Last known photo of Finleyville Royal Crusaders

[Rocketman]

Rocketman!

I just had a quick conversation with John Menosky and finally filled in the blanks of your connections to the 70s Pgh drum corps scene - life took you in another direction and a very rewarding one for sure, but I sure wish you would have followed the Sharpsburg boys to the Patriots.

Lipsprain:

I was still in Cadets (winter guard -75/76) when I made the decision to go elsewhere. It was obvious the summer corps was not going to make it, so I inquired of some unknown corps in Rockford. At that time, there was no talk of a group going to Derry. Heck, it was my dream to march Rockets for the rest of my life! We all know how that turned out!

However, my heart has never left Western PA, and several of my articles for DCW focused on the Rockets and that area in general.

I was fortunate enough to have been invited to participate in the Kingsmen Alumni Corps in '07, and it was a total blast!

Edited August 27, 2008 by Rocketman

[steelcityrabbit]

Well Gary ran the corps till 1980, Larry Tinnerman till the spring 1981, I ran the corps from 1981 early summer till spring 1982.We won the St Patty's day parade that year 82) and the corps still had the 2 valve horns until they sold them to Steel City later in 1982.So after that no two valve horns just the valve rotors. Some alums bought the old tops in early 1982 and burned them after I shut the corps down that spring. 1981 Larry was gone when they tried to merge with the Rockets Jr. That was 1981 and Chet Freidman (Rockets)was running it and he's on my board.So I don't know

I marched the 1980 season and then went into the USMC that fall. Then in early 1981 I went to the Navy School of music. I graduated that summer and took a month leave before reporting to 29 palms ca., the fall of '81. I did not get home again till christmas of 1982, and then ws only home at christmas time there after. That's, if you could follow that, why I thought it was 1981. But who knows, that was a long time ago.

[Rocketman]

A little known bit of trivia. After I aged out of Regiment and moved back home, I got a call from Pete Spadaro (remember him?) wanting to meet with me. So I met with he and his wife (Lee Kumer-Spadaro) and they asked me if I would be interested in becoming the corps director. I was blown away, but felt my talents lent themselves more to the programming/instruction side than the administrative side. It was an honor nonetheless.

I worked with GBV the summer of '80 and winter, then moved to So. Cal.

Edited August 27, 2008 by Rocketman

[steelcityrabbit]

, I got a call from Pete Spadaro (remember him?) wanting to meet with me. So I met with he and his wife (Lee Kumer-Spadaro)

Pete died from a heart attack while sitting in a chair watching TV, at least that's the story I have been told. I ran into Lee this past winter at a CG show in Pittsburgh. She's still involved. I remember her and Pete on tour with Finleyville driving some kind of little red sports car.

[jeff danchik]

Pete died from a heart attack while sitting in a chair watching TV, at least that's the story I have been told. I ran into Lee this past winter at a CG show in Pittsburgh. She's still involved. I remember her and Pete on tour with Finleyville driving some kind of little red sports car.

That was a fiat spider

[jeff danchik]

A little known bit of trivia. After I aged out of Regiment and moved back home, I got a call from Pete Spadaro (remember him?) wanting to meet with me. So I met with he and his wife (Lee Kumer-Spadaro) and they asked me if I would be interested in becoming the corps director. I was blown away, but felt my talents lent themselves more to the programming/instruction side than the administrative side. It was an honor nonetheless.

I worked with GBV the summer of '80 and winter, then moved to So. Cal.

Unfortunetly they didn't have the power to do so.The current board was the people who signed all the bank notes.They weren't up front with Larry and I soon realized they only wanted to pay the bills they were tied to.The corps got no bingo money, they were always selling equipment from under the kids and they had no intentions to pay the back pay to the staff or any unsecured crediters.Thats when I shut it down.I understand someone tried to pick it up later, but I know nothing of it. Even today I run into vendors who were still owed money.

[jeff danchik]

Pete died from a heart attack while sitting in a chair watching TV, at least that's the story I have been told. I ran into Lee this past winter at a CG show in Pittsburgh. She's still involved. I remember her and Pete on tour with Finleyville driving some kind of little red sports car.

Pete and Lee eventually broke up and Pete was married to Ester when he died. She still teaches in the Ringgold school district. Lee is visual co-ordinator at E Allegheny HS and has a dance supply store in White Oak.She's still a classy and talented lady.

[steelcityrabbit]

That was a fiat spider

I also remember a little girl riding along with them. Turns out years later she married former vagabond member Frank Stanko, AKA "booger". It also turns out that the little girl was Mikalina(sp) Kummer.

[pearlsnaredrummer77]

From the annals of obscure W. PA drumcorps history

Hm.... I think Jeff's right about the chronology. It had to be summer 82. Spring 81 I joined RC and got to play with Dougie Jefferson for a while-now he was an amazing player. (Wonder whatever happened to him?) I learned so much from just playing next to him for a few weeks. (Mainly that I sucked, lol!) Anyhow, I was in Jeff's attempt to revive the corps, and after that was done, we had some folks left-basically friends with nothing to do for the summer of 82. So the RC Cadets did a bunch of local parades the summer of 82. The drumline was reasonable in a class a kind of way-we played old Finleyville cadences, but I think the brass was troubled. Come to think of it, I think we did have some sort of small color guard-I recall a guy named Greg Blasich (?) was the instructor who may have also marched. Me, him and Spicher had gone to DCI Montreal in 81 on a road trip.

I remember it being 82 b/c that was the year before I joined GBV. A number of RC cadets (Paul Devlin, Mary Jane Hanula, etc.,) ended up at Vagabonds and marched 83-85. After the end of RC Cadets in summer 82, Spicher retired as far as I can tell, Mike Gionfriddo the other tenor ended-up at Ohio Brass Factory along with George Cunic, who ran the RC Cadets. I'm not sure how, but I knew Paul (G) before I was in Vagabonds. BTW: We did have the RC tops as well, but rarely wore them b/c we were so small and didn't want to ruin the RC mysique with bad performances-the blue shirts were kmart blue light specials. George drove us about in an old RC school bus that was eventually sold after 82.

That's funny about Lee Kumer-I hadn't heard that name in years. I marched with her daughter Michelene (Golden Girls) at Pitt. Now I have a fiat spider-but in blue, lol.

Unfortunetly they didn't have the power to do so.The current board was the people who signed all the bank notes.They weren't up front with Larry and I soon realized they only wanted to pay the bills they were tied to.The corps got no bingo money, they were always selling equipment from under the kids and they had no intentions to pay the back pay to the staff or any unsecured crediters.Thats when I shut it down.I understand someone tried to pick it up later, but I know nothing of it. Even today I run into vendors who were still owed money.

Edited August 27, 2008 by pearlsnaredrummer77

[jeff danchik]

I also remember a little girl riding along with them. Turns out years later she married former vagabond member Frank Stanko, AKA "booger". It also turns out that the little girl was Mikalina(sp) Kummer.

Both are involved locally with bands and indoor with TWREA