Where are they now?? Life happens right? We move on past our marching years, get real jobs, have a family, travel the world, or serve our country. Whatever it is you do, as life takes its course it can be easy to let our drum corps connections fade.

The purpose of the Troopers Alumni Association isn't solely to support the Troopers of today financially, emotionally, and competitively. It is also to provide opportunities to reconnect with those we once marched alongside and meet new people to share our Troopers experiences with.

In our new monthly series, "Where Are They Now?" we will interview an alumnus to take a look at where they are now and learn how the Troopers shaped them into who they are today. In this series we aim to create these opportunities to reconnect and learn a little bit about our brothers and sisters in the Long Blue Line. We hope you enjoy!!

Where Are They Now: Daniel Suda

Where are you from and what year(s) and section did you march?

Houston, TX and 2008 - Mellophone

Why did you choose to march with the Troopers?

My high school band director, Russell Holcombe marched with the Long Blue Line in the 80’s. When I told him that I was interested in marching drum corps, he naturally encouraged me to consider the Troopers. I decided to attend a Texas audition camp with my good friend and classmate, Dylan Schau (Euphonium). Fortunately, we both made it into the corps and became bus partners for that summer. The influences around me definitely guided me to Casper, WY!

Which instructor had the most influence on you when you marched? Why?

Scott Atchison was our brass caption head that year. Although his intensity was a bit much to handle as a naive 17-year-old living without his parents for the first time, the life lessons he taught me turned me into who I am today. Its tough living on the road with 150 new friends, but the support provided by the staff was amazing. I really learned how to function as an independent adult, and got to learn about people from all over the country. I will never forget the time at brass block when we all took our nail-clippers and snapped them right at Scott!

What are you up to now? (Married? Kids? Job?)

I currently work for the University of North Texas (UNT) Alumni Association as the Director of Affinity Programming. Happily married to my wife, Catherine Saenz who I met as an undergrad at Texas A&M University. No kids, but we have two wonderful corgis that we enjoy referring to as fur-babies. Although I do not work in music directly, UNT is known for its strong arts program, and I work with the College of Music on several alumni engagement events throughout each year. I feel like every week on campus I see a student in their drum corps jacket and it is always nice to make that connection with them. I still wear my scarf ring on my necklace daily, and never plan to take it off. HLD - GO TROOP!

Dear Troopers Alumni,

Please join me in welcoming the new Troopers Alumni Association Committee:

• Jon Beerman (1983-84, Brass)

• Julie Eslinger (2001-2005, Guard Captain)

• Jake Fortin (2007-2008, Brass)

• Teresa Hassel Hummel (1982-84, Brass)

• Nick Kottman (2007-2008, Brass)

• Skyler Krall (2010, Brass)

• Matt Larsen (2005-2008, Drumline)

• Morgan Marchand (2011-2014, Brass)

• Tony Monterastelli (1981-1991, Brass, Drum Major)

• Corey Moore (2007-2010, Brass, Drum Major)

These 10 alums were appointed by the Troopers Board of Directors last week. They will start to work very soon on continuing the TAA growth that began in 2016.

While the TAA bylaws allow for the Troopers board to appoint members to the committee, the usual way to fill the committee is by election. The committee called for nominations during the 2016 season. Two nominations were made, but that wasn’t enough to populate a committee that requires between seven and 10 members. Rather than extend the nomination and election window into the fall and winter and lose momentum, the board moved forward to recruit volunteers and ratify their appointment. (The two alums nominated for election, by the way, are included among the 10 who have been appointed.)

It’s my hope that the work of the new committee will continue to grow the number of alumni who are active members of TAA, and that the growth will assure an adequate number of nominations for committee positions, so that elections once again will be the way the alumni select their association leadership.

I’d like to thank the outgoing members of the TAA Committee:

• Terri Everett

• Ila Gapanoff

• David Hobart, President

• Jim McDaniel

• Kenton Nielson

• Vicki Niswonger

• Ariana Pyburn

• Gary Shockey

Under their direction, TAA has grown its active membership in 2016. It led the annual Rocky Mountain Rivalry fundraising campaign to its second-highest total ever. The TAA also shared the stories of alums who adopted Troopers, fed Troopers, and supported Troopers in various ways. Please join me in thanking them for their dedication.

The Troopers’ mission is to provide young people the opportunity to pursue the highest levels of performance excellence in the Troopers tradition. Competitive success is the measure of performance excellence that the Troopers provide to its members. Our goal, then, must be nothing less than to be a perennial DCI finalist.

Getting there requires all elements of the organization -- the members, the instructors, the caption heads, design team, administration, volunteers, board, and the alumni -- to work with singleminded focus on that goal. The Troopers have one of the deepest and dedicated pool of alumni in the drum-corps activity. United in support of the corps members, you can make a huge contribution to their success on the field and in the quality of their experience as Troopers -- and have a heck of a lot of fun along the way.

Audition season is only a few weeks away. Time to roll up our sleeves and get to work on a 2017 season that, under the leadership of the new TAA Committee and with your active support of TAA, will bring the Troopers closer to the Promised Land.

HLD,

Mike Ottoes