It’s the People

It’s DCI Finals week and I join the ranks of those thinking back fondly on my DCI marching years.  My three years in the Phantom Regiment were important and formative in my life.  I was very lucky to be a part of this organization.

When I think back on those great times with the Regiment I think about the people.  I don’t focus on the scores, or the placements, or the hours in the sun, or the long bus rides, or sleeping on the floor, or the sunburn, or the exhaustion, or even the thrill of the performances.  I think about the people.

I remember rehearsals with my friends, celebrating after performances, adventures on free days, conversations on bus rides.  I’ll never forget standing on a field in Boulder, CO surrounded by mountains.  I’d never been or seen anything like it!

As we watch the amazing performances this week, with the triumphs and the disappointments, remember that every single young person on the field will go home a better person with happy memories of their summer.  The life skills and the life-long friendships are what we should celebrate the most.

Thank you to everyone who is helping to create these memories for these corps members.  Everyone who cooks a meal or drives a truck or teaches a drill move or keeps the members safe all summer is a real hero.  It’s the people that matter always, and it’s true in drum corps for sure.

Listen to podcast 217: Phantom Regiment French Horn Reunion

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Tim Hinton

August 7, 2023

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