Recent Passing Of Hall Of Fame Member Harry Welsh

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World Drum Corps Hall of Fame associate member Harry Welsh, of Bala Cynwyd, near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania passed away April 19. He had been a key figure in the operation of the Archer-Epler Musketeers for more than 50 years. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2002.

He spent 25 years with the Archer Epler Musketeers competitive corps, as a French horn and mellophone player, corps president, co-director of the North American drum and bugle corps community’s first alumni group in 1976, and sang with the Musketeers chorus for many years after first it appeared at the Great Alliance of Seniors (GAS) reunion in 1987.

His drum corps activity actually began before World War II, when he played with the Olney Middies prior to serving in the war. He was a veteran of the Battle of the Bulge in the Europe. Returning to drum corps activity following the war, he performed with the Imhof Thunderbirds in Philadelphia from 1949 to 1955.

Since its founding in 1976 by the late Vince Bruni, of Rochester, New York, membership in the World Drum Corps Hall of Fame has grown from six charter members to 436 regular and associate members from the United States and Canada, who have contributed to the activity across North America, England, the Netherlands, the Middle East, South Africa and Japan.

The World Drum Corps Hall of Fame is a non-profit organization honoring those individuals who have contributed significantly over many years to the development and continuing excellence drum and bugle corps activity. The organization also seeks to preserve the history of the drum and bugle corps movement in North America by selecting a noteworthy junior and senior “corps of the decade.”

New members are inducted during the Hall of Fame’s annual luncheon, held on Labor Day weekend during the Drum Corps Associates (DCA) world championship tournament. Members of the public are welcome to attend the social hour before the luncheon and induction ceremony. For ticket information, visit the Hall of Fame Web site. at www.worlddrumcorpshof.org/

An important part of the Hall of Fame’s purpose is to enhance a feeling of good fellowship among individuals and organizations involved with drum and bugle corps activity, thereby enhancing constructive contributions in all areas.

Posted by on Sunday, May 17th, 2009. Filed under DCA News.