Test Balloon: Maybe, Maybe Not

Maybe, Maybe Not Sample: The Early Days - Parades and Section Bets
recounted by JoAnne Parente


(picture found in Saints Gallery 4, Page 4, Row 2, Picture 3)

Notice the missing footwear in this picture?

There was a standing bet between the sections having to do with parades we used to march in back then. To stem the tide of "dropping out" - leaving ranks and not finishing the parade when it got too long or too much - the first section to "lose" a member had to clean the bucks or boots for the other sections after the parade.

In this case (after one of the many Firefighters Parades we marched in), the drum line actually lost the bet when one of the cymbal players (to be left unnamed!) smacked himself in the face with the cymbals and needed stitches. While the guard was having their boots cleaned (LOTS of horses in that parade!), we were asked to play a quick exhibition for our sponsors. Rather than hold things up, the guard chose to march sans boots ...


So, did this really happen? Maybe, Maybe Not ...



For more details on Maybe, Maybe Not, check out the April 21st entry of Saints Scribblings. Ready to send in your ideas? Click here to submit, or if that doesn't work, send them to joparente DOT saintsdrumcorps AT gmail DOT com.

An inventory of all stories and where they rate on the truthfulness scale will be posted at the end of May (whenever May may end!).

A Proposal: Maybe, Maybe Not

Well, I THINK I've come up with the next series for here in Scribblings - a play on the month of May called Maybe, Maybe Not.

The inspiration came from the Did It Really Happen story about four members of the horn line who may or may not have driven through Connecticut on their way home from an I&E show that definitely didn't happen but a parade that might have ... go back and read the two entries.

ANYWAY ... here's the idea:

Choose any one of the pictures out on the Saints website and tell us a story about it (gentle reminder - needs to be family-friendly and positive in nature ... think happy ending). Your narrative can tell what really happened, or it can be a tall tale. No need to say which it is - just leave the Maybe, Maybe Not up to the reader.

On the pictures - the image must be in the Saints Photo Gallery. When you send in your entry, you just have to tell me where to find it and a BRIEF description of who's in the picture - I'll take care of copying and embedding it into your story.

Here are some examples of how to describe the photos:

• Gallery 3, Page 3, Row 3, Picture 2 - Althea, Rosie, Kim, and Jim in the Annex
• Gallery 14, Page 2, Row 1, Picture 5 - Goober, Mrs Chez, and Peaches

I'll post a sample story sometime before the end of the month. Your entries will start to post on May 1st.

Ready to send in your ideas? Click here to submit, or if that doesn't work, send them to joparente DOT saintsdrumcorps AT gmail DOT com.


All for now - corpsdially yours from jo!

Weekend Wonderings: The Aftermath

Exhale ...

My brain is screaming at me to do some more Scribbling, but I'm looking for some input first.

What do you want to see out here?

What will compel you to respond like you did for March Moments?

What is the one thing that will get those of you who read this every day to actually send something in as well?

Ready to send in your ideas? Click here to submit, or if that doesn't work, send them to joparente DOT saintsdrumcorps AT gmail DOT com.

Have a great weekend everyone!

All for now - corpsdially yours from jo!

March Moments 2009: March 46 - Aging Out, the Epilogue

March 46 - Aging Out, the Epilogue
by JoAnne Parente

(Editor's note: With this entry, March Moments is over for this year.)


Who would've thunk it?

When I started out the little experiment known as March Moments here in Scribblings some six weeks ago, I figured some of the regulars would send stuff in for about half the days in the month, and I would have to write all the rest.

Was I wrong!

Sure, I contributed my fair share of memories this March, but LOTS of you did as well.

Here's the list of the baker's dozen who submitted stories during this VERY extended month:

• Bill Berliner (March 18, 20, 22, 24, 27)
  
• Jackie Bodzas (March 2, 7, 17, 21, 35, 37, 42, 44)
• Mary Cassidy Ryan (March 29)
• Pete Chesnovitz (March 4)
• Pete Crafts (March 13, 22, 41)
• Jennifer DiGaetano Wehking (March 32)
• Verne James (March 5, 31, 34)
• Eric Meyer (March 38)
  
• Jim Piccolo (March 12, 23, 30, 39)
• Craig Stephens (March 26, 28)
• Chris Trimblett (March 33)
• Jim Trimblett (March 40)
  
• Rhonda Yates Breen-Simone (March 10)

The first time I aged out - September 11, 1976 - was no where near as fun as it's been this time. Start saving your stories now for next March, when we'll go down this path again.

Thanks, everyone - love you all!

All for now - corpsdially yours from jo!

March Moments 2009: March 45 - 1975, Last Chapter

March 45 - 1975, Last Chapter
by JoAnne Parente

(Editor's note: What a run this has been ... more submissions for this little project known as March Moments than ALL other trivia and other submissions in the past, combined. Tomorrow is age-out day - watch for it.)


This is a March Moment I've saved until the very end. For me, it's about saving the best until last.

My absolutamente most favorite marching moment, hands-down, was the May 1975 NJA Guard championship finals at the Wildwood Convention Center. Given all the hype leading up to the show, it could have been anticlimactic. If you were there, you know nothing could be further from the truth.

We knew at some point early in that winter guard season that it would be our last. We had just come off a summer season which was a clear turning point on national competitiveness for the corps, and we collectively decided that we needed to focus more attention there.

As defending champs, we took the floor last. The Sematics were on just before us (and in third after prelims), and a good number of horn and drum line members were in the stands to cheer us both on.

Instead of our canned music (For Once In My Life for those who might have forgotten), we entered the floor to Jimmy Brady, who stood up in the stands and played us on to a jazzed-up version of When the Saints Go Marching In. Needless to say, EVERYONE in the convention center went wild.

Right up until the very end, most were skeptical that we would really just walk away from it all. We finished as champions - and I was even asked to write about it some five years later for a WGI Championship program.

What a day.
What a time.
What a guard.
What a corps.
What a family.

1975. Gotta love it.


Comments or questions about our March Moments series? Click here to submit, or if that doesn't work, send them to joparente DOT saintsdrumcorps AT gmail DOT com.

March Moments 2009: March 44 - 1975, Chapter 1

March 44 - 1975, Chapter 1
by Jack Bodzas

(Editor's note: March Moments is winding down - just two more entries to go.)


In conversation with Jo about March Moments, I believe I told her I could effortlessly come up with about ten years worth of recollections. Cinch, no problema. If I had to narrow it down to a year's worth, my favorite is by far ‘75. I liked the Ellington charts, the drill, the shows we entered, places we went ... good times!

I recently purchased a recording of the 1975 Dream. The drums were cooking; if there was a caption for “trying hard” we would have surely taken it. I thought just to be on the same field with that horn line (my favorite ever, in the history of the world) was magnificent city. Never knew what tricks they were going to pull out of their bag next. Sometimes they were so powerful you would think they were going to straighten their horns right out.


The only drag about a CD is you couldn’t hear / see our color guard, equally as spellbinding. Not to mention they did a stellar job of intimidating judges, keeping them afraid and from getting too close to any of us.


The Nineteen-Hundred Seventy Five Saints, like a fine wine ... an extraordinary vintage.


Comments or questions about our March Moments series? Click here to submit, or if that doesn't work, send them to joparente DOT saintsdrumcorps AT gmail DOT com.

March Moments 2009: March 43 - Present Tense, Chapter 2

March 43 - Present Tense, Chapter 2
by JoAnne Parente

(Editor's note: March doesn't end until we all decide it does - the ultimate antithesis of aging out. As long as entries for March Moments keep coming in, March keeps going, too.)


So, what does being reconnected to all of you mean to me on this Easter Sunday, some thirty+ years after aging out?

Quite simply put - it's validation that Albert Einstein was spot-on when he said that Coincidence is God's way of staying anonymous. At this time, in this place, we needed to be connected again for each other - and so, it happened.

The Internet (or more specifically, the Saints website, Guest Book, Scribblings, and now Facebook) has created a virtual Annex for us to hang out at, once again. We've come back together to share our joys and sorrows, to celebrate and commiserate, to tell tales and to listen with the heart.

There's a hymn by Marty Haugen that says it all ...

Let us build a house where love can dwell
And all can safely live,
A place where SAINTS and children tell
How hearts learn to forgive.
~~~
Built of tears and cries and laughter,
Prayers of faith and songs of grace,
Let this house proclaim from floor to rafter:
All are welcome, all are welcome,

ALL ARE WELCOME IN THIS PLACE!

Comments or questions about our March Moments series? Click here to submit, or if that doesn't work, send them to joparente DOT saintsdrumcorps AT gmail DOT com.

March Moments 2009: March 42 - On Tour, Chapter 3

March 42 - On Tour, Chapter 3
by Jack Bodzas

(Editor's note: March doesn't end until we all decide it does - the ultimate antithesis of aging out. As long as entries for March Moments keep coming in, March keeps going, too.)


On our way to Slippery Rock one year (we slept in real beds), one of our buses dropped its drive train, backfired, coughed up a clutch, wheezed, spewed smoke and everything else. This was one that not even Uncle Tony, Mr. K and Mr. Happel, put together, could perform their “side of the road” magic on. Don’t think it ever got fixed - seriously kaput for keeps.

My dad, among other things, was the emergency bus driver-upper and official corps sign painter. If it stood still long enough, he painted it Blue and Gold - buses, equipment trucks, tymps, bass drums, podiums, posters and anything else that could hold paint and needed a cross and halo logo.

He drove up a spare bus that he said he “borrowed” from somewhere, and arrived at the college at about 4 am. He and I went with Mr. Kadash to Bucky's room to find him a place to crash after the drive. As Mr. K turned on the lights, Bucky tightly clutched his pillow, jumped up and yelled, “I swear I didn’t do it, I swear.”

Ray said, “This is Jon Bodash (sic). He needs the spare bunk. He just drove a bus in from Jersey.”

Bucky said, "Well give Jon the bunk by the window, but get the bus outta here, I’m $%^&**^& trying to &%$@#!! get some %^%$@$# sleep.”

A sight I will most likely never forget and sorta don’t want to.

If we are doing a month's worth of March Moments, I am sure we could do just as many “Bucky Moments.”


Comments or questions about our March Moments series? Click here to submit, or if that doesn't work, send them to joparente DOT saintsdrumcorps AT gmail DOT com.

March Moments 2009: March 41 - Present Tense, Chapter 1

March 40 - Present Tense, Chapter 1
by Pete Crafts

(Editor's note: March doesn't end until we all decide it does - the ultimate antithesis of aging out. As long as entries for March Moments keep coming in, March keeps going, too.)


There were many highlights on Kim's and my vacation to Central Florida this past March I would like to tell about.

• We rode Harleys with Kenny Chiocchi Saturday,Thursday, and Saturday again.
• Met up with Sue Palasak on Main Street Daytona.
• We had dinner Wednesday night with Kim Mega Trimblett ,Jim Trimblett, Laura and Alex their children, Chris Trimblett, and my Aunt Carolyn. Kim was a wonderful hostess.
• We spent Saturday night and Sunday with Jimmy and family at the shore in Ponce Inlet.

Backing up to Friday night we saw The Payne Brothers. Chris went out of his way to get some lights set up in the club so I could play with a few lights that night. His band was just awesome that night. Molly Hatchet's drummer showed up with a few ladies in tow and played a whole set with The Payne Brothers. We had a great time, took some photos, and said our sad goodbyes with hugs.

Well the next day, Kenny came by and we rode to The Cabbage Patch Bar where they were having biker festivities. Well, we weren't that keen on watching women wrestle in shredded up cabbage in the hot Florida sun, so somehow I convinced Kim and Kenny to go down to JB's Fishcamp (which is where The Creature of The Black Lagoon was filmed) to see Chris play at 3pm. We pulled up and I waved to Chris up on the stage behind his keyboards. The surprised look on his face was that super smile I had not seen for 30 years ... Then I pointed to Kenny on his Harley and Chris came running down to us from that stage, hugging Kenny and not believing we came back for more.

We had some super highlights on our trip and I owe it all to some folks here who spent a lot of their time bringing us Saints closer together ... You know who you are and thanks again.

Peter and Kim Crafts



Comments or questions about our March Moments series? Click here to submit, or if that doesn't work, send them to joparente DOT saintsdrumcorps AT gmail DOT com.

March Moments 2009: March 40 - Memories from 1974, Chapter 6

March 40 - Memories from 1974, Chapter 6
by Jim Trimblett

(Editor's note: March doesn't end until we all decide it does - the ultimate antithesis of aging out. As long as entries for March Moments keep coming in, March keeps going, too.)


This is a postscript to yesterday's “Did this really happen?” story.

If Pic’s story is true, I’m sure the trooper’s exact words would have been, and I quote, "I hear tell you boys been ridin’ bear ass at high speeds."

Of course, because I wasn’t there, that would only be speculation.

Thanks for the great story Pic.




Comments or questions about our March Moments series? Click here to submit, or if that doesn't work, send them to joparente DOT saintsdrumcorps AT gmail DOT com.

March Moments 2009: March 39 - Memories from 1974, Chapter 5

March 39 - Memories from 1974, Chapter 5
by Jim Piccolo

(Editor's note: March doesn't end until we all decide it does - the ultimate antithesis of aging out. As long as entries for March Moments keep coming in, March keeps going, too.)


This is a “Did this really happen?” story.

Several members of the corps had started to compete in Individual and Ensemble contests that were usually held in the off-season back in the day. It was a chance to let individual members take center stage and to show off their talents.

Some of the members traveled up to an I&E show that was scheduled to take place in the Boston, Massachusetts area. They had traveled for at least 6 hours to get there only to find out that the show had been canceled, to their dismay. When the corps that was actually sponsoring the show (an all girl corps which is practically unheard of today) learned that members had journeyed all that way for nothing, they asked the members to march in a parade with them that they were scheduled to march in that day as their guests. The corps members graciously accepted the offer and marched in the parade.

On the way home, the members were bored, and as teenagers did, decided to have a little fun by chucking moons at people as they drove by. Well as it happened, one of the people who had been mooned did not think it was fun at all, and called the Connecticut State Troopers.

The Trooper caught up to them and pulled them over. The driver rolled down the window and the trooper asked, “Are you the guys driving bare ass down the road?”

The occupants in the car replied, “Not us officer!” After all was said and done, the driver was let go with a warning.

Did this really happen? Truth or fiction. You decide.

Note from Jo: The names of the people who may - or may not - have participated in the alleged events above were missing from the story when I received it. If this really did happen, you know who you are - or aren't. All I can tell you for sure is that I wasn't there (if there was, indeed, a there) - after all, I never competed in an I&E show. Now, for the rest of you ... only Pic admits to knowing for sure - or not.



Comments or questions about our March Moments series? Click here to submit, or if that doesn't work, send them to joparente DOT saintsdrumcorps AT gmail DOT com.

March Moments 2009: March 38 - Memories from 1974, Chapter 4

March 38 - Memories from 1974, Chapter 4
by Eric Meyer

(Editor's note: March doesn't end until we all decide it does - the ultimate antithesis of aging out. As long as entries for March Moments keep coming in, March keeps going, too.)


Thanks, Jim, for your March Moments that posted on March 23rd.

I've been to the Manning Bowl a couple of times in the past ten years to see shows - felt like I was at an historic site. For 14 years I drove by that exit on I-495 where they held the '74 WO on my way to work. They had the only McDonald's that had not switched over to the restaurant style facility - still the white building with the golden arches for many years after that.

My fondest (and strangest) memory of that night was Pete Boyle and I in the back seat of a car listening to Lopez and Swan go on about how we were ripped off. We must have been in that car for a half an hour before Lopez asked me if I wanted some "garbage" and threw the envelope with the score sheets in my lap. I still have them somewhere in my attic. If anyone is interested I'll try to find them and scan them to send out.

I still can't remember how Pete and I ended up in the car with Lopez and Swan.

Another memory from 1974 is our arrival in Ithaca to watch DCI. I can't remember who all was there but we got there late and were walking around town looking into shops. Looking into one window we saw a Vanguard uniform on a mannequin with a spotlight on it - we knew we had arrived in DCI Mecca.



Comments or questions about our March Moments series? Click here to submit, or if that doesn't work, send them to joparente DOT saintsdrumcorps AT gmail DOT com.

March Moments 2009: March 37 - On Tour, Chapter 2

March 37 - On Tour, Chapter 2
by Jack Bodzas

(Editor's note: March doesn't end until we all decide it does - the ultimate antithesis of aging out. As long as entries for March Moments keep coming in, March keeps going, too.)



Okay if March is being extended, here is one for, as Mr. Lopez used to say, "one more once."

Of my favorite Saints memories, more than a few are from our days spent in Prospect, Ohio. This town literally opened its doors to us every year that we “stopped” by. Prospect was a great place, from its sheriff (who was also the justice of the peace and the candy shop owner) to its super friendly townsfolk, to its well water pump in the park gazebo. It was truly a wonderful place left back in time. Can’t say enough pleasant things about this place, it was good to just be there.

Here's a picture of a one corps parade that we put on for the good citizens of Prospect. I just really remember this parade/day/place as the main ingredient for the making of good times! Don’t try to figure this picture out, things got moved around a bit. . . Gary & Bob were drum majors, Glenn played tambourine, Sue the cymbals and who knows what everyone else was doing.


To those who missed the trips to Prospect with us, I can best explain it as one of the places that Garrison Keillor might write about. If you never read Keillor, his stories are of places a lot like Prospect, Ohio.

Ahhh ... the good old days.

Some postscripts - Several of our members are quite fortunate that Sheriff Crockett did not carry a gun and couldn’t run as fast as they could (see the March 18th Scribblings entry for more details). Also, stories detailing some of its friendly people are a whole other chapter or two, and some just can’t be printed at all on a family website.



Comments or questions about our March Moments series? Click here to submit, or if that doesn't work, send them to joparente DOT saintsdrumcorps AT gmail DOT com.

March Moments 2009: March 36 - Indoor Shows, Chapter 2

March 36 - Indoor Shows, Chapter 2
by JoAnne Parente

(Editor's note: March doesn't end until we all decide it does - the ultimate antithesis of aging out. As long as entries for March Moments keep coming in, March keeps going, too.)


Going Over the Scoresheets

The beginning of rehearsal on Wednesday evenings for the Saints Guard was always the same once the season started: reviewing the scoresheets and GE tapes.

Somehow, it made me feel more grown up that we invested time in going over the judges' feedback each week. We were trusted to learn from each performance, and to make decisions about the value of opinions of others. We were the recipients of valuable lessons, and benefited from failure as well as success.

I've carried those lessons with me, and practiced them in some circumstances better than others. Thirty years later, I'm still benefiting - and I guess you are, too.



Comments or questions about our March Moments series? Click here to submit, or if that doesn't work, send them to joparente DOT saintsdrumcorps AT gmail DOT com.

March Moments 2009: March 35 - Memories from 1974, Chapter 3

March 35 - Memories from 1974, Chapter 3
by Jack Bodzas

(Editor's note: March doesn't end until we all decide it does - the ultimate antithesis of aging out. As long as entries for March Moments keep coming in, March keeps going, too.)



On the way to the ’74 World Open one of our buses or trucks broke down, believe it or not! I gotta think our drivers spent as much time under the vehicles as they did driving.

Of course, kids being kids, multiplied by being cooped up in a sweaty smelly ole bus for a bunch of hours singing many, many verses of Barnacle Bill the Sailor, or Shaving Cream, or 100 Bottles of Beer on the Wall or ... oh never mind, you get the picture ...

The first thing we did after we jumped out the back door was to start up a roadside football game.

The second thing I did was to trip over a hole and ram into someone - I think it was Pete (where oh where are you now) Boyle who was very much like running into a refrigerator with a head. He just did not budge, not one itty bitty bit.

The third was this incredibly loud snap I heard, coming directly from my right ankle area.

The next thing I knew I was in some hospital getting a cast put on by a man wearing a BoSox hat.


Within days I was back on the field marching - cast, tympani, uniform and all, unlike today’s modern timpanists who have their drums carried onto the field for them, and sit down to play.

Ah ... the good old days.

Jack

Comments or questions about our March Moments series? Click here to submit, or if that doesn't work, send them to joparente DOT saintsdrumcorps AT gmail DOT com.

March Moments 2009: March 34 - Classic Cage Moments, Chapter 2

March 34 - Classic Cage Moments, Chapter 2
by Verne James

(Editor's note: March doesn't end until we all decide it does - the ultimate antithesis of aging out. As long as entries for March Moments keep coming in, March keeps going, too.)


It was the Bayonne show of probably 1976, though it might have been 1977.

Mike Hickey was walking the aisles of The Cage with a tin can making a collection to entice him to swim in Newark Bay. Though I don't remember the whole story from this point, what I do seem to recall is somehow the tin can got filled with a human liquid excretion (which will remain unnamed), and ultimately someone knocked the can all over Mr. Hickey.


Comments or questions about our March Moments series? Click here to submit, or if that doesn't work, send them to joparente DOT saintsdrumcorps AT gmail DOT com.

March Moments 2009: March 33 - Classic Cage Moments, Chapter 1

March 33 - Classic Cage Moments, Chapter 1
by Chris Trimblett

(Editor's Note: This entry originally was posted in the Saints Guestbook on March 17th. To put tomorrow's entry into better perspective, I've included it here today.)


The other day Pete Crafts was asking about memories from our days as Saints. One that comes to mind is the water fight on the Cage.

As I remember it, we were headed to the Midwest to compete and there was a huge stainless steel cooler that looked like a milk jug right in the middle of the isle. It was filled to the top with water, and after several hours on the hot bus we couldn't wait any longer.

Everything and everyone on that bus was wet. People were dipping Pringle cans and wax cups, whatever they could find, and winging water in every direction. We all had one of the best laughs ever, and that is saying a lot for the Cage. We stopped at McDonald's and the back door of the bus opened and I remember seeing a waterfall out the back just pouring out into the parking lot.

Mister Fastuca gave me a disappointed look like he didn't know what else he could do with us, but I have a feeling that he had to think it was awesome 'cause it was. And that was just the first day of our trip.



Comments or questions about our March Moments series? Click here to submit, or if that doesn't work, send them to joparente DOT saintsdrumcorps AT gmail DOT com.

March Moments 2009: March 32 - Fundraising, Chapter 2

March 32 - Fundraising, Chapter 2
by Jennifer DiGaetano Wehking

(Editor's notes: First, talk about putting the FUN into fundraising [just kidding]! As Len Berman would say, "And no one got hurt." Second - March doesn't end until we all decide it does - the ultimate antithesis of aging out. As long as entries for March Moments keep coming in, March keeps going, too.)


Oh Jo, I don't think Priscilla or I will ever forget tagging at US 1 and Ford Ave.

We approached a car containing a single person. A young man sat in the driver's seat and called us over as he had a "secret" to share. After leaning towards the car window, we saw his "secret"! He was wearing nothing but a shirt!!!



Comments or questions about our March Moments series? Click here to submit, or if that doesn't work, send them to joparente DOT saintsdrumcorps AT gmail DOT com.