2019 WDCHOF Associate Member Inductees
Seven new World Drum Corps Hall of Fame associate members from the United States and Canada will be inducted at this year’s banquet and ceremony to take place in Williamsport, Pennsylvania on Friday August 30, the beginning of the Labor Day weekend.
Associate members are recognized for dedicating at least five years of service as a performer or in a support role to an active competing drum and bugle corps, alumni corps or alumni association. Regular membership honors recognize achievements through many years of drum corps activity in areas including arranging, administration, adjudication, instruction, innovation, show design and promotion.
The Hall of Fame was founded in 1976 by the late Vince Bruni who served as director of two national championship corps in two different eras: the Crusaders and the Empire Statesmen, both of Rochester.
The seven associate member World Drum Corps Hall of Fame inductees this year are:
Rick Anderson of York, Pennsylvania
Performing as a soprano soloist and horn instructor for Hanover Lancers and Lancers Alumni Corps since 1974 is just part of Rick Anderson’s musical legacy. While serving on the Lancers’ board of directors he has worked to insure membership growth, encourage participation in events far outside the community and is the backstage director of Profiles in Music, the Lancers perennially sold-out alumni show held on the Penn State University campus in York.
Before retiring as music department chair of the York Suburban School District, he was director of the Wind Ensemble and Marching Knights at York Suburban High School. He was also music director and conductor for 25 music theatre productions at York Suburban. He is a member of the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association. He was the Cavalcade of Bands Association Director of the Year in 2006 and was inducted into the Cavalcade Hall of Fame in 2009.
He is a member of Phi Beta Mu, a national honorary bandmasters association. One of the founders of Youth Music Abroad, he has toured Europe with young musicians. He has also traveled nationally and internationally as a professional entertainer and musician.
He served as music director at The Belmont Theater for two seasons and was music director and conductor at Opera Lancaster for five years after retiring from teaching.
He completed his undergraduate work at the College of Wooster with trumpet studies at Oberlin Conservatory of Music. He studied orchestral directing with Stuart J. Ling and Marshall Haddock. He pursued graduate work at Pennsylvania State University, where he earned a Master’s Degree, and also studied at Towson University.
Cherokee Merino-Baer of Willismsburg, Virginia (posthumous)
Cherokee Merino-Baer is considered a drum corps pioneer, one of the most significant snare drummers of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Her mentors along the way include many well-known rudimental drum instructors, including Ray Luedee, Earl Sturtze, Jack Lester and Eric Perrilloux.
As a member of St. Rita’s Brassmen in 1973, she was the first woman to march in a nationally contending co-ed snare section, alongside future World Drum Corps Hall of Fame member John Oddo.
As a snare drummer and section leader with N.D.-ettes All Girl Drum and Bugle Corps (founded in October 1963 by Notre Dame Girls High School of Bridgeport, Connecticut, going inactive in 1973) she was Massachusetts State snare drum state champion, Eastern States champion and World Open silver medalist all in 1968. Her drum quartet won first prize in World Open Quartet contests in 1967 and 1968.
She began drum and bugle corps activity playing cymbals and tenor drum with Norwalk Hot Shots from 1961 to 1966. She played snare with Emerald Cadets of New Haven and Milford Shoreliners before joining St. Rita’s Brassmen. She was drum instructor of the N.D.-ettes and Bengal Lancers in the early 1970s. She was a percussion judge in the Northeastern circuit in 1978.
Cherokee Merino-Baer passed away in August, 2017.
Tim Boardman of Sebastian, Florida
A charter member of the New York Skyliners Alumni Corps, Tim Boardman has been active with many of the best-known northeastern corps since 1958 when he began playing with Spartans of Newark, New York. Over the following 50 years, he performed on soprano horn with: Shortsville Shamrocks from 1959 to 1961, Geneva Appleknockers in 1962, Interstatesmen from 1963 to 1966, Syracuse Brigadiers in 1969, Skyliners from 1970 to 1993, Hawthorne Caballeros from 1995 to 2001 and Skyliners Alumni from 1993 to 2009.
He marched in the Skyliners DCA Championship honor guard in 1990. He was with Skyliners from 1970 to 1993, serving as assistant drum major in 1980 and 1981.
From 1998 to 2004, he was among a group of individuals from Hawthorne Caballeros, Reilly Raiders and Yankee Rebels who travelled south to perform in concerts with Florida Brass, following an invitation from World Drum Corps Hall of Fame member Dick Burns, a mutual friend.
Gord Cupskey of Cambridge, Ontario
Gord Cupskey came to drum and bugle corps activity relatively late in his music career, which began when he played trumpet with the Galt Kiltie Band in 1980. He joined Preston Scout House Band in 2004 and has been a major factor in the Band’s success ever since.
He has applied his skills as a brass performer, arranger and instructor to several Scout House groups, often simultaneously with his involvement in local community bands and such well-known drum corps units as Ghost Riders and Prime Time Brass. He served as Scout House Band field show drill instructor in 2015 and visual designer and drill instructor the following year. When Scout House Cadets required a music instructor on short notice in early summer 2018, he volunteered to help the youth group through a transition period.
He founded the Silver Leaves Brass ensemble to give Scout House members and others in the community the opportunity to perform in area concerts and special events, mainly in winter during the drum corps off-season. When Scout House Band scaled back activities in 2017, he enhanced the Silver Leaves to include percussion accompaniment for year round participation in parades and concerts in southern Ontario communities from the shores of Lake Huron across southern Ontario and into upstate New York. Silver Leaves Brass group has been a popular participant in the Great Alliance of Seniors (GAS) annual spring reunions for more than a decade.
Preston Scout House Band Inc. includes five performing groups: Preston Scout House Band, Preston Scout House Cadets drum and bugle corps, Silver Leaves Brass, Heritage Drill Team and Magic of Scout House competitive winter guard.
Brian Moul of York, Pennsylvania
Brian Moul has touched all the bases in his service to Hanover Lancers Alumni Corps since1990: baritone player, contra bass player, horn instructor and arranger, board member. He also locates and repairs equipment, makes improvements to the rehearsal building and led the way in introducing singing to the Lancers performance repertoire. Like all Lancers instructors, he accepts no pay for his services.
His leadership as a board member has shaped the direction and improvement of the Lancers, including stimulating the growth of the Lancers indoor show, Profiles in Music, into one of the premier events for alumni corps on the east coast.
During his 32 years as a music educator, he served as band director and instrumental teacher. He is presently instrumental music instructor at the York Academy Regional Charter School. His ensembles have performed at the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association (PMEA) state convention. A graduate of West Chester University, he sings bass with the Episcopal Church of St. John the Baptist Choir and Wheatland Chorale where he serves on the board of directors. He is the chairman of the St. John’s Episcopal Church Concert Series. He is a member the National Association for Music Education, (NAME) the Pennsylvania Music Education Association (PMEA) and the Pennsylvania Drum Corps Hall of Fame.
At the start of his drum corps career, he played baritone bugle with the Lancers from 1971 to 1981 and Archer-Epler Musketeers from 1982 to 1983.
Doreen Sandor of Slate Hill, New York
Doreen Sandor’s drum corps career of 46 years includes 44 years teaching and arranging (mostly brass) while serving at various times as brass caption head, arranger and instructor for corps in Drum Corps Associates (DCA), Drum Corps International (DCI), Garden State, Nassau-Suffolk, Drum Corps United Kingdom (DCUK) and British Youth Band Association (BYBA).
The focus of her drum corps activity for more than 35 years is New York Skyliners. She was part of the administration team that helped Skyliners get back on the competition field. Her extensive performance record with Skyliners includes playing mellophone, French horn, soprano, keyboards. She has even marched in the honor guard. One year, she played half the show in the pit percussion section and half in the horn line. In addition, she has been on the brass staff, assistant drum major, secretary, assistant director, publicity director.
She joined Skyliners in winter 1979 when the corps first allowed women in the horn line. She is the second female, after Louise Mayer, and first female performing member to earn Skyliner 5 and 10 year consecutive rings. She was appointed a lifetime member in 2006 and appointed to the Skyliners board as historian in 2008.
She was a brass staff member for two corps which won DCA Class A championships :Lehigh Valley Chieftains and Skyliners.
She helped two corps merge in England, arranging successful brass shows for Conquest Alliance, which won back to back championships and took the 1987 DCUK high brass award. Her English ties continued on this side of the Atlantic while she served on the United States staff of Kidsgrove Scouts and The Company.
She and her husband Bob received the Endeavour Award for supporting the Company’s 2017 USA tour. She also arranged or performed with Anchormen Brass Ensemble in the United Kingdom for Conquest Alliance’s 20th, 25th and 30th anniversary celebrations
She began teaching brass in 1974, just two years after joining St. Matthias Blue Max. Her passion for performing and teaching led her into music studies and a teaching career, including teaching drum majors how to conduct.
Over many years, she has been teacher, arranger or brass caption head for Crimson Kings, St. Stan’s Troupers, Bridgemen, Masquerade, Bill’s Boys, Avengers of DCUK, Outlane of BYBA, Bishop’s Rock. LV Knights, 20th Century Limited, Sunrisers, Targets, Excelsior, Staffordshire Knights, St. Claire’s, Our Lady of Fatima and Medford Grenadiers.
Daniel Staffieri of Seymour, Connecticut
The Connecticut Hurricanes have recognized the outstanding contributions made both on and off the field by Daniel Staffieri since 1990 with more than half a dozen major awards. He is highly regarded for the sense of dedication he has shown for almost 30 continuous years, always ready to help in any way and at any position.
He was named to the Hurricanes Hall of Fame 2013; received the Hurricane of the Year award twice: 1994 and 2005; received the Hurricanes Directors Award in 1993, 2008 and 2011 and was the Most Improved Marcher in 1992.
As a performing member he has played baritone, tuba and cymbals at various times since 1990.
His administration history includes serving as equipment manager from 1995 to 2005; personnel manager from 2006 to 2016; operations manager in 2017 and facilities manager in 2018.
Regular World Drum Corps Hall of Fame members are honored for their dedication, contributions and achievements over a long period of time in categories including administration, arranging, adjudication, instruction, innovation and design. Associate members have dedicated at least five consecutive years of service to any drum and bugle corps as a performer or in a support role.
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 of 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 all age (senior) corps of each decade since the 1940s.
For more information about the World Drum Corps Hall of Fame visit the web site at http://www.worlddrumcorpshof.org
