—--

TLDR: This was probably my most successful season ever! Sadly it was also my last. At least for a while. Ownership of the LG leagues will be transferred to sopranomachine.

—--

Howdy all! Season 120 was really a landmark season for me. It was essentially my 30th anniversary, and it also gave most of my groups the best competitive success they’ve ever experienced on the site. I’d like to take a moment to run through those successes, now that they have left it all on the field/stage one last time.

Drum Corps:

The High Desert Vanguard has seen many hometowns, and many different styles of show. For quite a while, the absolute high point of this corps’ existence was season 108 and the Miss Saigon production, which earned a bronze medal in Division I. I’m elated to announce the breaking of that placement record with a 2nd place finish! The Vanguard have outdone themselves this season, never placing lower than 2nd in any competition. This is a corps that has struggled hard to get to where it is, and I couldn’t be prouder of them as my oldest organization.

And let’s not forget the rising Div II star, the Cadets of Yavapai County! They have achieved a whole lot in just a few short seasons, rising up from a Division III corps up to a mainstay in the top 6 of Division II.

Marching Band:

While the Whiskey Row Cavaliers have placed as high as 1st in Div I, this season I’m happy to report a record score for the band, in addition to an overall 2nd place finish!

The Prescott Scouts also made their introduction this season with their crowd-pleasing West Side Story show, and even won most of the judges over with another 2nd place finish.

Color Guard:

Despite the fact that we couldn’t quite reach 100 this season (darn you GE judges), the Snow Eagles were a mainstay throughout, and I am proud! They have made leaps and bounds since their debut 25 seasons ago!

Drum Line:

You could say that the Ghost Legion’s production, Into the Light, is fitting for a conclusion such as this. They placed in the top 3 this season, and their hard work will surely be remembered by fans and critics alike for many seasons to come.


—--

Now for the big news (which I’m sure was spoiled for everyone reading this in the first sentence). I am retiring from FMA. Lemon Performing Arts (that’s what I’ve just now decided to call my profiles) will be ceasing operations following the end of Season 120. There are a few reasons behind this, but mainly it has to do with real life. Things are just getting busy, and sooner or later I would have to turn my attention away from pushing buttons on FMA. That being said, I know this is a big cliche at this point but I truly intend for this to be more of a ‘see you later’ than a goodbye.

I fully intend to return to the FMA arena at some point in the future, either continuing as Lemon or starting fresh with a completely new account and set of groups. I don’t know when I will be back, but I will indeed be back. In the meantime, I’ll also still be active and messaging on the Discord if for whatever reason one of you wants to get a hold of me, lol.

With all of that said, I want to make one thing very clear. The Gentlemanly leagues are not going anywhere! When people leave the site, oftentimes they leave their leagues abandoned, and that annoys me a lot. So to avoid that happening to my beloved leagues, I have appointed a successor - sopranomachine! He has done so much to help me in running the leagues, between making suggestions, requesting events, and even designing a logo for the Drum Corps league! I am more than confident he can run things just as well or better than I did, and there’s nobody on the site I’d rather entrust the leagues to. I’ll be officially handing over the reins as soon as the site ticks over to Season 121!

—--

Just one more little thing here. I’ve spent the last 30 seasons here, aka 3 AND A HALF YEARS(!!!). So much has changed on the site and in real life in that time, and I’m incredibly grateful to everyone who has participated and competed with me. I’d especially like to thank Alex for making this awesome site and for being there when we needed him most, sopranomachine for all of his help with the league, JimmyJohn for his help and contributions over the years to the community, and all of the fine folks running the Discord for making communication with all of you so easy!

Peace out, everyone. <3

Lemon

Best of luck! You will be missed

Thank you for your immense and vital contributions to our community. Your role in keeping things active and fun has been inspirational! Wish you the best, and see you back soon!

We’ll miss you Lemon, maybe you don’t remember but we were competing all the way back when we were still D3, and you were still Chula Vista Vanguard.

Just, you were miles ahead of me LMAO

We wish you nothing but the best in your future endeavours!

Thank you Lemon, for all you have done, hope to see you on the field again soon.