When 1985 was complete, Star had a tenth place finish and the next rumor circulated was "Cook bought the finals." These are perceptions; why did the corps receive such a response? First, there was never any question that Star would be adequately financed. Even though criticized, our company made a commitment to drum corps. I actually believed that other companies would soon follow our path and either start a corps of their own or sponsor a corps. Such was not the case; in 1993, Star remained the only fully corporate sponsored drum corps. I wish that others could appreciate the value of this activity and its impact on young people who participate.

In addition, I believe that Star's apparent efficiency honked many old timers. How did we achieve this? Simple - Star was built around an experienced staff and seasoned veterans.

From the beginning, Star was operated as a business. Buses and trucks were to be maintained, corps equipment was to be cared for, and the corps was always to be well fed and housed. Later, we found that it was better to use professional drivers, to have a trained nurse or fitness director, and a professional cook. Personal safety of the membership was an absolute priority.

Several years before Star began, Bob Lendman shared a secret with Jim which was to fake a bus break-down. Sure enough on Star's maiden voyage, Jim pulled this trick. The members and equipment from the 'broken bus" were transferred to the other two buses which continued on to Normal, Illinois. After the driver of the broken bus had a cup of coffee, he started down the road and arrived five minutes after the corps. The purpose of this exercise was to have the corps learn through experience what life on the road is like. We also arrived a day early in Normal so we could practice going over to the stadium, unloading, warming up, and even marching to the entrance gate. Good practice for opening night and it paid off! On June 16, 1985, Star took the field at Normal Illinois for the first time; the scores were Cavaliers--76.9; Phantom--74.4; and Star of Indiana--73.6. Star won their first high brass award at that show. Mickey Mouse was born!

Because Star was not a member of DCI, we had to find our own shows; sometimes we performed for free or for $375. Many nights, we had to travel hundreds of miles in order to find work. For example, we traveled from Springfield MO to Durham NC without stopping except for fuel and from DeKalb Illinois after DCM on July 27 to Corning NY for a performance on July 28. We were national nomads migrating to any sponsor who would have us.

We arrived in Allentown for the DCI East Championship, placing 13th in prelims behind the 27th Lancers, and missing finals for the first and only time as a drum corps. After the prelim scores were announced, Jim stood next to the wall at Hamilton Stadium scratching the concrete aimlessly while pondering what needed to be done to motivate this new corps. As the year progressed, our scores were still not going up and the separation from corps above us kept getting larger.

On August 6, Freelancers were ahead of us by 7 points, Madison by 13, and Santa Clara by 24. Apparently, we had stalled and it appeared that we would place anywhere from 13th to 18th at championship. But we knew that if we could hold on until we reached Bloomington for the August 12 "Pride of Indiana" show, the hometown crowd and new revisions might be enough to makes us competitive again.

When we arrived in Bloomington, our drivers were dead tired but Jim asked several of us if we could go out to Pennsylvania and pick up the 27th--two of their buses were down. If my memory serves correctly we met them somewhere in Ohio and they made the performance.

During finals week, television stations and newspapers were asking for interviews. On one particular interview, the reporter asked me: "I heard that you are called the Mickey Money corps;" at the time, this question did not anger me but unfortunately I shot back (my misspent humor,) "yeah, it's the best corps money can buy." At the time this question and comment seemed so innocuous but those words have haunted the organization and me to this day.

Because Star was not a member of DCI, we had to go through prelims, quarters, and semis before we would know whether or not we would perform at the Saturday night championship. Star won prelims with a score of 84.1 followed by Les Eclipses with an 80.3; in quarter finals we scored 86.7 followed by Troopers, 85.6, Les Eclipses, 82.4, Skyriders, 81.1 and Colts, 80.9. Early in the year, Jim had booked a hotel for our annual banquet on Friday--none of us thought that we could make finals on Saturday. After our semi performance "in the sunlight," the buses were loaded and we headed for the hotel. No one could keep their mind on the banquet; very little food was eaten while we waited for semi scores. Finally at 11:00 p.m., Jim came over to Karen Ruschman and my table and told us: "9th place, Troopers, 87.9; Velvet Knights, 86.8; Freelancers, 86.8; Freelancers, 85.9; and Star, 87.5. It didn't sink in; we thought that we had gotten 13th and then Karen went ballistic. She went to the podium and took up the microphone and repeated Jim's report. We had made finals, unbelievable! The final night was bittersweet to some of us because we knew what George Bonfiglio, our friend, was thinking.

The semi-final performance would be 27th Lancers last as an open class corps. For Jim, it was particularly sad because he idolized George. His relationship with and respect for him continues today. Star's magical year was over but the legacy of that year would both exhilarate and haunt the corps until it left DCI membership in 1994.

THE SUMMERS OF 1986 AND 1987
In 1986, Jim Prime and Donny Van Doren became new staff members and I might note that they are still with us today. 1986 was the year of "Star Wars". George Zingali mandated that there shall be giant wheels rolling over the green. These wheels appeared in two shows, were actually used in one, and then relegated to a sink hole near the corps hall. This was the year of glitz and glitter!.

For those around drum corps, you may have noted that the music book became more difficult and more emphasis was placed on a musicianship. The color guard put on weird wigs and the corps tried to bore holes in the air with sound. We moved up two spots to eighth place.

I987 was the year of the cirucs. Circus wagons appeared as backdrops and the corps spent most of the summer trying to make the props work. Again, glitz was the name of the game and Star folk were learning the hard way that huge props were next to impossible to utilize in drum corps. Some of the members were hurt unloading them. Frustration is the best word to use for 1987 because so much time was spent trying to get visuals integrated properly; in retrospect, time would have been better spent perfecting drill.

When the season was over, many Star folk, including Moe and me, were seen beating the circus wagons to a timely demise--we should have wrecked them in June. A valuable lesson was learned this year--props are difficult to utilize and they detract from practice in other areas. We tied for 7th with Velvet Knights with a score of 90.