Cavaliers drumming up support for $1MM grant
Saturday, January 16th, 2010 - 1:14 AM
By Marco Buscaglia
Posted by Chris Lugo
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
ROSEMONT, Ill. – January 15, 2010 – Consider the most important experience of your life. Was it essential enough to your growth and development that you would share it with others?
That’s the question those close to the Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps of Rosemont, Ill., are hoping to answer – with a resounding $1 million grant from the Chase Community Giving Program.
After earning $25,000 as one of 100 finalists through an initial round of voting on Facebook, the Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps is hoping to snare the $1 million top prize, which the Chase Community Giving Program is awarding to the single charitable organization which attracts the most votes on Facebook. If awarded the grant, the corps plans on using the $1 million to expand its efforts to create leaders through arts education programs in the Chicago-area. Special recruiting efforts will be aimed at students from economically-disadvantaged areas and school districts hit hard by arts education cutbacks.
VOTE FOR THE CAVALIERS
The Rosemont-based drum corps, which was formed in 1948 in Chicago, attracts talented members from throughout the country and is a perennial contender for the Drum Corps International title, held each August in Indianapolis after a summer-long tour throughout the country.
While the championships are important – the Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps has the most national titles in drum corps history – they are far outweighed by the betterment gained by its members throughout the years.
Adolph DeGrauwe, president of the organization and current director of the corps, has seen countless young men benefit from their membership in the corps.
“This isn’t something you do for a few summers and forget about. This is something that has a lifelong impact on people,” says DeGrauwe, who marched in the corps from 1955 to 1962. “Alumni of the corps always make it a point to tell me how much their time in the Cavaliers has affected their lives. They point to their self-discipline, their ability to overcome adversity and their commitment to something greater than themselves.”
For today’s members, the Cavalier experience has been paramount in their young lives.
“Being in the Cavaliers is probably the single most meaningful and educational experience I've ever had,” says Russell Wharton, 19. “It has helped me achieve levels of performance I never thought I could, and has taught me about responsibility in ways I never imagined. It has also exposed me to the most excellent and dependable group of people I've ever known.”
Wharton, a native of Naperville, Ill., and a current student at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas, is embarking upon his third season in the Cavaliers. He realizes that what’s good for him could certainly benefit others.
“There are not many activities that combine the responsibilities of tour life, the thrill of performance and the athletic training that the Cavaliers do,” says Wharton.
John Timmins, current band director at Crone Middle School in Naperville, Ill., says his 1985-1990 stint in the Cavaliers as a member, and years later spent as an instructor, played a large role in his decision to become a teacher.
“I've had the privilege to work with so many wonderful educators,” Timmins says. “They taught me how to work hard and to work as a team. They helped develop my self-confidence and that helped me make the decision to become a music educator.”
Timmins supports the corps’ bid to expand its instructional offerings to more students, stressing that any effort to increase an awareness of the arts will ultimately help complete today’s young adults.
“It is important that students are well-rounded,” says Timmins. “The arts help students become critical thinkers and it brings out wonderful creativity in every student.”
Three other drum and bugle corps – the Phantom Regiment of Rockford, Ill., the Colts of Dubuque, Iowa, and the Carolina Crown of Fort Mills, S.C. – also made the Chase Community Giving’s top 100. The four drum corps have decided to work together to drum up support via a “Vote 4 the Drum Corps” campaign, each hopeful of the chance to receive a Million Dollar Grant in Round two of the endeavor.
VOTE 4 THE DRUM CORPS
Contact Information:
Chris Lugo
ChrisLugo@cavaliers.org.
312-451-9388
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