Freddy Martin, founder and director of Spirit of Atlanta from 1976-1993, and Tom Aungst, longtime percussion caption head for the Cadets, have been elected to the Drum Corps International Hall of Fame for 2006. The two were elected for DCI Hall of Fame selection by the board of directors and DCI hall of fame members. They join Alfred "Corky" Fabrizio and Don Porter, who were elected to the Hall of Fame by the DCI Hall of Fame Legacy Committee in March as the class of 2006.
Tom Aungst Twenty-five years of experience. Two championships as a member. Seven championships as an instructor. Five percussion titles including a string of nine-consecutive runner-up titles. And all of this still counting. This may sound like a combination of the resumes of five percussion instructors, but in reality is only one of longtime Cadets percussion arranger and caption head, Tom Aungst. A member of the Cadets from 1981-1984, Aungst went on to become a lead percussion tech with the corps from 1985-1988 before assuming the caption supervisory role in 1989, a position he still holds today. Read more about Aungst's selection to the DCI Hall of Fame.
Freddy Martin The Spirit of Atlanta was founded in 1976, almost single-handedly under the vision and determination of Freddy Martin. From finding a local television station to sponsor the start-up of the corps, to building the staff and membership, Martin did it all. And with the start of Spirit and their signature southern swing sound, he was the catalyst for an explosion of drum corps activity in the South in the late 70s and 80s. Martin served as Spirit's corps director from the corps' founding through the 1993 season. A noted band director in the Atlanta suburbs, Martin brought a love of music and especially for the education process to the corps. Read more about Martin's selection to the DCI Hall of Fame. Aungst, Martin, Fabrizio and Porter will be recognized as new members of the Hall of Fame during the 2006 World Championships in Madison, and will be officially inducted during the DCI board of directors meeting in January, 2007.