SHOW: July 4, 2009
Rochester, NY
Report 3:15 am @ Novelis
Departure @ 3:30 am from Novelis
Arrive 8:00 am @ Pratice Site
(Ivan Green Primary School - 800 Brown Road - Webster, NY)
Practice from 9:00 am - 4:30 pm
Arrive 5:15 pm @ Show Site
(St. John Fisher College - 3690 East Ave - Rochester, NY)
Departure @ 10:30 pm from Rochester
Arrive 3:00 am @ Novelis

SHOW: July 4, 2009
Rochester, NY
Report 3:15 am @ Novelis
Departure @ 3:30 am from Novelis
Arrive 8:00 am @ Rochester
(Ivan Green Primary School - 800 Brown Road - Webster, NY)
Practice from 9:00 am - 4:30 pm
Arrive 5:15 pm @ Rochester
(St. John Fisher College - 3690 East Ave - Rochester, NY)
Departure @ 10:30 pm from Rochester
Arrive 3:00 am @ Novelis

For all members the 2009 Music charts are posted under the 2009 Season Post on the Members Site.

Concert in the park

The sounds of percussion and horns filled the afternoon air at Confederation Park Saturday as members of the city’s drum and bugle corps played a rare performance for a hometown audience.

The Kingston Grenadiers celebrated a milestone birthday over the weekend. Past and present members gathered over the weekend to mark the 50th anniversary of the group’s founding.

Despite some challenges over the past five decades, those who have been involved in the group and those leading it now believe the future looks good.

“It’s hard to keep a corps together,” said alumnus Bob Oatway, 63. “For whatever reason, this corps seems to be able to go year after year.”

The last competing corps in the country and regularly travels to the United States for competitions but seldom has occasion to perform at home. The weekend festivities included a march down Princess Street, the performance at Confederation Basin and a Saturday night dinner for those who ever called themselves a Grenadier.

The corps arose from the ashes of the Princess of Wales’ Own Regiment marching band.

“It was a big difference,” said Ron Little, who joined the group from the PWOR band 50 years ago. “A drum corps … was quite different.”

They all got used to it, eventually, and recruited more members over the years. Oatway joined the group out of sea cadets, where he was in the band, and learned the tunes just by listening.

“I played for years and I don’t know how to read music. I played by ear,” he said. Oatway said a number of members weren’t good musicians when they joined the corps, but learned how to play.

Many of those members spent decades marching in the formations the band has to execute during competitions. Each performance is 11 minutes long, increases your heart rate and leaves your body aching afterwards.

Alumni agree you never get the thrill of playing for an audience out of your blood.

“I almost picked up a horn when I got here today,” said Brian Orser, 58, who joined the corps in 1967, one of many in his family to don a Grenadiers’ uniform.

“It’s the desire to perform. It gets into your blood. It’s like any musician out there. You just want to keep performing.”

His brother, Doug Orser, 72, was a founding member of the corps and has marched in more than 500 shows in 50 years. He picked up a horn to play in the performance Saturday afternoon.

Drum and bugle corps were more in vogue in the 1960s and 1970s.

“We were here when we played for the Queen,” said Glenda Hill, who, like her sister, Brenda Dean, met her husband through the corps.

“That’s when drum corps used to be really good.”

The Grenadiers fell out of fashion as the decades moved along. The average age of members rose as fewer young people joined the corps, distracted by other options and possibly dissuaded by the eight-hour practices needed to make perfect every step of every formation and every note of every piece.

“There’s too many things going on for kids,” Doug Orser said. “It takes a certain kind of person to spend eight hours a day on the field.”

Today, only a third of the group is from Kingston and only recently has the average age of members gone down.

“The corps is definitely younger this year than in the past,” said executive director Don Dean.

“We want to keep that.”

Doug Orser said the corps is changing instruments next year, from G-note horns to Bflat to change sound and attract more high school music students.

Dean said the group is trying to rebuild its base locally to increase the corps’ Kingston contingent. He said the group would also like to play more often in the city.

Drumline

Taken from The Kingston Whig Standard on June 15th, 2009.

The latest MP3’s are on the members site, please visit to download/listen.  Members Site.

For all members, please visit the members to see the newest drill videos under the drill forum section.

The 2009 Drill Charts and Videos are available on the Members Area Site.  You will need Flash Player and Adobe Reader to view them (this is standard now on most computers).

In addition to an already talented visual staff Grenadiers are pleased to announce the addition of Duane Dewire as visual consultant. Duane brings with him a vast experience and is returning to the corps after being Visual Designer for the Grenadiers in 2000 and 2001.

In addition to Duane Grenadiers have Bobby Jones Visual Design, Scott Bedard Visual Caption Head, and Jennifer-Hartnett Orser color guard.

For members of the Kingston Grenadiers, please find the latest MP3’s on the Grenadiers Members Page, if you are not a member yet, please sign up.

The Kingston Grenadiers have released their tentative schedule for the entire season, including summer shows and rehearsals.  If you wish to join the Grenadiers for the 2009 Season, please visit the Join Us page to complete the form and/or receive information.  If you have any questions please contact grennies@kingston.net.