From the 1986 Drum Corps International Championship Program:
If you wished upon a star in 1985, your wish was more likely than ever to come true, whether or not you're from Indiana.

Drum corps fans everywhere delighted in the magical corps that materialized out of thin air, sweeping into the top 12 in its very first year of existence.

With its sparkling fresh and squeaky clean approach to drum corps, Star of Indiana had simply hoped to accomplish a few modest goals at the beginning of the 1985 season; to have a fun, inagural season and drilled its many novices in the basics. Instead, Star struck like lightning for an unprecedented 10th place finish in its first year, a result that shocked corps staff and members.

"Our goals were very humble," recalled Jim Mason, director. "We said that no matter what we do, we'll be better than last year. We didn't have any placement goals."

Mason and company did, however, have a strong sense of responsibility as a forerunner of a new kind of drum corps.

"We felt we had an obligation to the activity to set some new standards in regard to fund raising; to show that other corps can get involved with corporate funding," said Mason.

Star was jump-started with a $1 million grant from the Cook Group, Inc., a medical supply firm owned by Bloomington, Indiana, businessman Bill Cook. Cook's son marched for several years with the Colts - then Mason's corps - inspiring in Cook a love of drum corps. Its unique origins puts Star in a "unique situation," one which makes it a sort of litmus test for future drum corps expansion.

"I think our biggest responsibility is not to abuse this privilege, and to set an example for other corps to follow," said Mason. "We think that if we do well as an organization, then corporate sponsors can look at the group and say, 'gosh, it'd be nice to have something like that.'"

With a delightful show that featured a Walt Disney montage, faithful right down to the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse theme song, and a drill by the masterful George Zingali, "Star" positively twinkled in its debut season.

Perhaps the ultimate tribute to the success of Star in 1985 was the ability of staff to achieve results with so many members who had no drum corps background.

"The bulk of our kids came from high school and college programs in Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio - kids who had read about the corps being formed in the papers," said percussion instructor Dennis DeLucia. "This was a new experience for all of us, because we had to build it up from ground level. And, of course, on top of it all, they're doing a Zingali drill, which is very involved - motion all the time."

Yet performance levels outstripped their wildest dreams, and almost before they realized what was happening, Star was a serious contender for one of the top spots.

"This thing grew into a monster," said Alyssa Cimino, who was brought in two weeks into first tour to sharpen color guard execution. "It started so smoothly; we were putting together a new drum corps from Indiana. But suddenly it was apparent that this show had a lot of potential - it might be a contender for the top 12. That wasn't a priority at first, but it kept moving in that direction."

Miracles can happen, but first you must "wish upon a star."

MEDIA FILES

      MP3 AUDIO CLIPS
         When You Wish Upon A Star  mp3 file (1:06 / 1.0 MB)
         It's A Small World  mp3 file (1:16 / 1.1 MB)

      QUICKTIME VIDEO CLIPS
         Coming Soon

      Additional media clips and suggested media players can be found in the Media Library.

CORPS MEMBERS
	Drum Major	Karen Ruschman
	Color Guard Members	Carole Abohatab, Kelly Andrews, Kristine Andrews, Mary Bauer, Heidi Beckman, Jennifer Beeson, Lora Butler, Jeannine Carlisle, Laura Chase, Susan Combs, Corina Conway, Alicia Cooper, Cindy Epson, Wendy Farkas, Jennifer Ferrier, Connie Carman, Margaret Granbois, Lenore Hills, Pennie Johnson, Lanae Maslowski, Sharon Mathis, Kelly Maynard, Julie McPherson, Marianne Pearce, Tracey Prideaux, Susan Schultz, Luan Sills, Cindy Story
	Percussion Members	Chris Adkins, Tim Brookshire, Nancy Brown, Elaine Daigle, Tom Dautch, Roger Doran, Scott Ebenkamp, John Evans, George Felton, Jeff Fritz, Darold Giles, Denny Giles, Dan Hostetler, Bobby Jones, Phil Kamm, Chuck Lane, Caroline Laughlin, Keith Ledet, Sean Levy, Jeff Meadows, Evan Morgan, Dwight Nixon, Nate Noble, Peter Pearce, Greg Radcliff, Dave Rollins, Eric Wood, Vicki Zore
	Brass Members	Phil Armstrong, Steve Arnold, Steve Arthur, Steve Brabson, Courtney Chandler, Mike Chromik, Neal Coil, Bill Cottrilla, Dean DeKemper, Rich Erne, Trent Evans, Heather Floyd, Chris Ford, Steve Foster, Bobby Giles, Ron Gray, Bob Gregory, Todd Hall, Mark Harris, John Hayes, Ted Heblane, Marlena Hefner, Scott Helms, Mike Hiott, Jon Hyneman, Graf Imhoof, Eric Jaggers, Carl Johnson, Steve Jones, Sara Julian, Joe Keays, Diane Keller, Kevin Kennedy, Tom Kincaid, John Kraning, David Lincicome, Dean McKnight, Jeff McKnight, Gavin Meeks, Mike Miller, Doug Moreland, Victor Moreno, Troy Pierce, Larry Powell, Craig Prough, Mark Schleihs, Fenette Shanklin, Amy Shelby, Bryan Sherlock, Brent Smith, Chris Smith, David Smith, Kim Sommer, Brad Stansberry, Brian Stillwell, Kurt Stimeling, Erik Streib, Mary Swift, Patt Taylor, Mark Thompson, Steve Thrash, Scott Tomlison, Pat Tucker, Tim Tucker, Steve Tye, Marc Whitlock, Lisa Wichowski, Whitney Wilcoxson, Todd Whisler, Becky Wood
CORPS STAFF
	Director	Jim Mason
	Tour Director	Moe Latour
	Administration	Nancy Dreher, David Beck
	Equipment	Eric Lund
	Transportation	David Crouch, Bob Lendman
	Promotions	Jim Stock
	Uniforms	Michael Cesario (Designer), Kirsten Streib, Carol Brown, Allison Lendman
	Orchestrations	Larry Kerchner, Dennis DeLucia
	Musical Direction	John Simpson, Carl Ruocco, Jay Webb, Steve Scully, Jeff Secor, Dave Tippett, Bob Dubinski, Todd Parker, Jonathon Gurney, Bruce McConnell, Jim Jeffries, Jim Miller
	Dance Arrangements	Ron Perez, Wendy Hicks, Alyssa Cimino
	Choreography	George Zingali
BOARD MEMBERS
	Board Members	Bill Cook, Gayle Cook, Steve Ferguson, Phil Hathaway, Allison Lendman, Bob Lendman, Jim Mason