Maybe 1: Who Stole My Drumsticks?

Maybe 1st - Who Stole My Drumsticks?
by Jack Bodzas

(Editor's note: Let's see how long we can make the month of May last - send in your entries for Maybe, Maybe Not!)

(picture found in Saints Photo Gallery 10, Page 2, Row 2, Picture 1)

It took this Maybe, Maybe Not exercise to figure out after all these years what might have happened ...

I do not remember the year, but it was long, long ago, back when we had tenor drums; Sharon Kennedy and Hugh Harkins were with us.

Eric and I were playing tymp - had to be the first year we had ‘em. We carried two pairs of sticks (one soft and one hard) in a bag on the side of our drums. As I was changing sticks, someone came up and took both pairs of mine. I stood there with a silly look on my face staring at empty hands. Eric gave me his extra pair.

All these years I thought it was a certain someone (I mention no names) from the Silver Lancers playing games, but if you look in the corner of the photo, you can see a little kid ready to race out and do the mischievous deed.

“Little Kid,” if you still have my sticks, I want them back! No questions asked.


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!).

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 23 - Memories from 1974, Chapter 1

March 23 - Memories from 1974, Chapter 1
by Jim Piccolo


The World Open

As I sit typing this and listening to our corps from 1974 Dream, it brings back so many memories.

One in particular was at the 1974 World Open. It was the first time the corps had an extended overnight trip; President Nixon had resigned while we were in there also. We were staying in Lynn, Massachusetts for the World Open which was actually being held in Lowell which was about 30-45 minutes away. The Manning Bowl in Lynn was a mess! They were repairing it as I recall.

Anyway, we placed 1st in Prelims (remember changing the drill down to 8 1/2 minutes for that?) with a score of 70.150. Our nearest competitor was the CW Townsmen with a 68.45. After we performed at finals the corps felt we did a good job and had a great chance at winning.

We are on retreat and the scores were announced. We come in 2nd place with a score of 63.3 to the Keystone Regiment. The future Crossmen, who placed 3rd in prelims with a 66.650, won the finals with a 65.65! We dropped almost 7 points from prelims. We were shocked to say the least!

The night was a clear but dewy night and you could see the moisture build-up on the instruments. Keystone was standing next to us in retreat and suddenly I had noticed that one of our tymp players was writing on the head of his tymp and leaning it in the direction of Keystone so that they could see what he was writing. I am sure it wasn't pleasantries of congratulations. One of our Drum Majors saw this also and told the tymp player to stop and he graciously did.

We came off the field and we really showed our class! The horn line picked up our horns as if we were marching in a parade and when we stopped, we picked up our legs as if we were competing! Putting the instruments away and riding on the bus back to Lynn was very sobering experience. It was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop! Everyone went to bed as soon as we got back.




Interested in submitting your own favorite memories for March Moments? Click here to submit, or if that doesn't work, send them to joparente DOT saintsdrumcorps AT gmail DOT com.

March Moments 2009: March 21 - Recurring Dreams, Chapter 1

March 21 - Recurring Dreams, Chapter 1
by Jack Bodzas


(Editor's Note: You know you have them. There's even a group out on Facebook about drum corps recurring dreams. Send yours in.)

I have a recurring drum corps dream, and it gets scarier every time I have it - but I love it just the same.

Goes like this:

My dream always starts where I am in the kitchen / drum room of the OLP Annex, learning new drum parts for the new season. I come to realize that at the end of April I will age out, and I should tell somebody.

But I really don’t want to turn myself in. I still want to play on. It was the good ol’ days and I knew it. Pete, Joey, Eric, Mike, Brad, Danny, Gary, Gary, Gary, and Gary . . .they are all there and all are still kids (even Peaches playing cymbals!).

It all seems so real except for the fact that I am fifty-something, have a lot less hair and the uniform doesn’t even come close to fitting.

Then I wake up.



Interested in submitting your own favorite memories for March Moments? Click here to submit, or if that doesn't work, send them to joparente DOT saintsdrumcorps AT gmail DOT com.

March Moments 2009: March 2 - Tony Fills In, Chapter 1

March 2 - Tony Fills In, Chapter 1
by Jack Bodzas

(Editor's Note: There are lots of times that Tony Cataneo filled in for one of us over the years. To keep all the stories straight, I labeled this one Chapter 1).

In the first season that the Saints fielded tymps, Eric, for probably a better-than-damn-good reason, could not make a show. Tony Cataneo stepped up to help.

He just so happened to have a uniform left over from the previous color guard season (there is a picture in the Photo Gallery to prove this), so we taught him most of the parts on the bus ride to the show (I think it was Moonachie). He taught the marching drill to us originally; therefore he already knew where to go. If he was about to forget a drum part, he just signaled, shot me a frantic look, and I reached over and banged a few notes on his drum.

Ahhh, the good old days +/-.



Interested in submitting your own favorite memories for March Moments? 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!