Guest Writer Wednesday: Jackie Bodzas on Saints Stuff

Yes, I realize this is being posted on a Tuesday and I've called it Guest Writer Wednesday ... you've all waited long enough for a new posting out here in Saints Scribblings, and I wasn't going to make you wait one minute longer. If Macy's can have their one day sales on Wednesday with a preview day on Tuesday, then so can we.

Enjoy this contribution from Jackie!

All for now - corpsdially yours from jo!

Hello Saints!

I sit here with pen in hand, actually with keypad under fingers as the case may be, ghost writer for Marilyn/Jo (whatever the witness protection plan calls her these days). She has a lot going on, and will be back to us as soon as alien forces release her. Please read on.

To the Instructors, Parents, Friends of, and of course to the Saints I have marched with, I want thank you for being part of what I call a better than decent, bordering on … a wonderful childhood!

I pretty much check in to the Saints website every day; I find comfort in looking at our old pictures: the satin shirts, the cadet and yes even the orange, black and white uniforms. I look forward to current pictures posted (it is always refreshing to see the poor little fishes that Crafts has freed from their homes in the sea), reading the banter in the Guestbook, to see where some of us have gotten ourselves in the Where Are They Now section and other tabs I may happen to plunk down on.

The other day, when killing time waiting for one of my offspring (who was off at a cello gig - far, far from any kind of drum corps practice), I for some reason found myself counting stuff on the Member Roster link. I had a stupendous revelations – only 11 of us marched with the Saints from beginning to end (first parade to the last show). I really thought it was going to be a number closer to 60 or 100 when you look at how close we seem when we gather at our little reunions. In this statistic, I have included Goober (I mean Alan) by default because he was always there, Jo and Althea for becoming staff and staying with us to the end, and Wargo simply because he is Wargo.

You might have been just coming in as I was going out, so I might not remember all of you, or you me. As always there was the little kid / big kid thing going on. For instance, Rocky was just Ragu’s little brother / my little brother if someone outside of the corps even thought of picking on him. But just the same, I have marched with ALL of you – anyone who had the honor of putting on a Saints uniform during our too-short ten years together.

Again, I thank you all for being part of a really better than great experience!

Three thoughts:

• I wouldn’t mind our next reunion being that we just hang out in some park somewhere like we always used to.
• Just where in the world is Peter Boyle anyway …
• My most sincere “Thanks” to Mr. Ray Chmieleski and a whole bunch of his friends for getting us started, and to those who kept us going.

Take care,

Jack Bodzas – Drum Line ‘67-‘77

Guest Writer Wednesday: 12 Days of Christmas, Saints Style

On the first day of Christmas, the Saints Drum Corps gave to me ...
a website from Rocky Chiocchi!

The rest of the song? Help to compose it!

Send your suggestions for the other eleven verses by Sunday, December 23rd, to joparente.saintsdrumcorps@gmail.com. The song will be posted a day or two at a time starting with the first day of Christmas (December 26th).

All for now - corpsdially yours from jo!

Guest Writer Wednesday: Bill Meyer on the Mini Reunion

First of all, I'd like for you to know that JoAnne told me she "expects (me) to submit something" for the Scribblings page, so don't worry that she's stepping down. If you find that reading this has been an excruciating waste of your time ... blame her.

But (especially after last weekend), I'll do anything JoAnne asks me to do. :-)

To the people who were not there last weekend, you don't know what you missed.
It was like the last 30 years never happened. Goober said it was like being 14 again ...

Lots of clichés.
Or so they seem, but ...

To me, the truest meaning of these phrases was felt on a level I've rarely known. We met each other after a really long time, and I know it could have, maybe even should have been an anxious and somewhat scary thing for me, but I was ... comfortable. And I think 'most everyone else there felt the same.

Why? Why is it that we are able to do this, be this at ease with so many people, when so much has happened to me, to you, since we last met?

In the run-up to the reunion I mentioned our event to friends and co-workers, and the inevitable comparison was made to a high school reunion. Even for those who attended on a more regular basis, I'm sure no school could match the level of familiarity we had with each other. In fact, school was one of the few interruptions many of us had from our life in drum corps, or more precisely The Saints Drum Corps. We raised money together, practiced together, car-pooled, competed, partied, traveled, hung-out, partied (oops), shared music, played games, teased & harassed - but always stuck up for - each other. We GREW UP together.

I used the word familiarity earlier. It's based on the word family. Another cliché, I know, but how else does one describe our relationship?

To my brothers and sisters, and moms, dads, aunts and uncles - thank you all for being part of me, and it was damned good to see so many of you last week. Mongo loves you all.

Bill Meyer


Thanks go to Bill Meyer for submitting the first Scribblings entry for Guest Writer Wednesday! Be part of the crew - send your submission to joparente.saintsdrumcorps@gmail.com.



All for now - corpsdially yours from jo!