Recent News

Prelim scores



01. 97.175 - Buccaneers
02. 94.875 - Minnesota Brass
02. 94.875 - Hurricanes
04. 92.763 - Empire Statesmen
05. 92.613 - Caballeros
06. 89.825 - Renegades
07. 88.088 - Brigadiers
08. 88.025 - Bushwackers
09. 85.113 - Alliance
10. 82.025 - CorpsVets
11. 81.563 - Kilties
12. 80.038 - Music City Legend
13. 75.475 - Crusaders

Note: Minnesota Brass won the coin toss and will go on after Hurricanes at Finals

Reflection Letter To Hurcs



The following is a letter written by Ace Holleran of Drum Corps World.

To just view what he has written, please Click Here
To download the letter, Click Here
To read more and to subscribe, please visit www.drumcorpsworld.com

Raffle Ticket Winner



The winner of the cruise raffle is.......

Bob Bradley

From Seymour, CT



Hurricanes take Cabs at Barnum - CorpsVets surprise Bush

Another huge Barnum Festival crowd saw a great evening of competition in Bridgeport, CT and drum corps friendly JFK Stadium. The Barnum Festival has been a key DCA show for many years. Combining the excitement of the competition with the theatrics of PT Barnum - where the announcer is the “Ringmaster” and the football field the ring, this show always brings out the drum corps fans in the Metro NY/Lower New England area.

Rochester’s Crusaders were warmly received and finished 5th while Harrison, NJ Bushwackers got bushwhacked themselves by a strong Atlanta CorpsVets. The South rose strong tonight. While the audience seemed to enjoy both of DCA’s top 5 corps,=2 0 Hawthorne Caballeros and CT Hurricanes, it was a huge opening show statement for the re-emerging Hurricanes that put them on top tonight. This was the Hurricanes first early season win over the always strong Caballeros in many seasons.

Captions awards were:

Color Guard, High General Effect, High Marching and High Percussion-Hurricanes
Drum Major-Kate Socha, Hurricanes
High Brass-Caballeros

1st-Hurcs 77.525
2nd-Cabs 75.9
3rd-CorpsVets 70.363
4th-Bush 68.4
5th-Cru 60.913

For more on the scores, please Click Here

Back to Glory


Below is a review of Back to Glory written by Ray Fallon:

Just a quick note - saw the Hurcs at their season kick-off dinner last night - a great time with a lot of the Hurricane legends - this is a corps that gets the historical implications of being a world-class musical group of more than 6 decades. Lot of good friends...

To the corps - even with some folks who were at proms - the line was huge - the 10 tubas are magnificent (people who know me know that I'm not prone to hyperbole).

The brass have a dark, rich sound that is reminiscent of the kind of intensely focused air that Phantom has always played with - really a great sound at f ff and fff (might have heard an ffff although my ears are still ringing). Percussion is rock-solid - the writing complex and exquisitely coordinated - the guard was looking young, and fit and sassy - can't wait to see what they add to this show.

It's not perfect, but then again it's not June either.

Jim Dugan is doing his dad proud with this group. If you're a Hurc fan you're in for a fun summer, if you're a Drum Corps fan, you're in for an entertaining summer, if you're a Hurc - hater - you're in for a long summer.

Peace.

Fundraisers


Hurricanes currently have 2 active fundraisers. These fundraisers are a 10 day/ 9 night Cruise raffle to Bermuda to the Bahamas and the Fuel Fund. For more information on these fundraisers, click the link on the side bar menu.

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Past News

Hurricanes Celebrate 2008

The Hurricanes brought 2008 to a close at their annual year-end banquet, held on Saturday evening, Dec. 6, at Saint Sebastian Hall. Marching members, Educational staff, Support Staff, Board & Management, as well as friends and family attended this celebration of the Hurcs highest score ever attained in DCA competition as well as their highest placement in over 13 years.

After a buffet dinner and video presentation of the corps 2008 finals performance, Tom Gabianelli, Chairman of the Board and Bernie Malesky, Director of the corps, began to hand out the awards.

Receiving 5 year pins:
Whitney McDowell
Linda Flaker
Donny Binette
Irene Sheades
Erin McLaughlin

Receiving a 10 year pin:
Bill Lockwood

Receiving Diamond Chips:
Maureen Tardie (15 Years)
Pete Propfe (20 Years)

Most Improved Brass Player:
Liam Hanna

Most Improved Color Guard:
Barbara Bauer

Most Improved Marcher:
Melissa Skenadore

Most Improved Pit Player:
Claude Louis

Percussion Section Member of The Year:
Dave Sleath

Board of Directors Award:
Jim Dugan

Directors award:
Danny Staffieri

Hurricane of the Year:
Kate Socha

Rookie of the Year:
Tyler Owens

The night concluded with everyone on the dance floor.

No one had a long wait until the beginning of the 2009 season, as the corps Open House/1st rehearsal was held the very next day. The Hurcs are looking for a bigger and better celebration to the 2009 season as they get ready to once again entertain their many fans.

Open House a Great Success!
Although old man winter made his presence known, that did not stop more then 100 people from coming out to the open house on Sunday, December 7th. For a full report, check out the Official Newsletter by Clicking here

Kevin Hassan has new role with the Hurricanes
Times do change and it's no different for the world of Drum Corps. Tom Gabianelli, Chairman of the Board announced today, with regret, the resignation of Board Member and President of the Hurricanes Kevin Hassan.

Kevin returned to the Hurricanes at the end of the 2006 season and with his guidance, dedication and leadership has helped to pave the way for two of the most successful seasons the Hurricanes have had in 25 years. Due to his professional responsibilities and the recent issues with the stock market and economy, Kevin’s commitments to his employer (PricewaterhouseCoopers) have grown to a point whereby he cannot adequately provide time to the drum corps and as such - he decided that it is best to leave his volunteer responsibilities so the corps can continue to move forward without interruption before any unknown issues arise that would require making this decision at a more critical time for the Hurricanes.

Kevin will remain as an advisor to the Board of Directors, allowing us the opportunity to call upon his expertise on various issues from time to time.

New Monthly Pasta Dinner
Hurricanes will play host to a monthly pasta dinner to help fundraise for the upcoming 2009 season. This is a great chance to see past and present Members and fans.

Location:
RJ's Catering Hall
48 Elizabeth Street
Derby, CT

Time:
8pm-10pm

Price
$10

The first few dates are the Following:
November 14
December 19

More Dates can be found on the Hurricanes calendar by clicking Here There will also be a cash bar downstairs at RJ's. Keep Checking back for more details.

***Tentative Winter schedule is posted***
The Hurricanes management have put together a tentative schedule for the winter months. These times are Subject to Change. Any changes to the schedule will be posted ASAP. There are 2 ways to Check the schedule out. To the left of this post, there is a scrolling schedule that will have all events going on in the near future. You can also check out the Calendar of events if you click on the schedule option on the left, or Click Here.

Join the Hurricanes as they Kick off the 2009 Season on December 7th. Mark that day on the calendar. Details on the location will be given very soon.

Support a Long Time Hurricane
On Friday, October 24 2008 at 7:00 P.M. at RJs Cafe in Derby, a ziti dinner, hosted by John and Kathy Ashelford, to benefit John (Cakes) and Brenda Curran is being held to help offset the many medical and personnal bills that have accumalated. Cakes and Brenda have been active in the Drum Corps community for over three decades and have helped many individuals along the way. Now, it is our turn to help them. Dinner will be provided and a cash bar will be available. Tickets are $15..00 and can be purchased at the door or in advance by calling John Ashelford at 203-996-9183.

To read alittle about John "Cupcakes",Click Here

Hurricanes Welcome back John Lemire

John Lemire is joining our guard staff as both a designer and tech person. John started his drum corps career right here at the Hurcs. He works with Trumbull HS and has either taught or performed with Blessed Sacrament Winter Guard, Bushwackers, and the Caballeros.

We welcome him back home to the Hurricanes.

This finalizes our design team and we will be making announcements soon on the performance staff and show.

Hurricanes Hire Michael Klesch as Brass Arranger

The Hurricanes are exited to announce the hiring of Michael Klesch as the 2009 brass arranger. Michael is currently the brass arranger for Carolina Crown. He has previously written for the Cadets, Colts and Crossmen. Michael writes for many bands including the UMASS Minutemen. Michael is looking forward to working with the returning members of the design team: Jim Dugan (program coordinator), Jamey Thompson (Visual design), Kevin Murphy & Tim Holcomb (Percussion) and Philip Triani and Jim Zulick (Colorguard).

Also returning is Jeff Mitchell as program consultant and Joe Roche with the visual team.

Hurricanes wold like to thank Dave Dion who has be the Brass arranger for the past few years. Dave Dion has been a very instrumental person in the continued success of the Hurricanes and we wish him all the best in his future endeavours.

Finish to an Amazing 2008 Season
The 2008 season for the Hurricanes was one to remember. The Hurricanes have made big investments in the past 2 years to bring the organization "Back to Glory." The Hurricanes came one step closer to that in 2008!

Some of the accomplishments set by the 2008 Hurricanes:
~ 3 1st place trophies
~ Finishing 4th in the world overall
~ UNDEFEATED World Championship Colorguard
~ 2nd in the World in visual ~ 5 Times Consecutive World Championship Honorguard
~ American Leagon Nation Championship Honorguard