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PEPE NOTARO..23 Years Ago


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Robert "Corbett/Pepe" Notaro is Pete's uncle. His mother is

Rose Marie, Corbett's/ Pepe's sister.

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From: PETEZIOLA@aol.com

To: BKLYNMARIO@aol.com

Sent: 9/18/2011 7:12:01 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time

Subj: Yesterday

9/17/1989

yesterday marked 23 years since Uncle Robert died. I think about him often.

Pete

We all think of him in the same way.......mario

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Wow...didn't know he was gone that long! Pepe was an interesting character! he definitely made the years I marched in DCA memorable! I only met him once...it was either the Dream or the Cab's Grand Prix show at Meadowlands Stadium in Secaucus...had to be either 82 or 83...

I was getting onto one of the elevators (wearing my Westshoremen uniform) and when the doors opened, Pepe was there with a few other Hurricanes...we were usually in some sort of heated battle with them, and it was a moment of "uh-oh" as I thought about not stepping on the elevator....Pepe looked at me and said in his gruff voice "come on in...we don't bite!" and the other guys chuckled! So I got on... as the doors closed he goes "get 'im!"

and started laughing hysterically! I shook his hand and laughed, and thought it was cool to meet him since he was a pretty prominent figure in DCA and we made the usual small talk.... as I got off the elevator on the floor I wanted and started walking away I said "see ya, good luck!" he said "Hey Westshore... you guys gotta good show this year, keep it up, we like competition!"

he was fun to watch, that's for sure! :thumbup:

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  • 1 month later...

Like many in the activity, my path crossed Pepe's, albeit briefly. I went on a Drum Corps Hall of Fame cruise in the late 1980's with my mom. Pepe was working with Empire Statesmen at the time and he was along on the cruise. Pepe struck up a conversation one day with my mother and was very kind to her for the rest of the trip. Another image that is seared in my mind is Pepe and Gus "Cosmo" Barbaro dancing arm and arm with each other, dressed in drag, in one of the lounges - not only was it hilarious, but you should have seen the looks on the faces of some of the civilians that were on the cruise:)) At the end of the cruise all of the folks who were traveling in the Drum Corps Hall of Fame group were waiting together in an auditorium for about an hour for the ship to be released from customs before we departed. Pepe regaled us with stories about his early years with the Skyliners - traveling on trains to competitions - pranks pulled on each other and other corps - etc. He was a great guy who knew how to enjoy life - we could all take a lesson from that. He didn't live as long as some of us have, but he lived a lot while he was here.

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We were seated together on the plane to NYC coming home from DCI just a few weeks earlier. It was a great opportunity to do what he and I did best "remember"... although we saw each other briefly at DCA, I had no idea then that I was saying goodbye to a dear friend.

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  • 1 year later...

I was going to post a photo here but it seems there is not an obvious way to do so :((

Edited by Roger Ellis
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We were seated together on the plane to NYC coming home from DCI just a few weeks earlier. It was a great opportunity to do what he and I did best "remember"... although we saw each other briefly at DCA, I had no idea then that I was saying goodbye to a dear friend.

... you never know when thst sudden end will come ... Pepe and I were teaching the Torrington Vagabonds at that time ... he approached the teaching of their tiny horn line with the same care and voracity as any "big name" corps he taught ... needless to say, rehearsals were light-hearted affairs but always with a goal of being better at the end then the beginning ... my time with him through the years was precious ... he was the catalyst of most of my MC schtick ... I miss him dearly ...

Andy "hoisting one for The Pep" Lisko

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... you never know when thst sudden end will come ... Pepe and I were teaching the Torrington Vagabonds at that time ... he approached the teaching of their tiny horn line with the same care and voracity as any "big name" corps he taught ... needless to say, rehearsals were light-hearted affairs but always with a goal of being better at the end then the beginning ... my time with him through the years was precious ... he was the catalyst of most of my MC schtick ... I miss him dearly ...

Andy "hoisting one for The Pep" Lisko

Well-said, Andy.

Tom, a similar situation for me in 1989. The Friday night of championship weekend, I had a chance to have a drink with Pepe, my old Sunriser friend George Knoebel, and a couple of other folks. Listening to some of their "war stories" that night... priceless.

Like you said.... I had no idea it would be the last time I had that opportunity.

And now George is gone, too.

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Well-said, Andy.

Tom, a similar situation for me in 1989. The Friday night of championship weekend, I had a chance to have a drink with Pepe, my old Sunriser friend George Knoebel, and a couple of other folks. Listening to some of their "war stories" that night... priceless.

Like you said.... I had no idea it would be the last time I had that opportunity.

And now George is gone, too.

i met him at DCA in rochester. what a character. but he was so funny. and i loved his accent. but a real class act.

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Robert "Corbett/Pepe" Notaro is Pete's uncle. His mother is

Rose Marie, Corbett's/ Pepe's sister.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: PETEZIOLA@aol.com

To: BKLYNMARIO@aol.com

Sent: 9/18/2011 7:12:01 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time

Subj: Yesterday

9/17/1989

yesterday marked 23 years since Uncle Robert died. I think about him often.

Pete

We all think of him in the same way.......mario

Funniest guy I've ever known... IMO on a par with people like Robin Williams.

Pepe after a show in Oil City PA where a visual judge tied the top two corps: "If you can't see no difference, you look at their shoes... if you still can't figure out who's better... LOOK AT their BUSES!!! You can't tie two corps in a show like this!" (you have to supply your own Brooklyn accent)

Or the story he told about marching across the upper level of the GWB at 2am...

And the one most people remember, when would he give up drum corps? "When they throw the first shovel of dirt in my face..."

One more beautiful Pepe memory - the Fitchburg Kingsmen at his funeral in Brooklyn.

RIP big guy... one of the most important contributors to our activity...

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