Meet The Katz Family

We all know that many things are measured in time. Your age, how long you have been married or in a relationship with someone, or how long you have been at your job are only a few things that are determined by time. IN our activity of drum corps, time counts in length of service to a drum corps or several drum corps. Such is the case with the Katz family from the Hawthorne Caballeros.

Alan Katz started his drum corps journey in 1967 with the Wayne, N.J. Monarchs on lead baritone. He was also the Captain of the Monarch Boys and Kings Regiment Knights color guard on flag, rifle, and saber. Al joined the Hawthorne Caballeros in 1979 as a lead and solo baritone player from 1979 until 1993. From 1994 until 2002 he was a member of the visual staff and from 2002 until the present as Business Manager for the corps. When Al aged out from junior corps, his parents and brother Josh and sister Lana moved to south Jersey where they stayed active in junior corps. Al went on to teach a number of corps, bands, and color guards but wanted to get back on the field. Al and his wife Rickie, who he met in the Monarchs when he was 10 and she was 8 married in 1979. Alan drove Rickie crazy because he always wanted to march with Hawthorne. But since they were still an all male corps Rickie would not be able to march, he thought he had it all figured out Al had a number of friends in Reading and convinced Rickie to drive out there so they could march together. That didn’t work out that well, they both went out on a Wednesday night but getting back home at 5am in the morning and for both of them having to be at work by 7am did not work out to well. Needless to say, Rickie had no problem letting Al march with the Cabs which was only ten minutes from their apartment. But on one Friday night in 1982, corps director James Costello announced to the corps they were going to have an all female color guard. Rickie was about a mile away with her bowling league, Al called her at the alley, she left the alley and was one of the first women to sign up for the guard. That brought Al’s sister Joi and brother-in law Bob who stayed until they had their first child a year later. One Katz leaves and another joins as brother Josh filled a spot for DCA Championships in 1985 fresh off a tour with the Bridgemen and has been with Hawthorne ever since.

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