New York Skyliners Alumni Celebrate a Special Occasion

The Phoebe Apperson Hearst American Legion Post #1197 and the Grand Street Boys American Legion Post #1025 junior corps members returning from service in World War II, formed the Raymond A. Garbarina Memorial Post #1523 of New York City in 1945. It was chartered in 1946 and created a new senior drum corps – The Raymond A. Garbarina Memorial Corps, known as the Garbarina Skyliners, and later the New York Skyliners. It was many years before, that a child was born in the Rosebank section of Staten Island who would eventually become a key ingredient in the early years of the Garbarina Skyliners.

Born in 1923, Anthony “Pitch” Pucciarelli served in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in France and Germany in World War II. Upon his return, he got a job at the Bayonne Military Ocean terminal, a job he ultimately retired from. At that time, his best friend, and a charter member of the Skyliners – Edmund Golat Sr. (1946-1950 and 1953), convinced Tony to join the Garbarina Skyliners. Tony became a member of the corps where he played soprano bugle from 1947–1954. In later years, he joined the Skyliners Alumni Chorus where he was a long-time member.

Currently residing in Bayonne NJ on 12th St, “Pitch” celebrated his 100th birthday on June 10, 2023. The New York Skyliners Alumni Drum & Bugle Corps would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Tony Pucciarelli by presenting him with a Certificate of Dedication and Contribution to the New York Skyliners organization, a scrap book containing early year corps pictures and memorabilia, and to thank him for his service to the corps and his country.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY and many more to Tony “PITCH” Pucciarelli !!