller (Vice-President), DeAnn Ellisor (Treasurer), Andy Crews (Secretary); Doug Madar, David Whitesides, James Turner, Steve Tant, and Ray McCrary (At-Large).

Carolina Crown would like to welcome and introduce our new board members:

Jonathan Rudd

Jonathan Rudd is the new band director at Olympic High School in Charlotte, having come from a similar position at East Rowan High School.  He is entering his ninth year of teaching after receiving his education at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina. While at WCU, Jonathan was recognized as the “Outstanding Prospective Student Teaching Award” winner in addition to receiving “Junior” and “Senior” of the Year awards with the WCU “Pride of the Mountains” Marching Band.

Jonathan serves regularly as a marching percussion judge as well as an active clinician for area high school percussion sections.  He is also a Carolina Crown alumnus, having marched in the percussion line in 1992.

Steve Sugar

Steven Sugar resided, until recently, in Seattle, WA until a number of job transfers brought him via Los Angeles to Charlotte in 2000.  While in Seattle, he marched in the horn section (Flugelhorn, Soprano, Baritone) of the Seattle Cascades from 1972-1979 and then wrote and taught total corps, color guard and marching band movement periodically over the following 10 years.

Steve holds BA and MA degrees in Economics from the University of Washington.  He has worked for Bank of America for 20 years.  His range of experience includes working for the Mortgage Company, 17 years in Finance where he was primarily focused on forecasting/planning of financial results for a wide range of business lines as well as significant analytical support.   Currently, Steve works in Marketing Operations where he is responsible for deployment of a web based marketing platform across the enterprise.  

Steve's wife is Holly, and they have 1 girl (Lauren) and 3 cats (Ashley, Salem and Winston).

Kelly Tucker

Kelly H. Tucker has taught middle school band for the past sixteen years in Richland School District One in Columbia, SC. She taught for ten years at St. Andrews Middle School and is presently in her sixth year as Band Director at Crayton Middle School.  In addition to her teaching responsibilities, she has served as the Lead Band Teacher in Richland District One for the past nine years.  Kelly holds a Bachelor of Music Education from Lander University, a Master of Arts in Gifted Education from Converse College and a Master of Science in Educational Administration from Capella University.

Ensembles under Kelly's direction have been featured at many state and national events.  Her students have occupied hundreds of chairs in District, Regional and All-State bands, and have earned more than 600 Superior Ratings at the state Solo and Ensemble Festival.  This past year, Kelly successfully completed the requirements for National Board Certification in music education.  She is also a past recipient of the National Band Association's highest accolade, the "Citation of Excellence", as well as the "Scroll of Excellence" from the Women Band Directors International.  Kelly was recognized as an "Outstanding Young Woman of America" in 1986 and 1990; served as St. Andrews Middle School's "Teacher of the Year" in 1994-95; and has been recognized in  "Who's Who Among America's Teachers".  

In addition, Mrs. Tucker plays the clarinet in the Columbia Community Concert Band, the Palmetto Concert Band and the Columbia Woodwind Quintet.  She is also coordinator of instrumental music at Cornerstone Presbyterian Church and is a frequent adjudicator and clinician.

Crown Volunteer to March in the Rose Parade

Carlos Soria, Carolina Crown volunteer and husband of Crown alumnus, Shannon Mulhearn, will be spending New Years day in Pasadena, California with the Santa Clara Vanguard Alumni Corps. The Santa Clara Vanguard Alumni Corps will march in the 2004 Rose Parade. According to Carlos, the SCV alumni corps will march approximately 300 and will include current members as well as alums. The only other drum corps to march in the Rose Parade was the Troopers, in 1985.

Carlos marched in Santa Clara Vanguard 1985,6 and 7. Shannon marched in Carolina Crown 1994 thru 1998. They both teach the South Mecklenburg High School Band. Carlos is the show designer and teaches marching. Shannon does the color guard, choreography and instruction. Shannon has also worked with Clover High School and Fort Mill High School bands.

Carolina Crown alums can chat with other Crown alums in the Carolina Crown Alumni Forum. Have you registered yet?

Carolina Crown to Exhibit at NCMEA and BOA

Eye Spy

In this month's Eye Spy we are featuring Carolina Crown alumni and members we've seen at the fall band shows. They are Band Directors or Instructors working with schools in our area. It's exciting to see alumni and members from Carolina Crown involved with the schools in our community. If we didn't mention your name we might not have seen you, but please email us and let us know where you are so we can include you in our next edition of Eye Spy Alumni .