sky Posted June 3, 2004 Share Posted June 3, 2004 (edited) Wow...these names keep coming! Jeff, Skip Groff was an ex-USAF D&BC soprano player from Lancaster Co. He taught many corps including Hanover, the YWR (he developed their fine hornline - finally) among others. He passed away, probably in the early 90s. The Skip you're probably thinking of was Skip Rizzuto who taught numerous bands along with partner Rick Weidner, both York Jr. horn players. They did Lancers drill 1982 (?), when Hannum did percussion and another ex-Crossmen, Gary (?) had the hornline. Christie may have gone to YR as well; if he did, he didn't stay there too long, either. Best Steve PS: JimF, got a real rundown on Hanover's rain parades from Foss; 52 horns!!! and a big drum line. Must have felt pretty nice. There's another USAF DBC horn player there, besides KB Oiler and, of course, Foss, ,,,his name is Jan something, also from York. Edited June 3, 2004 by sky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted June 3, 2004 Share Posted June 3, 2004 thats right, i got the Skips confused. thanks! and Weidner...wow. Now there's a fun name Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Matczak Posted June 3, 2004 Share Posted June 3, 2004 I am pretty sure York White Roses were from Toronto not PA BTW, Isn't "White Roses" one of the names being considered for the new York, PA minor league Baseball team? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sky Posted June 3, 2004 Share Posted June 3, 2004 (edited) The name "White Roses" - kind of a sore (thorny?) subject. First of all, why would a bunch of kids want to be called "roses" and have to compete against Knights, Lancers, Crusaders, Warriors, etc. That sucked! Given we had a mix of urban and suburban kids and that it was the 60s, we really wanted to be called "The Checkers." It better described and suited us! The name actually derives from English history and the royal houses of Lancaster (the Red Rose) and York (the White Rose) and their battles for the throne. Hey, at 13-17 who the F___ cares about that stuff. Unfortunately, they never told us that, nor did they give the mini-history lesson to the audience who was generally looking to be blown away, not regaled by floral arrangements. For the most part, we were just a bunch of d_____ flowers. I still think that was one of the biggest strikes against the corps. For example, at least Blue Rock = hard! With that said................ Don't get me started!!!!!! Good luck to the baseball team in my ol' hometown. Hope they choose a better moniker this time around. (BTW, there was a farm league team (Phillies?) in York in the 50s and 60s. Guess what their name was!!!!!!! PS: Red rose, White Rose, Memorial Day......reminds me of the days when YWR's season started with a "big" show at Lancaster on M-day. Blue Rock, St. Rocco's, OLPH, Kingsmen, Garfield and other big names would come there/here and "welcome" us to competition for the year. Edited June 4, 2004 by sky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted June 4, 2004 Share Posted June 4, 2004 York is trying for a team, but Harrisburg is trying to upgrade to AAA from AA, which would kill Yorks attempt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Matczak Posted June 4, 2004 Share Posted June 4, 2004 RCA Patch on eBay ,.........less than 3 hours to go! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drumzx Posted June 4, 2004 Share Posted June 4, 2004 He passed away, probably in the early 90s. The Skip you're probably thinking of was Skip Rizzuto who taught numerous bands along with partner Rick Weidner, both York Jr. horn players. Nope. . .it WAS Skip Groff I was talking about. . .he did Westshore's hornline for a while way back. But I know Skip Rizzuto too. . .funny guy but I haven't seen him in about 5/6 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted June 5, 2004 Share Posted June 5, 2004 he hasn't changed one bit Steve. you'd know it was him in a heartbeat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaminbenb Posted June 6, 2004 Share Posted June 6, 2004 He passed away, probably in the early 90s. The Skip you're probably thinking of was Skip Rizzuto who taught numerous bands along with partner Rick Weidner, both York Jr. horn players. Nope. . .it WAS Skip Groff I was talking about. . .he did Westshore's hornline for a while way back. But I know Skip Rizzuto too. . .funny guy but I haven't seen him in about 5/6 years. Holy COW! b**bs From the Money Store? hahaha! (sorry couldn't resist!) we'll try this again... Skip Rizzuto?!?! The charismatic Drum Major from the 37Th regiment! hahaha!!! He's a siiiiick puppy!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Matczak Posted June 16, 2004 Share Posted June 16, 2004 When Steve Vickers was putting together the first History of Drum Corps volume a couple of years ago I wrote a piece on the Red Carpet Association that I don't believe was ever published. Contributors to my research included Jeff Ream, Jeff Davis and Ron Allard. I also have a spreadsheet with all scores from the RCA shows. Here is the history article:The Red Carpet Association was formed in the fall of 1968 as a circuit for senior drum and bugle corps, providing an alternative to the relatively new Drum Corps Associates circuit. The Red Carpet Association provided a competitive arena for corps that did not attain membership in the more exclusive DCA circuit on a competitive basis, or were not interested in being members of DCA for other reasons such as geographical location and the expense of traveling to DCA contests. The Red Carpet Association sponsored contests and held a championship show each year from 1969 through 1977. The circuit included corps from Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, Connecticut, Minnesota, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Maryland and Ontario, Canada. Three corps appeared in all nine RCA championship shows. The Guelph Royalaires were the most consistent competitor in the circuit, with two wins (outright in 1969 and tied with Erie Thunderbirds in 1974) and five second-place finishes in nine appearances. The Hanover Lancers appeared nine times with an average placement of 6.4, and won the final RCA Championship in 1977. The Dunkirk Patriots appeared nine times and averaged 8.7 in placement. The honors for best winning percentage went to the Rochester Phoenix – one appearance and one win, for an average placement of first. In existence for just two years, the Phoenix won the 1975 RCA championship by over four points in their first year on the field and went on to a top-five finish at DCA. The other two corps to win circuit championships were the Pittsburgh Rockets and the Erie Thunderbirds. The Pittsburgh Rockets appeared six times with an average placement of 2.5 and deserve special recognition for winning three in a row (1970, 1971 and 1972). The Erie Thunderbirds had an enviable record as well, appearing seven times for an average placement of 3.1. Erie won outright in 1973 and 1976 and tied with the Guelph Royalaires for first in 1974. The corps that showed the most improvement was the Johnsonburg Diplomats. They competed four times, placing 14th in 1972, 11th in 1975, second in 1976, and third in 1977. The dubious honor of the lowest average placement went to the Versailles PA Vigilantes, who finished 13th in their only appearance. The Red Carpet Association served the needs of its member corps in several different ways. Corps such as the Rhode Island Matadors and the Rochester Phoenix used Red Carpet as a stepping-stone to reach DCA membership. Corps like the Pittsburgh Rockets, Hanover Lancers, Guelph Royalaires and the Erie Thunderbirds competed successfully in both RCA and DCA. The Hamburg Kingsmen found a home in Red Carpet after failing to retain their DCA membership at the end of the 1974 season. Many other corps found that the level of competition and the location of the shows that were sanctioned by RCA was right for them and competed just in RCA. It is interesting to note that the Syracuse Brigadiers appeared just one time, during their attempted comeback in 1973, and finished in fourth place. The Brigs went on to finish 13th at DCA that year, just missing a membership position, and subsequently folded. The Brigs returned to the competitive field many years later and are now one of the strongest and most consistent senior corps. The following were the show locations and champions for each year that the RCA was in existence: August 16, 1969 Allentown PA Guelph Royalaires August 29, 1970 Erie PA Pittsburgh Rockets August 28, 1971 Erie PA Pittsburgh Rockets August 21, 1972 Erie PA Pittsburgh Rockets August 25, 1973 Erie PA Erie Thunderbirds August 24, 1974 Erie PA Guelph Royalaires, Erie Thunderbirds (tie) August 23, 1975 Hamilton ONT The Phoenix August 28, 1976 Hamilton ONT Erie Thunderbirds August 27, 1977 Jamestown NY Hanover Lancers What follows is a complete listing of all of the corps that competed in the RCA championship shows. It is believed that a preliminary competition was held at one or more of the RCA Championship shows, but no scores were found during the research that was conducted for this article. Phoenix Rochester NY Royalaires Guelph ONT Pittsburgh Rockets Pittsburgh PA Westshoremen Harrisburg PA Canada's Marching Ambassadors Toronto ONT Erie Thunderbirds Erie PA Canadian Commanders Burlington ONT Syracuse Brigadiers Syracuse NY Connecticut Yankees Stratford CT Brass Inc. St. Paul MN Hamburg Kingsmen Hamburg NY Emmaus Sentinels Emmaus PA Rhode Island Matadors Providence RI Grenadiers/Yardmen Kingston ONT Hanover Lancers Hanover PA Kawartha Kavaliers Lindsay ONT Dansville White Sabers Dansville NY Johnsonburg Diplomats Johnsonburg PA Maumee Demons Maumee OH Gardner Guards Altoona PA Suburban Knights Getzville NY Dunkirk Patriots Dunkirk NY Imperial Knights Sudbury ONT Esquires Westmoreland PA Garden Statesmen Dover NJ York White Roses York PA Vern Acklin Cavaliers Verona PA Freestatesmen Cumberland MD Vigilantes Versailles PA Hey Roger, Reading this stuff gives me an idea,.................how about we get a page up called RCA History Archives?,...................... 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