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OMG Could We Have Been So Young?


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This is me at 11 years old in my first corps the Pretorian from Flushing,MI. It's hard to believe I was going into my 3rd year of marching when this photo was taken. My uncle was the commander of our local VFW post and was so proud of me and his truck...lol.

GROVERPRETORIANMAY196911YRSOLD.jpg

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Can you say, "Wally"?

wally.jpg

Actually - his nickname was "Big Wally" - alias Ed Murray from Lynn, MA. Marched from 1973 to 1975 - and later in the alumni corps in 1994. A truly great guy - strong as an ox but gentle as a lamb.

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Actually - his nickname was "Big Wally" - alias Ed Murray from Lynn, MA. Marched from 1973 to 1975 - and later in the alumni corps in 1994. A truly great guy - strong as an ox but gentle as a lamb.

How did he get the nickname "Big Wally?". Somehow, I don't remember him..

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Must....withhold...obvious....response...... :ph34r:

His sporran is quite large in the picture :ph34r:

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How did he get the nickname "Big Wally?". Somehow, I don't remember him..

Big Wally - was bigger than life - he was very upbeat and a hard worker. He was not the best drummer, and in fact may have tried out for bass or timp line in 1973. He played the big plates - obviously, and he loved being a 27th Lancer. His mom was always around. I am pretty sure he lives in NH now. He did march in 94 - but there were a lot of people to get to know.

He got the nickname in 1973. Not sure who awarded it to him. At our weekend camp at Lasallette in Ipswich in late May, he somehow got the attention of Kenny "The Giant" McKay and there was an agreed upon WWWF wrestling match after dinner on Sat evening - all with the blessings of Richard "Ike" Ianessa. Needless to say - we ate quickly and out came the matresses from the bunk beds. Picture this - Giant - a legend of a man and a seasoned veteran, and Big Wally - a rookie with a boat load of confidence - he was trash talking before Allen Iverson was playing basketball. Suffice to say - there were a lot of laughs and screams. And I suppose - depending who you ask - their version is slightly tainted. For me - it was a tie. There were no hard feelings, and it was grand event for my rookie year.

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Big Wally - was bigger than life - he was very upbeat and a hard worker. He was not the best drummer, and in fact may have tried out for bass or timp line in 1973. He played the big plates - obviously, and he loved being a 27th Lancer. His mom was always around. I am pretty sure he lives in NH now. He did march in 94 - but there were a lot of people to get to know.

He got the nickname in 1973. Not sure who awarded it to him. At our weekend camp at Lasallette in Ipswich in late May, he somehow got the attention of Kenny "The Giant" McKay and there was an agreed upon WWWF wrestling match after dinner on Sat evening - all with the blessings of Richard "Ike" Ianessa. Needless to say - we ate quickly and out came the matresses from the bunk beds. Picture this - Giant - a legend of a man and a seasoned veteran, and Big Wally - a rookie with a boat load of confidence - he was trash talking before Allen Iverson was playing basketball. Suffice to say - there were a lot of laughs and screams. And I suppose - depending who you ask - their version is slightly tainted. For me - it was a tie. There were no hard feelings, and it was grand event for my rookie year.

Thanks for the update. Miss you, Hagar the Horrible!

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I somehow remember seeing a photo of a baby faced Reverie on board some ship or what not...hmmm

*tapping finger on tooth*

I wonder what could have happened to that?

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Big Wally - was bigger than life - he was very upbeat and a hard worker. He was not the best drummer, and in fact may have tried out for bass or timp line in 1973. He played the big plates - obviously, and he loved being a 27th Lancer. His mom was always around. I am pretty sure he lives in NH now. He did march in 94 - but there were a lot of people to get to know.

He got the nickname in 1973. Not sure who awarded it to him. At our weekend camp at Lasallette in Ipswich in late May, he somehow got the attention of Kenny "The Giant" McKay and there was an agreed upon WWWF wrestling match after dinner on Sat evening - all with the blessings of Richard "Ike" Ianessa. Needless to say - we ate quickly and out came the matresses from the bunk beds. Picture this - Giant - a legend of a man and a seasoned veteran, and Big Wally - a rookie with a boat load of confidence - he was trash talking before Allen Iverson was playing basketball. Suffice to say - there were a lot of laughs and screams. And I suppose - depending who you ask - their version is slightly tainted. For me - it was a tie. There were no hard feelings, and it was grand event for my rookie year.

OK I'll fess up to a story. Hey we all have one or two in our past right?

In 1973 Wally, Kevin Flynn & I roomed together in Lexington, KY at the Bluegrass Invitational. After a couple of days of rehearsal the dorms were a bit to comfortable and we all overslept. We were 7 minutes late for rehearsal. Ike Ianessa made us stand on the side for a few minutes and then told us to get in line. Thinking the crap we got from the members of the corps was bad enough, when the corps got a break the three of us had to start at the opening set and rehearse what the corp had rehearsed for the first 7 minutes of rehearsal that we missed, with Ike and the rest of the staff all over us. besides the vibrato I played with from nervousness I survived that portion but Wally took a few "hits" for timing of crashes etc. Not one of my proudest moments but certainly one I learned from at the rip old age of almost 17.

I would agree Wally was a very nice guy and would do anything for you because you were in "his" corps. He was that guy who didn't judge you based on where you came from, but respected you because you shared the same uniform.

Dale

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I somehow remember seeing a photo of a baby faced Reverie on board some ship or what not...hmmm

*tapping finger on tooth*

I wonder what could have happened to that?

You're probably referring to John Martin? The Reveries performed at the annual turnaround of Old Ironsides. We also performed aboard an aircraft carrier, the U.S.S. Wasp. The thing was huge! After our performance, the captain of the carrier said to the director of our corps, "Nice band!" Al looked at him and said, "Nice boat!" :devil:

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