At the recent DCI Southeastern Championship in Atlanta, DCI.org had an opportunity to speak with some fans who traveled great distances to attend the event.

Robert Aumais and Louise Berghiaump
Robert Aumais and his wife Louise Berghiaump drove 1,200 miles from Montreal to attend the show, their one opportunity to see drum corps performances this season. Normally, they would have made their yearly pilgrimage to Allentown, Pa., but were unable to attend this year's DCI Eastern Classic, instead choosing to drive down to the Georgia Dome event. Aumais marched in a drum corps 30 years ago and has followed it ever since. "I'm crazy about drum corps and check out the scores every day on the Internet. It's part of my life," he said. Although never a member of a drum corps, Berghiaump loves the activity and doesn't mind the long drives to get to their yearly corps venue. Naturally, they listen to drum corps performances in the car to pass the time. The husband and wife fans did not see any other shows on their way down south. They simply got into Atlanta a few hours early of the show, had breakfast and then came to the Georgia Dome to buy their tickets, adding, "No one should complain about driving a couple hundred miles to see a show."

Doug Borisch (right) and David Wahler
Doug Borisch and David Wahler flew from Palm Springs, Calif. just to see the evening show in Atlanta. They also will attend the 2007 DCI World Championships in Pasadena. Their desire to travel more than 2,000 miles to Atlanta was to watch the top 12 corps perform and to see how much those groups' competitive rankings have changed come this August in Pasadena. Feeling somewhat nostalgic, Borisch was excited to see the Phantom Regiment perform Stravinsky's "Firebird" which is part of the corps' 2007 program "On Air." The corps also performed the piece in their 1978 program, which is the same year he had one of his first drum corps experiences. "It will be a great show in California," Borisch said about the 2007 World Championships that will be held at Rose Bowl Stadium. "But it is well worth the flight to come [to Atlanta] to see the top corps before the end of the season."