Oldbuc

It was so hot at Nazareth that some drum lines actually stopped drumming for short periods during the practice day!

Great show last night in Nazareth. They even had sauerkraut for the hot dogs! Oh and Fran, it can be officially noted that SUN IS BACK!

Cadets2 had the largest horn line on the field Saturday night. Unless MBI has over 60 horns, then they are the largest. The question is.........does size matter?

In 1966 I was sent to Ft Holabird, Army Intelligence School (I know, an oxymoron) in the Dundalk area of Balmere. (proper pronunciation) My 1st night there, a Friday night, I was getting settled in & I was sure I heard a drum corps playing. I walked outside & just on the other side of the fence was the GM parking lot & YR practicing drill on the asphalt. Between Reb's practice & working with St Pat's Jr corps I had alot of drum corps & steamed crabs in few months in Baltimore!

Here's an idea! The Baltimore area should start a drum corps & call them the Yankee-Reb............never mind!

The reason for my original post was, like others, I want to see entertaining shows at Wildwood. What I don't want to see is corps playing & marching for half the show & then playing the rest of the book from a semi-circle. If June 18th is too early for a completed show, then I agree that the calendar might need to be adjusted.

Why doesn't DCA have the ability to invite corps that are ready to compete? Bucs are ready, Cabs are ready. Maybe Sky or Cadets2 are ready. Just a thought! Best of luck to "Frank" and his never ending conflict with the Jersey Shore sound system this year. Hello to my friend Fred W. & a thank you to John for his incite and "inside baseball" knowledge. Hopefully we will meet in the future John. I'm just 7 miles north of C'ville & I see you're in the T'dale area.

I've heard that the Wildwood show could possibly be an exhibition only due to some corps not having their show's ready. Is there any facts available to verify this? What corps don't have completed shows? Why can't a corps have a show completed by the middle of June? For the younger members of DCP, back in the day our first show was Memorial Day weekend & it was very rare to find a corps, Jr or Sr, that wasn't ready to blow the stands down by the end of May. Wildwood is one of my favorite shows and I've been attending for many years, but I'm not driving over two hours each way to watch an exhibition!

Anyone else going to coal cracker country tomorrow for the Scranton show? Looks like a good line up & rumor is that exhibition is by the Mahanoy City Perogiemen! See you there Fran!

Hawthorne really sold their show on Saturday night. Reading's horn line just seemed kind of flat. I don't know, maybe they left it on the practice field. I was great to see Sunrisers back with a full complement of horns. Fran did his normal exemplary job, even while dealing with another NJ sound system!

And this all transpired 6 or 7 years before DCI was even thought of!

Tom, Thanks for that information. Very logical, considering the personalities involved at the time. I was not familiar with any of it. I was in the service from '66 to '69 & pretty much removed from the activity. The wealth of information on this site just boggles the mind!

In '65 there were DCA & non-DCA shows. I played with Reilly in '65 & we never competed with DCA corps. It was Cabs, Reilly, Rochester, Brewers, Sunrisers & a few others at the shows. At 18 years of age I really didn't care about the politics. I just wanted to play my horn & have a good time. (Oh, and I did!)

I'm sure we did stand on the field together back in the day at many shows. I also stood next to Bonnie Ott at retreat in Hershey Stadium in '74 or '75. It was a Jr/Sr show back then. I was on the end of my rank & Bonny stood between Reading & BD to play here solo in "Chase the Clouds Away". That girl could play with power & confidence! On another note; In 1964 was DCA yet formed? I know there was a "split" in '65 but I'm a little foggy on '64.

I ott to know the last name of this "Bonnie lass" but my memory isn't what it was!

Make a day of it & stop in for a tour of the Youngling brewery in Pottsville. Beer & drum corps just seem to go together but maybe it's jut me!

I often wondered why, back in he day, the Polish Falcons never played "Who Stold My Kishka"? Dobzia!

Back in the early 80's the economy was so bad, (how bad was it?) that Gladys Knight had to lay off two of her Pips! Drum corps related since rim-shot to inserted here......*

Not to be confused with the movie, "The 27th Lancers".

The drum corps guys were always the best marchers in basic training. I found an old snare drum with a sling while cleaning the orderly room at basic in Ft Gordon, GA. I told the 1st Sgt that I could play the snare (gotta remember that I've been a sop since I was 12 years old-piston,slide). Our training company was the only company marching to a single snare with me playing my rendition of Reilly's street beat! The company commander thought it was great!

Thanks for your response Frank. You got the old mind thinking. I guess the V/N war can be blamed for the demise of Reilly in addition to a lot of more serious subjects. I I left Reilly in April of '66 to go into the army. Most of the guys my age who were with Ridley Park, Bracken. Vasella, Vagabonds & many others moved on to Reilly & Archie for the '65 season. We all never made it to the '66 season, after answering Uncle Sam's call. Many went to the Marine D&B but the majority just blended in with the rest of 19 & 20 year olds. The '66 seson, as you know, saw the Archie-Reilly merger. I never got to see them on the field but heard it was a bit of a debacle. And thank you for your service. Ron Cook Sp5 E-5 519th MI Btn

After reading the last post, it reminded me that Bobby Craig taught Wynn Center's drumline back in the day. If I'm correct Bob was one of the first few kids to integrate Blessed Sacriment. Bob & I were in the same unit in Viet Nam in '67. We would drive people crazy playing Sac's drum parts on our foot lockers. Bob had his snare sticks ( a real drummer never went to a war zone without his sticks) & my girl friend sent me over a set of the old padded tenor sticks. Back then every horn player played a little drums from time to time. I haven't seen Bob in quite a few years. I guess he, along with many others, have moved on from the new brand of the activity.

Andy, Donnie Sollinger would be the guy that can help you out with the show year. He's Buc's official historian. You can find him on his own Facebook page or Buccaneer Alumni Facebook page. My guess is '60 or '61. Keep us posted. I don't think I ever recall Archie beating Sky & I've been around for a little while.

I have seen Reading in all of their shows this year. Their improvement in D'town, from Wayne & Secaucus, was "dramatic". I'm not going to bloviate and say the rest of the year will belong to Reading. My opinnion is that the Cab's-Buc's race is for real. Who ever comes out on top will be a much improved corps from earlier shows. The 2 point bump has no revallancy. Different judging slates equate to different scores.

Pleanty of parking and a great spot for tailgating.