PERSONAL NOTE REGARDING THE FIRST COMPETITION:
The corps was not as well prepared for the first competition in 1979 as it was in 1978. A number of reasons: Early in the year the rifle line was discontinued, leaving the colour guard with 20 flags, whose show now had to be completely rewritten. As well as this, the year started out bad with the loss of a good many of our older members - poor souls. (Ex: Wolfy, Gregg Woodhouse, Garry Hepple, Rick Windsor, Dave Totten). Because of this loss we went on field with a lot of rookies. And, due to the difficulty of the field show and the music, some members almost gave up too soon, putting us a good few weeks behind schedule.
CONTEST #2 - JUNE 23RD - WELLAND
The day started off right, Paul & Bev got lost on their way to Welland and the corps didn't, thank God for Pat's C.B.
After the 'short', "before-contest parade", again we couldn't find anyone to assign us a practice filed, so again the instructors found one for us (seems to be turning into a habit). At the beginning of this practice the judges tapes were given good examination with Ray explaining the effects of musicianship, judges views, and natural highs. While this went on, the lead 'sops' argued wether Sean was or was not a 'wingnut', and some other [space] shared their own methods of getting natural highs.
After a good rehearsal, the corps was rewarded with dinner - at McDonald's.
We were lucky, even after that we won our second contest with 49.8. (same score as first show '78)
For winning the contest we almost got to bring home the roses and the 'hardware'. Next time we'll leave before they change their minds.
CONTEST #3 - JUNE 24TH - OSHAWA
It was a long & noisy ride to Oshawa, and a 'pit-stop' at the local community centre was well appreciated. this took longer than expected as getting coffee for instructors somewhat slowed progress to the practice field. Once on the field, the day went the same as yesterday, although most of the time was spent going over drill for drum solo, while the drums worked on concert.
At this show we met Kavies for the first time, and luckily enough, were able to maintain our position. Our winning score was 55.7.
But, the real highlight of this contest occurred while we were waiting to go on. During this time we were entertained by Ray, Sean, Rob and Mike, as they sang the "Optimists' theme song". For those with a deep care for drum corps, the song hit a nerve.
Another small note for those that want to remember. For the first time in Ambassadors' history, evidently, certain members got out of hand during retreat and an instructor had to walk onto the field to correct the situation.
CONTEST #4 - JUNE 30TH - NIAGARA FALLS
After following maps provided by the contest sponsors, we found our own way to the parade start - LATE! Remember how broken up everyone was? After killing a lot of time, and many visits to the trees we were hooked onto the end of the parade.
Ambassadors 1979 Yearbook ©1979 Dan Brooks and Garry Summers