Scholarships help further nonprofit’s musical mission

The drums and horns have long been silent, but an event sponsored by a local nonprofit organization brings the legacy of drum and bugle corps back to Cedar Rapids every summer, along with a new scholarship fund to support the tradition into the future.

A 501(c)(3) since 2015, the Iowa Music & Arts Association hosts the annual Tournament of Drums competition, and, for the first time, awarded four scholarships this year, with hopes to grow that number.

“It’s been a goal of ours since we started,” Mitch Beahm, president of the group’s nine-member Board of Directors, said of the scholarships. “We’d love to offer even more.”

Out of more than a dozen applicants, scholarship winners were chosen based on financial need, essay responses and references, with preference to applicants attending or who have attended a secondary school or college in Iowa.

The awards — the group provided a total of $3,500 in its inaugural year — aren’t typical college scholarships, but are used to offset the costs of marching in a drum & bugle corps, an expense that can range up to $5,000 or more.    

Drum Corps International, which oversees the activity, sets the age limit for participants at 21, with many in their teens. Performers on drums/percussion, color guard/dance and horns spend the year perfecting an on-field show, usually staying in schools as they travel to competitions.

Mr. Beahm, a horn player in the Nite Express Drum and Bugle Corps during the 1990s, said the scholarships help further the nonprofit’s mission — to promote, preserve and perpetuate the education of music and the arts for all — even though the last corps in Cedar Rapids, the Emerald Knights, folded in 2001.

Alumni of the Emerald Knights and Nite Express had hoped to revive a corps in Cedar Rapids, he said, but the price tag of $3 million to $4 million was prohibitive.

Still, the organization provided instruction and instruments for a drumline that performed at games for the former Cedar Rapids Titans professional indoor football team, and continues to perform as Iowa Fun Drummin’.                                                     

The group has won awards in the SaPaDaPaSo Parade and others in Cedar Rapids and plays at events such as Houby Days and the Crunch Berry Run fundraiser.

Mr. Beahm, who earned a music degree from Coe College, performs with the group, along with other members ranging from high school students to one in his early 70s. 

“We love doing it,” he said.

The history of drum and bugle corps in Cedar Rapids dates back to 1928, when a French immigrant bugler organized the Playground Drum & Bugle Corps.

That was followed by other corps, including the Musketeers, Moose Girls, Cadets, Grenadiers, Emerald Knights, Nite Express, Grant Wood All-City Drum Corps and more.

The Tournament of Drums was first held in 1950 at Hawkeye Downs, then moved to Kingston Stadium in 1956. Since then, it has relocated just a few times, including to Linn-Mar Stadium when Kingston underwent construction, and this summer, when it was held for the first time at Prairie High School.

Co-hosted by the Colt Cadets of Dubuque, the show attracts thousands of performers and spectators for a competition that this year featured seven corps from the U.S. and Canada. 

Tournament of Drums is typically held on the first Friday of August, which falls on Aug. 2 in 2024.

Proceeds from the show help fund the scholarships, along with donor contributions, and have gone back to fine arts programs at area high schools, Mr. Beahm said. 

“It feels good to spread that profit around, too,” he said.

Find more about the Iowa Music & Arts Association at iowamusicandarts.org.