In honor of Women’s History Month, the Madison Scouts are proud to feature stories from the first class of women in membership as well as the women on staff.
Tina Jameson is originally from Columbus, Ohio and currently resides in Dublin, Ohio. This summer will be her 10th summer with Madison and has been recently promoted to Assistant Corps Director.
“If you can impact a young adult at least once during the summer, twice, or on an everyday basis, whatever it might be, that’s what is most important to me… Bottom line is, we’re all here as a family. The activity is simply the vehicle that brings the family together. We can only do it for a very short period of time and, as such, we want to ensure everyone involved has ‘an experience of a lifetime’. Being able to influence or help someone, that’s why I continue to come back.” --Tina Jameson
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What’s your story? How’d you get involved with drum corps?
J: My older son, Josh, decided he wanted to do drum corps. He’s a trombone player and we went to a couple of drum corps shows. He was like “I want to do that,” and I said, alright, but they don’t have trombones so you’re going to have to learn a valved instrument. He simply said, “Yeah, okay, I got it.” After choosing to audition with the Glassmen, we drove him up to camp, and I thought, “Okay, how can I be involved here as a volunteer?” After walking into the kitchen and seeing they had plenty of help, I wandered outside to help the dads with some projects. Afterwards, I headed back to the kitchen. One thing led to the next and I ended up volunteering at every camp and a few weeks on tour that summer. That was the 2007 season. Josh aged out five years later and I thought “Well, I have a lot of friends here. I still enjoy this, so I’m going to continue to go back and help out.”
How did you become involved with the Madison Scouts and what roles have you served?
J: It was March of 2013 and I got a message from Suzanne VanSchaik [mother of a current Scouts member and former volunteer at the Glassmen] saying, “Oh my gosh, Richard [VanSchaik] said that you should apply to this position with Madison Scouts, it’s the food operations manager.” And I was like “Really? Oh, an alumnus will take that position, it’s the Madison Scouts.” They were like, “No, no, no. Could we just give them your contact information?” So I thought, okay, sure, why not. A little later that day, I get a message from Dann Peterson and Chris [Komnick] and said, “Hey, would you be interested in coming to the April camp to meet with us to talk about the position?” I rode up to camp with Suzanne and Richard in their RV, met with Dann and Chris, and within half an hour I was on board. 2013 was my first year with the Scouts as the Food Operations Manager. I continued in that role through the 2019 season. The combination of wanting to help out in other areas and the need for someone to take on some responsibilities led to me becoming the Financial Manager and Volunteer Coordinator in the fall of 2019. Covid-19 hits, 2020 season is cancelled. 2021 came around and everything was up in the air, but we continued to plan for a shortened season. Knowing we would have a smaller administrative staff, Greg [Mizak] and I took on the Operations Director role to aid David [Lofy]. Fast forward to this year, David and Chris wanted to give Greg and me even more responsibility which, in turn, led to us both being named Assistant Corps Directors.
You’ve recently assumed the role of Assistant Director. What excites you most about this opportunity?
J: I’m looking forward to getting back to the activity as it was before COVID. Meeting all of the new students. Working with an administrative team. While working on the food truck, I was considered admin, but was in the food truck almost 24/7… Getting to interact with those that have been with the organization for a while as well as all of the new additions. I just love it! I’ve been doing this since 2007, so what’s that, 14, 15 years? A long time. It’s hard work, but it’s so rewarding to me to see the young people succeed. That’s why I do it, to put a smile on someone’s face… Another thing that I’m looking forward to is helping the organization continue to improve on the operations and procedures we already have in place as well as get us to ‘think outside the traditional drum corps box’. We are so far ahead compared to where we’ve been in the past. In February, I met with some members of the design team, the admin team, and Nick [Monzi]. It was such a great feeling to have representatives of various teams within the organization get together in a room and have everybody on the same page of “Here’s where we are and here’s where we want to be. How can we get from point A to point B?” It is exciting to be in a place to participate in literally re-imagining what the drum corps experience is for our members. To make it fit the realities of the world in 2022. Some exciting things are on the horizon for the Madison Scouts!
Can you tell me more about your professional background and how it influences the work you do with Scouts?
J: My professional career was relatively short. Went to college, earned a degree in accounting. Completed an internship during my senior year and offered a job before I graduated…upon graduation I worked for Arthur Andersen & Co. for a couple years in auditing. I knew I wanted to do something a little different and focus on a more specialized area, so the company introduced me to some existing clients. While still working at Arthur Andersen, I was able to interview and ended up becoming the controller of a small insurance agency… Then it was time to start a family. My intent was to go right back to work soon after the baby was born, but ended up giving up my professional career to stay home to care for my son. Four years later, my younger son Grant came along and I decided I wanted to continue to be a stay at home mom and became very involved in volunteering. Whether it be for my sons’ school activities and outside sports or other activities I was involved with, I spent my time trying to do good for others…The accounting background and all of my volunteer experiences gave me the organizational and people skills needed to run the food operations for so many years…menu planning, inventory, food/supply orders, managing volunteers, etc. These skills were very valuable in the Financial Manager/Volunteer Coordinator and Operations Director roles and will continue to aid me in my new role as Assistant Corps Director. That’s how I operate!
What keeps you coming back to the Scouts?
J: People. Flat out. The people. It’s just so refreshing. As challenging as it is some days, I love it! That’s the bottom line. It’s not what kind of work I do. It’s always about making sure everyone is happy…If you can impact a young adult at least once during the summer, twice, or on an everyday basis, whatever it might be, that’s what is most important to me… Some people struggle. Bottom line is, we’re all here as a family. The activity is simply the vehicle that brings the family together. We can only do it for a very short period of time and, as such, we want to ensure everyone involved has ‘an experience of a lifetime’. I always feel like this is a safe place for people to be themselves when they can’t be otherwise… It’s not just about what happens on the field and what happens during rehearsals.
What is your favorite memory with the corps?
J: Hmmm, one favorite memory is really tough. There have been hundreds over the years. In 2019, after making a very difficult decision to not travel with the corps during the summer, the corps sang “You’ll Never Walk Alone” to me. That was an incredibly emotional and meaningful moment… They had done it for groups of volunteers, for parents, for alumni in the past. But the fact that they took the time out to just, kind of, say goodbye was priceless. Prior to this moment, I wasn’t quite sure I was going to be able to come back. We don’t know what is going to happen in our lives on an everyday basis. So the fact that they took the time to appreciate, to celebrate everything that I had done…that was really meaningful and a memory I will always cherish. There’s a bad, bad ugly crying picture of me out there somewhere. Anyway, it was that moment I decided I’m only going to be gone for a little while. I’m going to come back. I’m going to figure this out. I’ve got to go away for a little bit. It’s not goodbye, it’s I’ll see you later.
What are your goals for the corps for the 2022 season?
J: There are always goals to strive for. I want to see everyone become more knowledgeable and confident in their area, but at the same time, make time for themselves. We all need down time so that we can reboot and be able to be full on and successful. I think we’re doing a very good job preseason as everyone [members, educational staff, design team, admin team] is taking on a lot to prepare for the summer. I want us to be able to progress more. Last summer was a bit different due to Covid…shortened tour, no competition. I would like to see us push a little harder. Not necessarily more time on the field, but accomplish more with less. I hope that everybody is able to take better care of themselves than they have in the past, both mentally and physically. I believe some of the things we’re going to implement this year will definitely help with this. I would like to see everyone have a great time and not worry too much about scoring. Competition is important, but not at the expense of one's health. Make sure that day two is better than day one, and day three is better than day two… and the results will happen. I hope that the staff continues to work and grow as a team…From my perspective, everyone seemed to get along and genuinely like each other and being part of our organization. During down time, you would see many of them mingling. I would love to see that continue… They were really there for the right reasons. They weren’t there for a paycheck or a resume builder. They were genuinely there for the members.
