[songspirit]

As much as I think smoking laws in New York are not great, supporting the Syracuse Brigadiers and their scam, er... bingo "fundraising" is not the thing smokers ought to be supporting.

The State is doing a service to your state and to drum & bugle corps by putting these people under scrutiny. The people involved in running this "business" have also been involved in destroying genuine drum & bugle corps and putting business interests (i.e., profits for a few) ahead of other considerations. Drum & bugle corps, like the kids involved, are getting short-changed. This has been going on for decades in drum & bugle corps.

For more information, refer to the Usenet group rec.arts.marching.drumcorps - which can be accessed via the web at groups.google.com

If anti-smoking-ban people are going to be successful in restoring saner laws, they should look for responsible, open and above-board people to associate with. Not these guys.

-- Catherine

[lockjaw02]

Just reporting the news. I don't personally know them or have any insight into their operation other than hearing they were one of the first orgs in the entire state to qualify for a waiver under the announced criteria of showing at least a 15% loss in revenue since the smoking ban came into effect. In fact, I've never heard of them until the news about their waiver approval hit the press. Shortly thereafter came the rush of allegations of impropriety with the way they run the business. By all outward appearances, it seems mighty fishy. I honestly don't know how ethical they are, but as familiar as you appear to be with the Drum and Bugle Corps charities "industry", I am with the anti-smoker crusades and their associated "charities" and I have no doubt about the anti-smokers' ethics.

I've read through a few of your posts on the usenet group you've provided, but haven't seen any new revelations other than links to news articles and opinions. From what I see, 6 million a year in revenues before prize money distribution isn't some behemoth corporation. Most of the improprieties identified in the press consist of paying people to run the games and using some of the revenues for renovations when they weren't allowed to, not exactly the caliber of an organized crime syndicate which I hear some of the detractors inferring. The World Health Organization, American Cancer Society, and a whole slew of non-profit health "charities" organized under IRS 501(c)(3) appear to do a lot worse than that with regards to lobbying and hosting lavish conferences.

If you know something more about the Brigadiers that you haven't said, don't hold back.