The history of the Westshoremen

[Jaminbenb]

I still remember that parade when Ben parked himself. It Was HOT. NASTY HOT. And the then-new black gabardine unis were of no help. We were all pretty concerned. He looked bad, it was HOT, we knew carrying those tymps in any weather wasn't beer and skittles, and he was not the type of guy to drop over... and we know a couple of people who when it went over 80-85 degrees or for Afternoon sunny shows swooned big time/all the time and got carted off to the EMTs- don't we?

Not mentionin' any names....

I only came close to going down once- Fairfax. And that was after 5 people passed out, Drew was running around in panic from person to person, Eric was getting more and more frustrated, and I just remember starting to sway from side to side and feeling a bit blurry while Eric was getting ranty-peturbed and thanking God he told us to get off the field immediately when I think he realized it wasn't a case of mental failure or a lack of will to do well, that physically we were all gonna go down from the inferno on that field.

Back then, I remember only one corps that had half a handle on that kind of thing. The Cabs. I remember watching them rehearse at Carlisle with Rook- and maybe you too, Ben-- and they had that big bucket of ice water on the sideline, a dipper, and a bunch of wet towels around it- guys would go up and wash their faces with the wet cool towel or dip some water over themselves when they felt washed out and go back on the field.

I do remember we thought this was way too sensible an idea and wished WE had them.

They tried it, but I think it failed...I DO remember at one point they advised everyone to bring Gatorade or water in small thermoses to keep on the sideline during practices....

I remember riding in Norm's van the rest of that parade also...I think part of the issue with that for me was I rode with Bowser that day, we got dropped off at the practice site and did warmups etc... then when it was time to go get the uni's on and line up, we realized that we didn't have to keys to his dad's car, and they were already out somewhere watching the parade...so we had to go find them, grab the keys, get our uni's on, then catch up with the corps...I think we were only about 2 blocks behind, but it was still a lot of hurrying in the hot sun... I think I lasted a few blocks before I went out. Parades with timpani were stupid

[hairbear]

As long as we are discussing passing out from the heat... I always wondered why I never passed out in the 88 and 89 DCA seasons. With all that black hair, long jeans as a rule, rather than an exception, never properly dressed for the heat, never drank water, only sodas... dumb luck, I suppose.

[JimF-LowBari]

As long as we are discussing passing out from the heat... I always wondered why I never passed out in the 88 and 89 DCA seasons. With all that black hair, long jeans as a rule, rather than an exception, never properly dressed for the heat, never drank water, only sodas... dumb luck, I suppose.

I had shorts on but no sunscreen, just a ballcap.... Only time I ever went down was after a gig playing for a lumber yard that re-opened. Go figure, but Lawrence Millwork City checks were good. IIRC, we played the show in standstill once an hour for 3-4 hours. No unis but long pants and corps jackets standing on asphalt in the middle of a hot ###ed afternoon. Got carried on the radio at least once but no idea why covering the re-opening was such a big thang.... Probably ol' Lawrence spending the bucks for publicity. No idea why they re-opened as they had been there for years. Anyway I get home, tell my folks I'm gonna lay down, standing at the foot of my bed... next thing I'm waking up face down on the bed (thank goodness) with my glasses still on... WTF????

Place is now an Ollies Good #### Cheap Warehouse east of Harrisburg on Rt 22....

[BigW]

As long as we are discussing passing out from the heat... I always wondered why I never passed out in the 88 and 89 DCA seasons. With all that black hair, long jeans as a rule, rather than an exception, never properly dressed for the heat, never drank water, only sodas... dumb luck, I suppose.

I never wore shorts either, sometimes a hat, the goofier the better. Always jeans. Actually it wasn't bad we did- kept the sun off our legs and prevented burning in an era when getting burned was no big deal and was part of the things one put up with because no one knew any better. Keeping from getting burned helps keep body temp down. I drank a XL Jumbo Gonzo Gulp sized Coke for breakfast at Mickey D's to caffinate myself so I was awake before every rehearsal, with my 2 Egg Mc Mother-*(%^*#^ers and a Hash Brown- a true breakfast of champions. All that hair kept your ears and neck from burning, too.

Jeff-- this fellow who passed out all the time- I know if I were going down after every show- I know I'd have asked to have myself checked out by an MD- that is if my Mom and Dad didn't get me there ASAP when they found out about it, and it would not have been hard. I'm sure there would have been a show they attended or Rook would have said something out of serious concern. Heck-- I went to an MD for lesser issues from corps- finding out I was allergic to my own sweat- and there I am marching, LOL. We got that dealt with, thank God.

All I know is that IMHO, if you're going down like a submarine after every show from physical issues at the rate this unnamed individual was- and if I were like this person, I have a feeling my Doctor or my Parents, if not myself would have at best made the decision to have retired after the season was over. Or even got ganked during the season out of concern for my well-being.

Which all leads me to wonder if it wasn't a rather screwy cry for attention from the unnamed person. I know that's a rather not very kind thing to say, and I'm not saying that about the guy Jeff mentioned by any means, he'd know the deal in that situation--

but I have been shaking my head over that person for decades.

As much as I love performing, and I would say it would be hard for someone to make a claim they love it *more* than I do, I'll gladly say they can love it as much as I do, which is a lot-- If I was told or saw that it was seriously affecting my health like that, I'd give it up. I don't need my Mom, Dad or Boom worried I'm gonna keel over with a bugle in my hands. I'd feel terrible if that happened. I have a serious disconnect with anyone who'd keep doing that stuff.

[Fran Haring]

Man... reading all these posts from you guys brings back sunburned memories! LOL

I look back at my years marching, junior corps and senior corps... and I hardly ever used sunscreen, rarely wore a hat.

Absolutely crazy. I'm paying for it now, in some ways. (Also paying for being of relatively fair-skinned Irish and German heritage...LOL.) I have to be careful about my sun exposure.

The director/brass guy/drill guy/tyrant of my junior corps seemed to take some sort of pride in running us into the ground at rehearsals, sometimes with either no water breaks or as few as possible. He was way over-the-top "old school." To the point where it hurt us more than helped us.... we went nowhere.

At least with Sunrisers... we worked our butts off (like most every senior corps did back then) but at least we would get a lunch break, shower time, and some down time before performances... sometimes, depending on the show schedule, a pretty good amount of down time.

[Fran Haring]

Heh... another thing these posts remind me of is how many peformers in senior corps would pass out at shows back in the day. 1960s, into the mid-70s or so.

Some friends from Sun told me that, in one of the years before I joined the corps, they had sort of an "office pool" going... taking bets on when one particular guy in the Skyliners would go down. The guy apparently passed out at nearly every show, at some point near the end.

I remember in the early 1970s, watching Les Diplomates from Canada... I think they were the world champs in the "passing out" category.

Those guys would get off their buses after an insanely long ride from Canada, rehearse all day... sometimes up until the gates were open for a show and fans were heading into the stadium... then go out and perform. And then... in the end zone during their finale... they would drop like flies. LOL.

[Jeff Ream]

I never wore shorts either, sometimes a hat, the goofier the better. Always jeans. Actually it wasn't bad we did- kept the sun off our legs and prevented burning in an era when getting burned was no big deal and was part of the things one put up with because no one knew any better. Keeping from getting burned helps keep body temp down. I drank a XL Jumbo Gonzo Gulp sized Coke for breakfast at Mickey D's to caffinate myself so I was awake before every rehearsal, with my 2 Egg Mc Mother-*(%^*#^ers and a Hash Brown- a true breakfast of champions. All that hair kept your ears and neck from burning, too.

Jeff-- this fellow who passed out all the time- I know if I were going down after every show- I know I'd have asked to have myself checked out by an MD- that is if my Mom and Dad didn't get me there ASAP when they found out about it, and it would not have been hard. I'm sure there would have been a show they attended or Rook would have said something out of serious concern. Heck-- I went to an MD for lesser issues from corps- finding out I was allergic to my own sweat- and there I am marching, LOL. We got that dealt with, thank God.

All I know is that IMHO, if you're going down like a submarine after every show from physical issues at the rate this unnamed individual was- and if I were like this person, I have a feeling my Doctor or my Parents, if not myself would have at best made the decision to have retired after the season was over. Or even got ganked during the season out of concern for my well-being.

Which all leads me to wonder if it wasn't a rather screwy cry for attention from the unnamed person. I know that's a rather not very kind thing to say, and I'm not saying that about the guy Jeff mentioned by any means, he'd know the deal in that situation--

but I have been shaking my head over that person for decades.

As much as I love performing, and I would say it would be hard for someone to make a claim they love it *more* than I do, I'll gladly say they can love it as much as I do, which is a lot-- If I was told or saw that it was seriously affecting my health like that, I'd give it up. I don't need my Mom, Dad or Boom worried I'm gonna keel over with a bugle in my hands. I'd feel terrible if that happened. I have a serious disconnect with anyone who'd keep doing that stuff.

Chris had a ton of health issues going on in 97. he knew about em...but gutted it out for the corps, because the alternative, was, well.....not good.

[BigW]

Chris had a ton of health issues going on in 97. he knew about em...but gutted it out for the corps, because the alternative, was, well.....not good.

That's rough. I can make a connection and understand gutting it out for the corps till season end. My guess is he didn't know until he went out there for the first show.

Regards to the other individual, I think they did know. Too much experience to not know.

And Fran's right. People were only starting to really understand things like hydration and sun protection then. I take pride in the fact I never lost one of my band kids in parades, always made sure to keep everyone shaded for as long as possible and hydrated, also kept a close eye on the kids, sometimes parents/staff assigned sectors of the parade block.

I know now maybe I learned a lot of practical things in Corps that were as important as the book learnin' I got at WCU. Problem is most School admins don't get it. They may as well be judging The Edge on TV.

BTW, it's not like I dislike lowbrow humor. Look up Trailer Park Boys episodes on YouTube. I love those guys....

[Jaminbenb]

It was weird how many of us used to wear long pants, especially jeans...but I wasn't really that much of a shorts fan in those days, and I remember a few people getting NASTY burns on their legs, so the longer pants seemed better suited...After a while I opted out of jeans for white painters pants...had two pairs I rotated for practices, I wore them up until 84 since I was in the pit that year, we didn't spend a WHOLE lot of time in the sun...just enough!

I always wore a hat back then..I was the consummate baseball-head (playing mostly, we had a good group of kids in my neighborhood that would play 3-5 days a week) and always had a hat..in fact I think the only time I took it off was when I went to sleep, and when I got to church...my mom used to say "leave that in the car!" So that hat thing was never a problem...once I joined Bucs, it was mandatory...Robbie didn't want us to get what he called "roofer head"....not sure what that was, but it apparently was a Crossmen euphemism of some sort, I think Mark Thurston made some mention of it when he came in to consult...Seeing recent pictures of their rehearsals that a few friends that are still marching put up on FB, it almost looks like EVERYONE in the corps wears a hat of some type...good idea, I guess...

The hydration thing for me came from my mother...she was always saying "make sure you drink enough" and sent me on my weekends with plenty of Gatorade (that she mixed from powders) After a while, I got tired of the "green death" flavor, and just took a few gallon jugs of spring water, shame that they didn't have all of those crazy flavors back then (I think I was also ahead of the curve with bottled water)

But as I said, I only remember going out twice... I remember a girl in the guard that I messed around with in 1983 who had sweating issues, and didn't produce enough sweat to cool her system down, and would usually be out of it after the shows.

[Jeff Ream]

That's rough. I can make a connection and understand gutting it out for the corps till season end. My guess is he didn't know until he went out there for the first show.

Regards to the other individual, I think they did know. Too much experience to not know.

And Fran's right. People were only starting to really understand things like hydration and sun protection then. I take pride in the fact I never lost one of my band kids in parades, always made sure to keep everyone shaded for as long as possible and hydrated, also kept a close eye on the kids, sometimes parents/staff assigned sectors of the parade block.

I know now maybe I learned a lot of practical things in Corps that were as important as the book learnin' I got at WCU. Problem is most School admins don't get it. They may as well be judging The Edge on TV.

BTW, it's not like I dislike lowbrow humor. Look up Trailer Park Boys episodes on YouTube. I love those guys....

he knew in May. First time he went down, the back up DM got on the box. everything went south. How south?

Well...imagine if that DM had been allowed on stage with us after all of the "drama" the other year.

Then triple it.

Now imagine Dan jumping off the scaffold, pushing that DM off the box and conducting.

it was that Bad. I'm sure in 23 years we'll cover the 15 years in between where we left off until wecan come to that.

Dan beat us, but he was great at keeping us hydrated, especially at parades