ANDY WARNTZ

Class of 2020

CADET / INSTRUCTOR / VOLUNTEER / ALUMNI LEADER

Volunteer (1985-1991)

Cadet Years: Percussion/Bass (1992, 1996, 1997)

Staff at The Cadets (2008, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023)

Staff at C2 (2016-2018)

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HIS CADET STORY:

Andy Warntz started his Cadet journey in 1985 when his parents Jack and Ellen Warntz began volunteering for the Garfield Cadets working on the food truck.  Prior to this, the Garfield Cadets were his favorite corps, so getting to now grow up around the Garfield Cadets was very special to him.

 

He got to go on tour every summer from 1985-1991 while his parents cooked.  You could often find Andy in the food truck with his parents, or with the corps helping move pit equipment or just hanging out with the drumline trying to learn their exercises and how to march.

 

Andy eventually got his opportunity to be in the corps in 1992 as a member of the pit.  His dream was to play bass drum in The Cadets, so he took a few years off from the Cadets to go march with the Reading Buccaneers and The Bushwackers where he was taught by Skip Cassady who was a Cadets bass drum alum.  After his two summers with Bucs and Bush he came back to the Cadets and played top bass drum in 1996 and 1997.

 

After aging out in 1997 Andy became a very active alum and worked hard to make sure he was giving back to the corps.  Even though he was newly married, he and his wife Deb became members of the Maroon and Gold Club almost immediately and have been supporting the corps with donations annually ever since.  Because Andy had been around the corps since 1985, he always worked to connect current members of the corps with alumni to help gather donations and support for their tour fees.

 

Andy also became the lead for the Holy Bass alumni which was the bass drum section for the Cadets.  He was instrumental in the growth and support of that group of alumni from hosting annual reunions at DCI East to heading up the Holy Bass Scholarship where they raise money each year to provide scholarships to the current members of the Cadets bass drum section.

 

Andy was on the Cadets Hall of Fame Committee for over 7 years and had been the past chairman of the Cadets Hall of Fame Committee for four years.  Andy’s daughter, Cara, was a member of C2 from 2015-2018 and The Cadets from 2019-2022.  So, Andy is one of the few people that gets to say they are an Alum of The Cadets, staff member of The Cadets and parent of a Cadet.

 

Additional Honors:

• Holy Bass Hall of Fame 2019