We are the American Heirs. We are an all-volunteer organization working to provide an environment and programs that will promote and foster camaraderie and lifelong friendships among children of diverse backgrounds.

The racial and ethnic makeup of Harrisonburg and its’ surrounding county is changing, as it is throughout America. The children of our old established groups, along with those newly emerging will someday inherit America. They will be the leaders who plan our future and the VOTERS who accept or reject such plans. Imagine how great America would be if all of those children were to become friends. Imagine how great our community would be if the gangs found it difficult to recruit here because of the camaraderie among our diverse children instead of groups fragmented into “haves” and “have-not's,” color, race, or ethnicity.

These are the reasons we have organized. We have chosen the drum and bugle corps as our initial program because it has a history of providing the environment for bonding, mutual concern towards a goal, pride in accomplishment, and acceptance of discipline. Each member feels connected and proud to belong. Each will gain in feelings of self-worth as their performance level rises and they relate that to their own contribution.

There are no paychecks now and never will be for anyone in our organization. This is integral to our plan. Once there were as many as fifteen neighborhood drum and bugle corps in a single city like Philadelphia. They formed competition circuits within their cities and throughout the country. Then the corps began hiring college band directors, and the focus shifted from the “neighborhood” corps to those run by professionals who had to “win” to maintain their jobs. College music majors now took positions that were previously held by neighborhood kids and paid the corps as much as five thousand dollars to march with the summer tour. For these reasons the “heart” of the corps was lost.

Our goal is to recreate the heart and spirit of the neighborhood drum & bugle corps.
Everything is free to the children. This is essential to our plan. As each learns their skill they are taught how to teach that skill to others. When their level of skill permits they are given the task of “passing it on” to another member coming up through the learning process.

Most members of the drum and bugle corps will perform with the summer tours through their twentieth year. At age twenty-one they may no longer perform with the corps but will still be considered lifetime members. After college, careers will take them to many parts of our country. We will maintain a database here in Harrisonburg so they can find other members. These members are encouraged to come back as teachers if their family and professional obligations will permit. Those who have located in other cities and states may want to unite and start a new “American Heirs” program and thereby “pass it on”.