I'm not sure how many years Ernie marched with Sun but I know he was around during the glory years and some. Like I said previously, he was a real strong hornplayer, baritone I believe, one of the fabled 10 iron mothers in Sunriser lore if I remeber correcltly. Ernie was a low key guy, I think he got the quiet man award one year, and I remember he was a little guy who weighed about 95 pounds soaking wet. Like I said before, we had a corps softball game during one season and skinny little Ernie came roarin around the bases and crashed into Joe Thompson who was pushing about 220 pounds and built like a linebacker. Ernie came out of that collision okay but ended up breaking Joe's foot from the impact, knocking Joe out of the bassline for the rest of the year. I ended up coming out of retirement to fill Joe's spot, 1994 I believe.
Oh and for a little guy Ernie could really pound them down, but so could most of the rest of us too. I guess he's not so little anymore.