Ray Priester Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 Neil Gargiulo, an alumnus of St Rocco's Cadets and the New York Skyliners (1963-1973),played baritone, recently suffered a fire in his home. The fire started in his garage and quickly spread to the entire house. He was taken to a local hospital suffering from smoke inhalation and was released a couple of days later. He got out of the house with just the clothing on his back, not even shoes. He lost everything - condo, car, Harley, clothes, all his Rocco's and Sky photos and recordings and mementos, everything you would normally have in your house. Insurance won't even come close to replacing most of it. He retired as a Postal worker a few years ago in Wheaton, Ill. and is now living temporarily with his lady friend in St. Charles. If you can give him a hand, I'm sure it would be greatly appreciated and also prove just how close this drum corps family is. His address is: Neil Gargiulo 35 West 363 Oak Lane St. Charles, Ill. 60174 For Neil and his St. Rocco's and Sky buddies, thank you very much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Priester Posted January 10, 2012 Author Share Posted January 10, 2012 Just to give you an idea about what sort of guy he is, and the prankster that is still is, let me tell you a quick story. Years ago, St. Rocco's rehearsed across the street from a bowling alley in that part of Brooklyn. The corps would hang out there after practice. Neil and a few of his St Rocco's cohorts cooked up a prank to pull on the other unsuspecting bowlers. A fake "fight" breaks out, gathering a lot of attention. Neil goes to the clerk's desk and asks the guy to please page 'Clark Kent'. The clerk, not having any idea what was going on, proceeds to page Clark Kent over the establishment's PA system. At that moment, Jimmy "Oranges" ( hey, this IS Brooklyn, after all!) runs into a nearby phone booth and starts to disrobe, revealing a Superman costume under his street clothes. He bursts out of the phone booth and announces "This looks like a job for Superman" and proceeds to wade into the fighters, tossing them aside like toys. Peace is at last restored and Jimmy goes back to the phone booth, puts his street clothes back on and leaves the booth as if nothing had happened. They all went back to finish their 'refreshments' and then left. Nothing more was said, but everyone in the alleys kept staring at them, even as they were leaving. It seemed as if they were wondering "Who was that guy? Did I really see what I just saw?" . Needless to say, Neil and the St Rocco's crew had a great laugh over that one. And once again, peace was restored to Metropolis, compliments of the mischievous mind of Neil Gargiulo and his loyal companions from St Rocco's Cadets. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajlisko Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 Just to give you an idea about what sort of guy he is, and the prankster that is still is, let me tell you a quick story. Years ago, St. Rocco's rehearsed across the street from a bowling alley in that part of Brooklyn. The corps would hang out there after practice. Neil and a few of his St Rocco's cohorts cooked up a prank to pull on the other unsuspecting bowlers. A fake "fight" breaks out, gathering a lot of attention. Neil goes to the clerk's desk and asks the guy to please page 'Clark Kent'. The clerk, not having any idea what was going on, proceeds to page Clark Kent over the establishment's PA system. At that moment, Jimmy "Oranges" ( hey, this IS Brooklyn, after all!) runs into a nearby phone booth and starts to disrobe, revealing a Superman costume under his street clothes. He bursts out of the phone booth and announces "This looks like a job for Superman" and proceeds to wade into the fighters, tossing them aside like toys. Peace is at last restored and Jimmy goes back to the phone booth, puts his street clothes back on and leaves the booth as if nothing had happened. They all went back to finish their 'refreshments' and then left. Nothing more was said, but everyone in the alleys kept staring at them, even as they were leaving. It seemed as if they were wondering "Who was that guy? Did I really see what I just saw?" . Needless to say, Neil and the St Rocco's crew had a great laugh over that one. And once again, peace was restored to Metropolis, compliments of the mischievous mind of Neil Gargiulo and his loyal companions from St Rocco's Cadets. ...and another gem ... Neil was so excited when he joined Sky in the early 60's that when he got home, he put on his newly issued uniform and began playing his horn up and down his neighborhood block ... he was subsequently arrested for parading without a permit ... hey ... like Ray said ... it's BROOKLYN! :-) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Priester Posted January 10, 2012 Author Share Posted January 10, 2012 ...and another gem ... Neil was so excited when he joined Sky in the early 60's that when he got home, he put on his newly issued uniform and began playing his horn up and down his neighborhood block ... he was subsequently arrested for parading without a permit ... hey ... like Ray said ... it's BROOKLYN! :-) I related that story on the DCA and Alumni page. I got the story refreshed from Neil the other night when I spoke with him. Yes, it's Brooklyn and that's our Neil! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LancerLegend Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 Just to give you an idea about what sort of guy he is, and the prankster that is still is, let me tell you a quick story. Years ago, St. Rocco's rehearsed across the street from a bowling alley in that part of Brooklyn. The corps would hang out there after practice. Neil and a few of his St Rocco's cohorts cooked up a prank to pull on the other unsuspecting bowlers. A fake "fight" breaks out, gathering a lot of attention. Neil goes to the clerk's desk and asks the guy to please page 'Clark Kent'. The clerk, not having any idea what was going on, proceeds to page Clark Kent over the establishment's PA system. At that moment, Jimmy "Oranges" ( hey, this IS Brooklyn, after all!) runs into a nearby phone booth and starts to disrobe, revealing a Superman costume under his street clothes. He bursts out of the phone booth and announces "This looks like a job for Superman" and proceeds to wade into the fighters, tossing them aside like toys. Peace is at last restored and Jimmy goes back to the phone booth, puts his street clothes back on and leaves the booth as if nothing had happened. They all went back to finish their 'refreshments' and then left. Nothing more was said, but everyone in the alleys kept staring at them, even as they were leaving. It seemed as if they were wondering "Who was that guy? Did I really see what I just saw?" . Needless to say, Neil and the St Rocco's crew had a great laugh over that one. And once again, peace was restored to Metropolis, compliments of the mischievous mind of Neil Gargiulo and his loyal companions from St Rocco's Cadets. If I didn't match in drum corps - I would no doubt be calling this story BS. However - because I did march - I know this is one of those stories that makes me believe every word is true !!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Priester Posted January 11, 2012 Author Share Posted January 11, 2012 If I didn't match in drum corps - I would no doubt be calling this story BS. However - because I did march - I know this is one of those stories that makes me believe every word is true !!!! And it's all verifiable! Check with ANYONE on the St Rocco's web site. Ray Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajlisko Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 If I didn't match in drum corps - I would no doubt be calling this story BS. However - because I did march - I know this is one of those stories that makes me believe every word is true !!!! Another stunt that Neil and the Brooklyn crew would pull was playing handball with an "invisible" ball ... our busses would pull into a downtown area and at any given light Neil, Spider and Mammolito would hop off the bus and start to play a lively game of handball - usually using the glass window of a diner as their target ... or any wall would suffice ... the funniest part would be when they stopped traffic, running frantically across the street to retrieve the "invisible" ball that somehow got past one of the players ... ya hadda be there to see the townspeople's faces ... priceless ... :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Priester Posted January 21, 2012 Author Share Posted January 21, 2012 A big THANK YOU to all who have helped out so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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