FINISHED WOMEN IN DRUM CORPS PROJECT!

[Puppet]

Hello Piper,

This is Cherokee (Merino) Baer of Newport News, Virginia. Some of my drum corps ND-ETTE friends in Connecticut have sent me your posting of April 21st and told me there were errors in your posting. After reading it I noticed errors myself. First of all my maiden name is Cherokee J. Merino (not Marino). My name is not Diana; I do not know where the name Diana came from. You might be confusing me with Diana Dugan (the daughter of Jimmy Dugan drummer for the Connecticut Hurricanes) who was another girl snare drummer who came about 10 years after me.

I first drummed and marched with The Hot Shots of Norwalk, Connecticut and then went on to The Notre Dame (D-ETTES) all girl drum corps of Bridgeport, Connecticut and after leaving them I went to The St. Aedan's Cadets of New Haven, Connecticut. After about two months with them I went on to The Milford Shoreliners of Milford, Connecticut. I finished my snare drumming and marching with The St. Rita's Brassmen of Brooklyn, New York. All through my drumming in various corps, I always participated in snare drumming individual competition during the off season. I also drummed for two years as part of a drum quartet with three boys competing in drum quartet competitions and also played for color guard competitions during the off season.

Some of my history is as follows: I drummed and marched from the years of 1963 through 1973. After I aged out I taught the Lancers of Trumbull, Connecticut feeder corps drum line and assisted at times with the Lancer main corps drum line. I also went on to take my drumming judging trials to become a drum judge. I ended my drum corps involvement of 16 years in the fall of 1979.

When I first joined the Hot Shots at the age of 12; I wanted to be a drummer. I was told that I could not ever be a drummer, because I was a girl; only boys were allowed in the drum line at the time. My first drum instructor was Joe Gaudette (drum instructor for The Golden Buccaneers) while I was in the feeder corps of The Hot Shots. After graduating to the main corps they put me in the cymbal line thinking it would discourage me and I would get bored and go into the color guard; it never happened. I played those cymbals with everything I had in me and went on to teach myself tenor drum and under the instruction of Francis Germinaro of the Connecticut Hurricanes Senior Drum Corps who was the drum instructor for The Hot Shots, I made the tenor line in the main corps of The Hot Shots. While I was a tenor I taught myself the snare drum sometimes practicing 5 to 6 hours a day at home after school. Although I was good enough to enter the snare line of The Hot Shots, the boys would not allow me into the snare line, so I moved on to the ND-ETTES as a snare drummer.

When I went to the ND-ETTES my drum instructor was Ray Luedee of the Connecticut Hurricanes and he made me the lead snare drummer. I stayed there for a couple of years and then tried to break an all male line. My main goal was to be accepted by The Milford Shoreliners, but the boys would not have me. Fortunately, Ray Luedee who was teaching St. Aedan's at the time talked to that drum line and they decided to try me out and they accepted me. I had two weeks to learn the drumming for their repertoire and I did. My first performance was an inside exhibition performance in Springfield, Massachusetts during the month of May. The Shoreliner drum line saw what I was capable of as they watched me that evening and decided that they would accept me into their drum line. I left St. Aedan's reluctantly, because I really liked the people, their uniform and loved my instructor Ray Luedee who made all things possible for me, but nevertheless I wanted the more difficult drumming and that was with The Shoreliners.

I joined The Shoreliners under the drum instructor Jack Lester (also of the Connecticut Hurricanes) who also was in my corner and I learned their drumming for their repertoire and their marching and maneuvering in two weeks in order to be ready for their first field competition three weeks after I joined. It was a stressful time and I was under alot of pressure being a girl and proving my talent to deserve being in that drum line with the boys as well as keeping up my grades in school. I was with The Shoreliners for a few years until once more I moved on to my last corps, The St. Rita's Brassmen of Brooklyn, New York.

There was a bunch of us from The Shoreliners that went to march with The St. Rita's Brassmen I think in 1972. That was my real challenge when St. Rita's Brassmen accepted me into their drum line. That one year with The Brassmen was the best drumming and most difficult I ever drummed under the drum instructor Eric Perrilouix (drum instructor for The New York Skyliners) one of the best and I fully enjoyed that corps and the people in that drum line. My goal was to drum alongside the best drummers and in The Brassmen I achieved that goal. It was difficult and it kept me on my toes and I loved the challenge. I remember at the end of my last competition on the field; Eric Perrilouix came to me and said I was one of the best drummers he ever taught; that meant the world to me. By the time I aged out; I had reached all my goals.

Throughout those years I competed in Individual Snare Drumming competition; writing my own drum solos and winning many medals and trophies. My highest individual snare drumming score was 97.8 and I still have that score sheet. People didn't know it, but every time I went on stage during individual competition, I was as nervous as could be; somehow I got through it all. Entering into these competitions was the only way for me to show that I was worthy of drumming in an all male drum line and I could hold my own with the boys. It was a long road and it took hours of practicing, but I never gave up and would do it all again and so the rest is history.

I thank my parents (who are gone now), my brother Bob, drum instructors and all my friends for all the support and guidance given me; I could not have done it without them. These days I am still drumming on a full set of drums, djembe, marimba and bongos in a Contemporary Christian Group. I am in my 7th year of piano lessons and self taught on the Native American Indian Flute. Music will never leave me and drumming will not either; it's a part of who I am and will be for life. Drum Corps was the best part of growing up for me. Marching in Drum Corps taught me such valuable lessons and has helped me be who I am today.

All the best,

Cherokee Merino-Baer

Cherokee - thank you for posting! I know I remember being amazed that Eric would break tradition (certainly he, Hy & Carmen were big on tradition!) but you were obviously so good how could he not?

I posted this shot of you at rehearsal on a thread I started called OMG Could We Have Been So Young? that you can find on another forum called > Historical Junior Corps Discussions.

Before you got the official "Brassmen" emblem on your drum!

Thanks for the memories - you'll see more on the site I mentioned and others on the "some old corps photos" thread.

All the Best,

Puppet

[stanforj]

Cherokee - thank you for posting! I know I remember being amazed that Eric would break tradition (certainly he, Hy & Carmen were big on tradition!) but you were obviously so good how could he not?

I posted this shot of you at rehearsal on a thread I started called OMG Could We Have Been So Young? that you can find on another forum called > Historical Junior Corps Discussions.

Before you got the official "Brassmen" emblem on your drum!

Thanks for the memories - you'll see more on the site I mentioned and others on the "some old corps photos" thread.

All the Best,

Puppet

Great picture, ahhh...slings and leg rests..that was my era as well....we were that young once ...very cool ..I have pics from those years and our line looked the same!!! Nostalgia WOW!!! Agin thanks for sharing...great fun!!!!!!!

[Puppet]

Great picture, ahhh...slings and leg rests..that was my era as well....we were that young once ...very cool ..I have pics from those years and our line looked the same!!! Nostalgia WOW!!! Agin thanks for sharing...great fun!!!!!!!

So ... If you've got pictures - like at rehearsals and traveling and fun stuff out of uniform post them on "Could We Have Been So Young?" And if you've got performance /competition shots post those on the "some old corps photos" topic. Both are on the Historical Junior Corps Discussions Forum.

Check them out anyway - I think the old corps photos is possibly the single best historical data base of Drum Corp pictures to be found ... anywhere!

Puppet

[neholgate]

I found this article on the CapitolAires and Pat Barkenhagen. 1972 Newspaper Article

[Fran Haring]

Great start, Allie..... keep up the good work on this.

I gotta be honest, though.... when I first read your title to this thread, "Finished Women in Drum Corps...."

I was wondering, "what the heck is a 'finished woman'?"

[cmhs59]

Great start, Allie..... keep up the good work on this.

I gotta be honest, though.... when I first read your title to this thread, "Finished Women in Drum Corps...."

I was wondering, "what the heck is a 'finished woman'?"

Eliza Doolittle

[HeatherM]

"In the drum corps world, women play a specific role in the activity. They do not march on the field; instead, they do motherly things to help take care of the marching members. "

what did you mean by this?????? there are women in almost every section of almost every DCI corps (except of course the Scouts and Cavaliers). Maybe I am having a brain lapse, but I've read this over a few times and I'm still not getting what you meant. Were you being sarcastic?

[ajlisko]

Throughout those years I competed in Individual Snare Drumming competition; writing my own drum solos and winning many medals and trophies. My highest individual snare drumming score was 97.8 and I still have that score sheet. People didn't know it, but every time I went on stage during individual competition, I was as nervous as could be; somehow I got through it all. Entering into these competitions was the only way for me to show that I was worthy of drumming in an all male drum line and I could hold my own with the boys. It was a long road and it took hours of practicing, but I never gave up and would do it all again and so the rest is history.

Cherokee Merino-Baer

Well, well ... Cherokee ... what a pleasure to hear from you on DCP ... how well I remember your early foray into the wonderful world of I&E competition on snare ... I also remember tutoring you on how to "talk" to the judges when going over your sheet ... ah yes ... the fun years of yout ... you should travel up to one of the BHOF I&E shows next year ... they're still as much fun as they were in the 60's ...

Andy "Yer old PAL" Lisko

[Fastone]

Cherokee - thank you for posting! I know I remember being amazed that Eric would break tradition (certainly he, Hy & Carmen were big on tradition!) but you were obviously so good how could he not?

I posted this shot of you at rehearsal on a thread I started called OMG Could We Have Been So Young? that you can find on another forum called > Historical Junior Corps Discussions.

Before you got the official "Brassmen" emblem on your drum!

Thanks for the memories - you'll see more on the site I mentioned and others on the "some old corps photos" thread.

All the Best,

Puppet

btw, this is 1973

[TomPeashey]

Allie,

Your comment about Vince Bruni is also not correct.

Donny

Maybe Donnie, not sure what she was looking for with the Vince comments... sounds like someone told her that in 1959 Vince tossed all the girls which is correct... He was determined to make the corps "relevant" on the senior scene and felt that would not happen until we were all male like Brigs and the rest that we were competing against. Cru was all male for the decade of the 60's... won their first senior state championship in 1961 and first Nationals in 1965... If that is what she is commenting on... she is accurate... but it's a bit confusing ... not sure... Vince of course once Dips and Sun had broken the gender barrier was quick to jump on board in a big way... Cru was a very comfortable place for females from the decade of the 70's on and of course after he founded Empire in the early 80's he continued his drum corps for everyone theory most successfully there.