bushdm86

MiniSopGuy- Thanks for your response. I will look into it. Very much appreciated. Happy Memorial Day Weekend to you and your family.

I am looking to purchase a used honor guard sword, along with the sheath and belt. This is to be used by the honor guard captain of a drum corps. Must be in good shape. Please contact me through the boards. Thank you.

The Bushwacker Hall of Fame & Alumni Dinner was a big sucess! We had a number of alumni from the early years of the corps in attendance with some of the later years represented as well. The corps videos were a big hit, along with the food and the awards. This class of 11 joins last year's class of 9. We have put in place an event where Bushwacker Alumni can get together socially and catch up with each other. For those of you who attended, thank you for your support. For those of you who could not attend, we look forward to seeing you at next year's dinner. Pictures are on Facebook as we speak. Thank you Bob Bessich!

It's fun seeing that old maroon Fleetwood label isn't it Joe? Good to hear from you. Looking forward to seeing you over the summer as well.

It wasn't a junior moment, but a senior moment. I can say that because of my age! In 1986 when the Bushwackers won DCA, I had the honor of being drum major. The scores are announced and at retreat Mickey Petrone goes to place the first place medal over my head and says to me "Congratulation Bob!". On the video you can see my laugh. Fun night to say the least.

Linda- Thanks for that picture of the Seneca Optimists. In my opinion, one of the best uniforms of all time. Looked especially great at night under the lights. That also goes for Anaheim. Too bad drum corps today have gone away from that military look.

Thank you Fleetwood, thank you DCP and thank you Frank. Without question this is the most entertaining and interesting item on the internet regarding drum corps, in my opinion. I have some limited knowledge of drum corps beginning in the mid-sixties, so this not only provides information on the period before that, but more detail on the period to follow. For me it fills in the blanks regarding corps and people I thought I knew about, and those I did not know about. It's fun to find out things regarding corps and people that you never knew before. Where they started, who they wrote for, who were their influences. If there is someone out there in college thinking about writing a paper on drum corps, they need to start with Frank's work here. And, if you are new to drum corps, there is no better place to start your education than with this series. I can't wait for the next installment. Great job.

Jim- Thanks for the kind words. We enjoyed having you in the Bushwacker family in 1982. Being our first drum major was very special to us and to me personally. Have a great time this weekend at the Bridgemen HOF dinner. You guys got terrific weather for March. Hope everyone has a fun rehearsal, great dinner and safe trip back home. Looking forward to seeing you over the summer!

Sorry to hear this. Get things in order and we'll see you next year at finals. Good luck!

My apologies. The initial post has been corrected. It should read Laurie Kunzle. Hey, they marched next to each other when I was in the corps! Twenty four years later and I am still confused (and not the only one).

The 2009 class of the Bushwackers Hall of Fame will be inducted at the Hall of Fame & Alumni Dinner on Saturday May 15th at 6pm at the Lithuanian Catholic Community Center, located at 10 Davis Ave., Kearny NJ 07032. All alumni and friends are invited to attend. This year's HOF class includes: Roy Chambers, Jim Dugan, John Gough, Chris Kilian, Jerome Kimbrough, Laurie Kunzle, Diane Leahey-Sadowski, Robert McCarthy, Alex Nielsen, Howard Pinoos and the 1988 Bushwacker Color Guard. Dinner will consist of a three entree buffet, with potato, vegetable, salad, bread, rolls, coffee, tea, unlimited soda and draft beer. There will also be a cash bar. The cost will be $40 per person. Please contact Diane Leahey-Sadowski at ladeedi904@aol.com in order to attend the dinner. We will also have a program listing the new inductees and last year's inductees. Anyone can take out a one page ad for $10. You can offer congratulations to a current or new inductee, or take out a "remember when" page on an inductee. Please contact John Gough at brooklyn340@optonline.net in order to purchase a one page ad. Please join us as we celebrate our years in the Bushwackers. We look forward to seeing you on May 15th. The Bushwacker HOF Committee

Terry, it's sad we touch base on a topic like the passing of a great man. Some people, like me, have stated they never met Mr. Bonfiglio and others have stated they had the honor of knowing the man. All I can add is his contributions to our activity touched not only the people in his corps, but other corps and people in the stands. What a wonderful legacy to leave.

This is a sad day. From the first time I saw 27th in 1969 I was a fan. Mr. Bonfiglio's leadership with the 27th Lancers, and with DCI, made drum corps in the 1970's and 1980's exciting. I guess we know we are getting old when we start to lose our heroes from our childhood. My condolences to his family and the 27th Lancers.

I'm not sure if it was 1988 or 1989, since I was not marching, but the Bushwackers were invited to the Cabs Gran Prix for the very first time and it was held in Giants Stadium. They put on a great show and unfortunately I had to leave during the junior portion of the show. I find out later that night that they not only won, but swept all captions. I picked a fine time to leave early!

I can honestly say, from my personal knowledge, there are not a lot of Bushwackers on DCP. From my experience being on DCP I could argue there are other corps that have a much larger presence on DCP. So, I don't think Bush is necessarily jamming the ballot box, but there are people out there who liked those shows from Bush. And, I can say that because I just voted for 04 MBI. I thought their show was very under-rated and show have scored higher.

I firmly believe hour upon hour of watching curling is a form of corporal punishment. If anyone gets snarky you will be forced to watch 4 hours.

Bill & Tommy- Thanks! To quote Farber College.."Knowledge is Good"

Fleabag- Please educate me here because I am probably wrong. I thought the Des Plaines Vanguard were previously the Chicago Vanguard. I also thought the Skokie Vanguard was an all together different corps. However, from viewing your photos, the bass drum says Skokie and, while not in color, the uniforms look like they could be red and black. Can you, or anyone else, clear this up for me? Thanks!

I totally agree with Liz. You can't just listen to two corps on a CD in order to compare their shows. Besides missing the marching portion of the show, in which all sections participate, it is incredibly unfair to the color guard. I thought the Crusaders had a good horn line in 07 and played well. However, I have listened to both horn lines from those two years, and I respectfully disagree with your conclusion.

CHRISP- I read comments from Jeff Keviet's website, and he did not go into great detail, that there was confusion on the reporting time for the Muchachos for prelims. The corps thought they were on time, DCI said they were late and they were penalized. They came in 7th in prelims with a 83.050 and 4th in finals with a 86.950. The Muchachos 1974 finals recording was on fire and the fans went wild. The championships were at Cornell University in Ithaca NY in 1974 and were in Philadelphia PA in 1975 & 1976. It should be noted that in 1974 the Muchachos were the East. The only other eastern corps to make finals were the Purple Lancers who I believe came in 7th. 1974 was an off year for 27th, Garfield and the Bridgemen.

I know this topic pops up often in DCP. So I feel compelled to give you all my 2 cents, since I have heard over $20 worth from everyone else over the years. I'm from NJ and remember seeing the Muchachos numerous times since 1973. I saw them at least 4-5 times in 1975 and they were an amazing drum corps. I was stunned when I got to Franklin Field for prelims and found out they were disqualified. I was hoping they had a shot at the title, being a eastern fan (but with great respect for our midwestern and western corps), and because of their CYO score and placement. - Did they have overage members? Someone I know and respect, who had ties to them, confirmed they did. Shame on their management and staff. - Where they the only corps in prelims who had overage members? Knowing the time, and drum corps, no, I don't believe they were. - Where they singled out because they were a top 5 corps or because they were out of favor with DCI? I believe that is possible, but have no proof. What I do believe is their punishment was too severe and eventually destroyed a great corps. In my opinion they should have allowed their score to be announced and then give them a penalty (.5 or 1 pt for each overage member caught). If they still qualified for finals after all of the penalty points, then allow them to perform without those members. If they choose not to perform, then push up the number 13 corps. So, if they came in 3rd, but after penalty points came in 9th, that would send the proper message to everyone. By not announcing their prelim score we are where we are today as we were in August 1975. This just keeps growing and growing. Lost in the pro and con of the debate are the legitimate members of the Muchachos who saw their season lost. I cannot imagine how they felt. Muchacho administration and staff, who knew of overage members, should have been discliplined by DCI. By the way DCI handled it, especially after the 1974 prelim reporting time incident, left much to be desired. What possible good could the idea of destroying scores do in the long run but create speculation as we still have today?

It's never a good thing when we lose a corps, no matter what level (field corps, alumni, class A, parade corps, etc...). Here's hoping things get straightened out and the Rochester Crusaders are back on the field of competition soon. Good luck to you guys.

It was good to see some old friends and see some new faces. The opener is cool, just what you would expect from Kay. Looks like another innovative and creative show from the Bushwackers in 2010! Can't wait to hear the rest of it.

Thanks everyone! That made for an interesting mental quiz on a snowy day. Special thanks to Mr. Lisko for all of those scores and to my good friend Frank. There were some great NYC corps back in the 60's and 70's, and I was fortunate to see some of them perform. The Brassmen, and St. Joseph Patron, were always entertaining and exciting to see. OLPH in red and St. Rocco's in that cool blue uniform. I wish I could have seen the Queensmen, Selden, Mt. Carmel, Kingsmen, Our Lady of Loretto and some others that were before my time. Looking back I get a kick out of the Ramblers being .5 behind Madison Scouts at the 1967 VFW prelims. A small Polish catholic drum corps out of Brooklyn with a horn line under the direction of Tommy Martin. Unfortunately, that trip cost them financially and 1968 was their final season. Drum Corps Planet helps bring back these fond memories, with the help of all who participate in these threads. Merry Christmas everyone and thanks for sharing!

I was just thinking, and waiting for the snow to fall in NJ, there were three great junior corps out of Chicago IL (Cavies, Royal-Airs and Vanguard) and two out of Racine WI (Kilties and Scouts), but what about New York City? Between the five boroughs (Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, Staten Island & Manhattan) what was the highest placement for a junior corps in a national prelim or final (VFW, American Legion, DCI, etc...)? Out of Brooklyn, my brother's corps, the OLC Ramblers came in 15th at the 1967 VFW Nationals prelims in New Orleans. Brooklyn produced some really good junior corps like OLPH Ridgemen, St. Roccos, St. Joseph Patron (who I believe were in Brooklyn and then the corps moved to St. Rita's which I think was in Long Island - can anyone help me out here?) and outside of Brooklyn you had the CMCC Warriors, New York Kingsmen and others. So, what was the highest junior corps placement over the years (meaning after 1945)? Thanks!