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Testimonials
November 2006
Dear Parent,
My name is Jennifer Hargrove (Berg) and my son is a member of the Racine Scouts Drum and Bugle Corps. I would like to share with
you my experiences with the corps as a parent; in hope that you will consider allowing your son or daughter to become a member of this
fine group. My son attends the Oneida Nation School, just west of Green Bay, Wisconsin, a distance of 145 miles from Racine.
His school music teacher is also the manager for the Racine Scouts and she invited my son to go to a camp for the corps last spring to
see if this might be something he would be interested in for the future. We understood from the outset that there would be
considerable travel involved just getting to and from rehearsals in addition to traveling most of the summer; but my husband and I felt
that we needed to let Cayman check this out. Up to this point, he had never been away from home for any extended time and I was
very concerned about him spending the weekend with people that I really didn’t know much about. My son was offered a spot in the
horn line and really enjoyed himself. He had to work very hard to keep up with the other students who had gone through the entire
winter program and several of the other kids involved were much older than he was. Again, as a mom, I was concerned about my child
spending almost an entire summer away from home but in the long (and short) run, the decision to allow him to participate was a good
one. The students are very well supervised and stay together at all times while in Racine. The Taylor Street facility is a
wonderful place. It’s almost like sending your child to an all summer music camp. My family was able to travel to some of
the area shows and we were also invited to stay at the Taylor Home whenever we wanted. We did take advantage of this opportunity
and I was very impressed with the teaching staff and the other corps members. They were respectful, polite and very hardworking.
What impressed me most was the number of skills my son was learning. In addition to becoming a better brass player, he became
responsible for taking care of his own belongings, doing his laundry, budgeting his spending money and doing chores around the facility.
Most Importantly, he learned about managing his time and being more responsible. When he returned home each week, he always had
many exciting things to tell us. I became somewhat envious of the places that he was able to travel too! Our family plans to
become more involved with the corps activity this year. As a working parent; I am pleased to have my son involved with an activity
that provides a daily structured environment, physical activity and allows him to have fun at the same time. My son really enjoys
his corps friends and has kept in touch with them since returning from tour in August. He has certainly progressed as a player
and also as a responsible young adult. I encourage all parents to attend a weekend rehearsal and see for yourself what a great
opportunity this is for your child. If you would like to ask specific parent-related questions, please contact me at
jhargrov@oneidanation.org
Sincerely,
Jennifer Hargrove
Green Bay, WI