Philadelphia Inquirer Feature About WDCHOF Member Bill Ives

A feature story in the Sunday March 28 edition of the Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper gives readers tons of information about World Drum Corps Hall of Fame member Bill Ives and his ongoing campaign to collect items for a proposed Marching Pageantry Arts Museum.

The extensive and photos were also featured in The Upside section of the Inquirer’s online site on March 23, available at https://www.inquirer.com/life/upper-darby-drum-corps-proposed-museum-20210323.html

Since 1990, he has collected more than 24,000 items, which are stored and available for viewing by appointment only at the Archer-Epler VFW Post 979 in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. He has been a key figure in the movement to preserve the history of drum and bugle corps activity, amassing a staggering 24,000 items: memorabilia, souvenirs, programs, newspaper and magazine articles, corps buttons and badges and more than 350 vintage uniforms.

For the past 20 years he has displayed many of these items regularly at drum corps events in the United States and Canada. He has also created a detailed computerized listing of drum corps in the USA and Canada.

He was inducted into the World Drum Corps Hall of Fame as an associate member in 2018. He is also a member of the Pennsylvania Drum Corps Hall of Fame.

He has served in various committee and management positions with groups including Jersey Surf and Archer-Epler Musketeers. He was named Musketeer of the year in 1982; received the Spirit of the Musketeer award in 1996 and was named Drum Corps International (DCI) volunteer of the year in 2011.

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 around the world. For more information, visit the website at wdchof.org