2009 Fanfare Tickets Now On Sale!
Tickets for the 2009 Lake Erie Fanfare Show are now on sale!
It's coming soon on Monday, June 29th, so get your tickets now. More information is on the Competitions Page.
Congratulations to the Winter Guard!
Congratulations to the 2009 Lake Erie Regiment Independent World Guard for another successful season!
The guard recently returned from the WGI Championships in Dayton, Ohio capturing a score of 66.900. The guard is proud of this accomplishment and the fact that they have grown significantly in members from previous years.
Already plans are underway for 2010 and the continuation of this growth. Anyone interested in membership should contact the guard director, Shawn Marie Gorring at disney4shawn@roadrunner.com.
Congratulations to Shawn, Ron and Matt and the entire staff and support and of course all the guard members and parents!
LER Saddened by the loss of Cleveland Clinton
Once again, the LER family is in mourning as word has reached us that former member Cleveland Clinton has passed away on..... Cleveland had just started on his career of teaching music to others when this tragedy struck. He was always known for his dedication to music and we're sure was a fine teacher to his students.
When he was in the corps, he would often walk to and from rehearsal and made quite the impressive statement carrying his contra through some tough neighborhoods. He may have taken some comments, but he never missed rehearsal. A big man with a big heart and always in a good mood is how he will be remembered by his fellow members and staff. He will be sorely missed by his LER family and students.
Lake Erie Fanfare Reorganizes for the Future
As many have already heard, the Lake Erie Fanfare has made several significant changes to its operation starting in October. It is certainly no secret that the economic times are very challenging right now but with the final loss of our bingo game and the downturn in fundraising, it became apparent that we could simply not continue as we had been.
In order to continue as an organization, the board found it necessary to eliminate our present office and storage areas and their associated utilities. Although these were quite modest in comparison to others, they still amounted to a large chunk of money that we could no longer raise. With the savings from these cuts, it will be possible for the Fanfare to continue operating, just now out of the basement of our home.
This all started a few months back, when we began having internal discussions about the possibility that the Lake Erie Regiment Corps might never come back as a junior corps. While sad, it appears that this is the trend and thoughts began to shift to a new group - an "all age" corps. While we were working on the possibility for this to happen, we unexpectedly lost the bingo income and were forced to move sooner than expected.
And so, there is a new group in town, the Erie Drum Corps Association (really a spin off from us) and they will now try to put together this new all age corps! They already have taken most of the equipment and moved it and will soon begin their camps for the season ahead. This move ensures that the equipment can stay here in Erie and still benefit many new potential members to come! And in deference to the LER's storied history, it was decided that the new group will come about under a new name and write their own chapter in Erie's drum corps history.
The EDCA is also working side by side with us to transfer our remaining Independent World Color Guard to their group as well. The new structure then will have the Fanfare still producing the shows and festivals while the EDCA now takes charge for all the actual performing groups. We look forward to an exciting new year ahead and hope to see that ALL the ventures started under the Fanfare's umbrella will continue on, just perhaps in some new directions!
So for all those who already have bought tickets for 2009 or are looking to do so, rest assured we will still be there presenting another fine DCI event. Also the Erie German Heritage Festival will continue with our assistance in hopes of helping to fund our endeavors. And the EDCA will soon begin the new Winter Guard season and Corps season in earnest carrying forward these fine programs.
So maybe we've "refocused" or become "leaner and meaner". But in any manner, we've done what we had to so we can continue bringing the best of the marching world's activity to our area for our members. We hope you will join with us by supporting these new ventures and always remember that what we've done all these years has been about the kids and that is where our focus is staying. Thank You for your years of support!