Carl never considered drum corps while in high school because he was a saxophone player, but during his second year in college he decided that he wanted to try out for the Colts. After a tryout, he didn't think that he could make it but was given a flugel horn, told to go home and learn how to play. By his own words, he couldn't play much his first year but by the second year, he could. The marching was a foreign language to him and he considered that he might be cut at anytime. He aged out in 1984 and stayed on as a staff instructor through 1986.

STAR BECOMES A REALITY
After the DCI semifinals in 1984, Bob Lendman and I were crossing a street in Atlanta when I asked him, "Carl just aged out of the Colts; what would you think about us starting a drum corps?" His answer was: "you're nuts!" I met Bob in the summer of 1982 when he appeared in Bloomington with a huge white and blue semi equipment truck, two sagging buses, and the Blue Stars Drum and Bugle Corps. Bob had parked this monstrosity on a sidewalk next to a fire plug and was having a conversation with two off-duty university policemen. Earlier that morning, I had received a phone call from the police chief telling me that some "drum guy" had parked his semi in a no parking zone.

It seems that Bob had convinced the police that the truck belonged on the sidewalk and next to the fireplug but only after considerable talking. Suffice it to say, the truck remained there until the Blue Stars and Bob left two days later. Bob and Allison Lendman have deep roots in drum corps; their kids marched in Phantom Regiment and Bob later became Phantom's director. He had the fortune (or misfortune) of getting two back-to-back 2nds in the World Championships. To this day, he is sensitive to what happened. I still greet Bob with: "Hey Bob, have you got a second?" He goes ballistic!

But back to the story in Atlanta. My next question to him was "Who would you pick as director?" He related the backgrounds of several midwest directors but in the end said, "I would pick Jim Mason." So off we went to find him. Jim was standing by a Colts bus at the back of Grant field. After several minutes of pleasantries, I said to Jim, "Would you consider being director of a new drum corps which would be based in Bloomington, Indiana?" His answer was, "Let me think about it and talk with Theresa (his wife)."

On the following Monday, I called and set up an appointment for them to visit Bloomington. After seeing my commitment to the project, Jim said, "You now have yourself a corps director; I'll take the job." He didn't ask about salary or any details before he said yes.

There has been a speculation that it required $1 million to field Star; this is true. (At another time, I will give the details on how four corporations were started to meet Star's financial needs in the future; these companies are: Star Charter Services, Star Travel Services, Cook Aviation, and Cook Air Services. With the exception of Cook Air Services, they are profitable and contributing to Star of Indiana today).

Expenses each year run between $740,000 and $950,000. For this reason, I suggest to anyone who asks me, "What is the first thing to do when starting a drum corps?" My answer is, "(1) Raise enough money to get started and to field the corps, (2) never go in debt and stay within budget, (3) find a continuing source of income outside of drum corps such as bingo or sponsorship, and (4) don't disappoint young people by allowing your corps to go broke."

JIM MASON, DIRECTOR - STAR OF INDIANA
Jim was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on February 3, 1954. Jim knew very early that music would be a part of his life. He joined his first corps when he was seven, began arranging for drum corps at age twelve, started his own band in junior high school, and aged out with the Madison Scouts in 1975. He attended college and then was offered the directorship of Colts where he remained for eight years.

During his tenure with the Colts, they became known for their wonderful "big band" sound. One of Jim's favorite programs was the "Mississippi River" show where Greg Blum was at his best with his screaming trumpet. Greg's ability to make a soprano howl is still remembered by those who have heard him.

THE WINTER OF 1984
During Jim's first visit, he told me that he didn't know whether or not it would be possible to field a corps in 1985 and talked about what was needed - 4 buses, two semis, equipment, uniforms, a staff, and a headquarters were all mentioned. "The staff is the key to success and, if we can hire the right people, we may be able to teach the corps how to get on and off the bus the first year." I didn't know what Jim meant until we began gathering equipment and hiring a staff.

The Monroe County school board had just advertised a surplus grade school for sale. It was located seven miles north of Bloomington and there were only six houses in a three-mile radius. We went out to have a look at it and we talked about leveling the playground for a practice field. Two weeks later, the Brown School was purchased for $225,000, and the following week bulldozers began leveling the play yard. In the meantime, Bob had found three MC-9 buses that were for sale at Badger Bus in Madison. We bought two of them for $19,000 and the other one for $26,000. A few weeks later a semi-trailer was purchased for $2,900. Eric Lund gave the Blue Stars' equipment truck floorplans to two carpenters - their job was to prepare it for instruments and uniforms that were not even purchased yet. In December, a cab-over tractor was purchased for $16,000.

That same week, Jim introduced me to Michael Cesario who would design the uniforms and serve as a consultant for the corps. Michael was enthusiastic about this new project and his enthusiasm encouraged Jim and me.

Jim emphasized the importance of recruiting instructors and a support staff that could take the corps down the road. Both of these groups were equal in Jim's mind. I want to recognize their contribution because they were responsible for making Star a reality in 1985. The key instructors and creators were: Larry Kerchner, John Simpson, Dennis DeLucia, Bob Dubinski, Steve Suslik, Marc Sylvester, George Zingali and Mike Cesario. It is interesting to note that every man accepted and the question seemed to be, "Will we get paid?"

The support staff members who came to Star that year were: Moe Latour, Eric Lund and Dave Crouch. Moe's friendliness and ability to run the corps on the road made Jim's job easier. Dave came from Phantom Regiment and was our head bus driver - he managed getting us down the road superbly. Eric Lund is still an integral part of Star today. Quietly and efficiently, he drives the equipment truck, repairs and maintains all of the instruments. Again, drum corps experience counted - Eric aged out in the Blue Stars.

When Star began, there were many corps that were having financial difficulty. Several of the prospective staff members, whom we interviewed, had not been paid for one and sometimes two years. It was very difficult to convince them, as a group, that they would be paid. However, they accepted our word that they would. Some of them were bitter and some of them were hurt by the perception that they had been previously taken advantage of. If there was any single hurdle that Jim had to overcome with Star's first-year staff, it was trying to get the staff to believe that they could trust us and that we would meet our commitments to them.

In October, Jim decided that it was time to get new members and to name the corps. When the corps was incorporated as a 501.c3, the original name on the charter was "Hoosier Assembly." A contest was suggested for naming the corps and an advertisement was circulated through the Bloomington newspaper and our company. Hundreds of suggestions poured in but in the end "Star of Indiana" was selected and the winner was Larry Kerchner's wife.

The 1985 membership poster and advertisements were put together. Jim told me, "All I've got to sell is hot air!" He designed the ad with pictures of the new caption heads surrounding Bob Knight, Indiana University's basketball coach. What Bob Knight had to do with drum corps, I still don't know! Hundreds of leaflets and posters went out to high schools and colleges in four states with a note from Jim saying, "Band Directors, if your students do not have a summer music program, will you loan them to us?" Some of the directors were quite hostile because, in the past, they had lost students to drum corps during their summer programs. They did not trust Jim that Star would not siphon their best students.

After Star's first open house, Jim got a call from an Indiana band director who had six students attend. He said to Jim that he was counting on them for his summer program and asked, "What are you going to do about it?" Jim called all of the kids and encouraged them to stay with the band program instead of marching with Star. The band director was shocked and called later - this time asking what he could do for Star. As a consequence, Star received his graduation list resulting in eight more, experienced players. Star's first camp had over 150 people who auditioned.

Although events proved otherwise, in September, there was an indication that the Bridgemen were going to take a year off. A couple of former Bridgemen instructors were let go or refused to return. In addition, the members were told that their corps would not be able to make it another year and so a contingent of Bridgemen found their way to Indiana, including drum major Karen Ruschman.

By May, it was clear that some additional members were needed. During that month, Pride of Cincinnati announced that they would not field a corps in 1985 and shortly afterwards, Ron Poole, Director of Pride, called Jim and asked if Star had any openings. On the following Saturday, a Star bus headed to Cincinnati to pick up the Pride members who would become part of Star's drum corps backbone. And so the misfortune of two corps enabled Star to field the 1985 corps.

The first season Star had a total of fourteen seasoned drum corps members out of 131. These veterans were crucial - they helped establish how we got on and off the bus and what was expected from a drum corps.