LancerLegend

Comment deleted ~

Update on wake and funeral arrangements for Stephen Covitz - revised Oct 5 Visitation Sunday, Oct. 6, 2013 2:00 PM - 6:00 PM Paul Buonfiglio & Sons-Bruno Funeral Home 128 Revere Street Revere, MA 02151 Funeral Monday, Oct. 7, 2013 9:30 AM Service Monday, Oct. 7, 2013 10:30 AM Interment Mon, Oct 7, 2013 Woodlawn Cemetery

Having marched in the CYO Band circuit for 7 years prior to joining 27th in Oct 1972, I know my parish had 3 units - a beginner, "junior" and Prep or Senior. The beginners did not get out in public - the others did compete and march in parades. I cannot remember St Anthony Revere having three units. I am 100% positive that George Zingali marched with, and taught them prior to his joined 27th in the fall of 1972. And FWIW - St Anthony Revere winter guard became Quasar, and later, a majority of those performers became Erte. The point of this thread was to pay homage to Stephen Covitz - nothing more, nothing less.

For accuracy sake, St. Anthony's Church is in Revere, and they sponsored a competitive band and winter guard. Like many parishes in the Archdiocese of Boston - Revere had at least two Catholic churches - the other being Immaculate Conception - home of the Reveries. St. Anthony's Revere competed against St. Anthony's Everett - which was taught by Bruce Leo.

Posted by Susan Machado and Cheryl Bedrosian, the sisters of Stephen Covitz. his life on this earth has come to an end after a long illness. I had the honor to march with Stephen in 1973 and again in 1994 with the 27th Lancers. He was as kind a human being as anyone I've ever known. A brilliant and creative mind, he loved teaching color guard. He taught the 27th Lancers for many years with George Zingali and competed against him in the greater Boston winter color guard circuit. They remained loyal friends until George's passing. Those of you that knew George - you can hear him in heaven seeing Stephen arrive...."OMG - what are you sh*tting me.....Stephen - wait until you see what we can create up here"...... I expect the death notice and services will be announced in the Boston Globe newspaper on Thursday, Oct 3.

In the era of ticks, I would count the marks on my sheet if I thought I was getting close to a "0". I never would "write a corps off the sheet." The execution score was the reward to the members, the PA score was the reward to the staff. You could do as much damage to the PA side without rewarding a "0" on the tick sheet.

JC was the typical featured soloist, but I am 100% certain of the soloist in Close to You - I know him personally. He's originally from Pittsfield, MA. He used to thumb for a ride from Pittsfield and back home so he could march with BAC. I cannot imagine allowing my son to thumb on the MA Turnpike - over 140 miles each way.

Bump.....can't let this topic slip to page 2.

I attend the shows in Allentown every year - have been a huge BD fan since.....way back. In 2001, DCI East was moved to Philly because the stadium was being rebuilt. I went to the BD clinic in Philly that afternoon in 2001. I was standing on the field chatting with Scott Johnson. I quickly reminded him that we were competing on that field 25 years before, for BD's first DCI title. 25 years......time had flown by. He was a snare for BD - I played tenor for 27th. 27th also beat BD at Mile High Stadium in Denver that year and took top drums at that show. Scott is still with BD......time flies.

Interesting....I was on the Lancers drum staff from Dec 1979 to Aug 1983 - I marched with Zingali and other staff members that left 27th and wound up in Garfield for their 1982 season. I don't remember losing a single 2-7 member to Cadets for the 1982 season. I do know some left after the 1983 season - but no more than 2 or 3 - and those were guard members.

I am Rain Man with names - well - about 90% of them. It also helped that I wrote down the name of every member for my first year in the corps - and then I remembered who continued. It also helped that a few of the members produced corps yearbooks which I still. I guess my good memory along with having loads of memorabilia helps. If I see a photo - I can usually remember the name.

At the 40th DCI anniversary in Indy last year, DCI invited several of the great soloists. I believe they were Jim Brady of the Bridgemen, Jeff Kievit of the Muchachos, ???? and Bonnie Ott of BD. (Apoligies for who I have forgotten). As a competitor of Bonnie's, to hear her solo live "one more time" was very emotional to say the least. IMO, 1976 BD changed the competitive world of junior drum corps.

As a drummer, I am partial to Ballard......freaking brilliant writing and awesome performance. Walter did a nice soprano solo in Close to You :)

Marching and teaching 27th gave me a few opportunities to celebrate. Winning 1977 CYO Nationals - my age out year - was really special. Beating BD at DATR in 1976 was a highlight. While teaching from 1980-1983, the entire 1980 season was magical starting with Lake Placid - Allentown was really intense. Oh yea - I marched and taught the 27th Lancers Alumni corps in 1994. We did pretty well that night in Foxboro. Heck - any time we played Crown Imperial or Danny Boy it helped.

Pardon me while I gloat a little. I was fortunate to be on the drum staff of the 27th Lancers when the corps performed at the opening and closing ceremonies in Lake Placid - today is the 33rd anniversary of the opening ceremonies. Although time has passed - it doesn't seem like 33 years. We had backstage passes - we could wander about and mingle with athletes from around the world throughout the village. VHS was in its infancy so very few video recordings exist of our adventure. Needless to say, I have more than my share of mementos. It was a magical time for us, and for all fans of drum corps everywhere. There was also a hockey team that secured their place in Olympic history - and made Al Michaels famous !!!!