Weekend Wonderings: Did He Know?

Following All Saints Day on the liturgical calendar is All Souls Day, a time to reflect and remember those we've lost.

With all the Saints stuff going on lately, I've spent some time thinking back on those who had the greatest long-term influence on the skills I developed and the person I've become. Many of them have been mentioned in prior Scribblings entries, so I'm just going to focus on one person today: H. Worth Ake.

As I've probably mentioned before, Mr. Ake was the person who encouraged me to take on the position of the Saints Public Relations Director while I was still just a junior in high school. I remember that the Saints Guard, in particular, was a tad irritated with Drum Corps News over its lack of coverage of our progress in NJA, as well as nary a mention of the rest of the corps. I wrote a letter to Worth and heard back in a flash.

There was no coverage, he said, because the requests for information from the Saints were going unanswered. He asked me to respond to some questions, and the rest is history.

I've been thinking about Worth quite a bit these past couple of weeks. Michael Boo, who does more than a bit of writing these days about corps, requested that church-based corps provide some input for an article he was putting together for DCI.org. The target was for the piece to coincide with All Saints Day.

Church-based corps AND on All Saints Day? It was like Worth was screaming down from heaven at me, and he wouldn't let me rest until I sent in enough information to Mike for us to be included.

The result? DCI.org is publishing a three-part Fanfare series titled The saints come marching in, and we're featured in the November 2nd edition (in case you haven't seen the article yet, click on the title).

Did Worth know way back in the early 1970s what his encouragement would mean? Could he have realized that his patience in working with me really helped to nourish a lifelong love of writing? Someday, I hope to have the answers (as well as to find out what the "H" stood for!).

All for now - corpsdially yours from jo!

Stats - All Saints Day 2007

HAPPY ALL SAINTS DAY!!!

Even if you don't celebrate holy days of obligation, make an exception for this one - after all, what other corps out there has a holy day named after them??? On top of that, we're into countdown mode for the reunion ... 8 days and speeding here fast!


First, reunion update: The roster for November 9th continues to be updated in the October 30th edition of Saints Scribblings. Scroll on down to see, by state, who will be with us.

Now, to the statistics:


For www.saintsdrumcorps.com:

• Total visits to the home page of the website: 27.548 (was 23,602 last report)
  
• Postings in the Saints Guest Book: 580 (was 480)
  
• Number of images in the Photo Galleries: 1223 across 11 galleries (was 1018 across 9 galleries)

Here's the progress we've made since last month in connecting with our members:

• Names on the Saints Member Roster (still need 1967, 1968, 1969, and 1975 rosters): 355
  Increase from 341 since the last report (includes all the Wargo files)
  
• Percentage of members connected to the site / hotline (directly or through others): 42% (145 members)
  Increase from 42% (140 members) since last report
  
• Percentage of members who have contacted us and / or have been contacted by us: 50% (173 members)
  Change from 51% (171) since last report
  
• Percentage of members who have posted contact info or have called the hotline: 35% (121 members)
  Increase from 34% (114) since last report
  
• Percentage of members with no obvious connection to the site: 50% (175 members)
  Change from 49% (163 members) since last report

All for now - corpsdially yours from jo!

All Hallow's Eve

Happy Halloween!

Just a bit of Church history for everyone ... did you know that today, Halloween, actually evolved from a triduum of feasts on the Catholic liturgical calendar? October 31st was marked as the Eve of those Hallowed, followed by All Saints Day (more on that tomorrow), and All Souls Day on November 2nd.

OK, history lesson over!

Given that I was VERY allergic to chocolate as a child, Halloween wasn't among my favorite holidays. As a matter of fact, the only vivid memories I have of the day were marching with all of you in the Carteret Halloween Parade, and going door to door in our uniforms afterwards (remember using our shakos to collect the candy?).

The boundaries between our corps and other lives really blurred for me during my high school and college years, and it's clear it was the same for most of you. If there's any doubt, here's some proof from Gallery 7, page 8 on www.saintsdrumcorps.com:

All for now - "corpse"dially yours from jo!

Tuesday Trivia / Reunion Edition - October 30, 2007

We're still on registration watch for Tuesday Trivia. There have been a couple new registrations since the updates to last week's list, but a few people will no longer be able to join us (Kenny Kadash, Tommy Mouse Noel, and Denise Normandia / Danny Dube).

Here are the 86 reunion attendees by state (list current as of Thursday, November 8th @ 8 pm):

California:

• Berliner, Bill
• James, Verne

Connecticut:

• Brady, Dave
• DeAndrea, Dave
• Humcke Bogner, Robin

Georgia:

• Matelski, Robert

Maryland:

• Moon Lemmert, Terri

New Hampshire:

• Meyer, Eric (and Thea)

New Jersey:

• Antol, Patty
• Balderose, Mary
• Batista, Joe
• Batista, Myrna
• Batista Pasquale, Kathy
• Bodzas, Jack
• Boumpani Feretich, Kathy (and Michael)
• Burke Andel, Linda
• Burke Boyne, Carol
• Chesnovitz, Goober
• Chesnovitz, Peter (and Terry)
• Chiocchi, Gary (and Lisa)
• Chiocchi, Kenny
• Chiocchi, Rocky (and Kim)
• Coleman, Brad
• Comprido, Jim
• Crafts, Peter (and Kim)
• DeAndrea Aldiero, Karen (and Frank)
• Durrua, Bill
• Durrua, Ken
• Fastuca, Maureen
• Fastuca Ravino, Lorraine
• French Lyons, Priscilla (and Jim)
• Happel, Debbie
• Happel, Joann
• Hickey Fitzgerald, Carol
• Jackson Piccolo, Barbara
• Karpinski, Gary
• Karpinski, Walter
• Maloney Wagner, Lisa
• Matelski, Mike
• Mazar, Althea
• Meyer, Bill
• Meyer DeLucia, Rene
• Morosoff, Chris (and Terri)
• Parente, JoAnne
• Parente, Karen
• Person Eager, Cathy
• Piccolo, Jim
• Ponik Sr, Rich
• Ponik, Ferd (and Pattiann)
• Ponik Donnelly, Kathy
• Reybert, Bill
• Reybert, Marie
• Reybert Bartlett, Debbie
• Ribinsky Stanek, Nancy
• Schwartz, Bob
• Scotto, Mark
• Skarzynski, Glenn
• Skibo, George
• Skibo, Joyce
• Stover Dziowgo, Darlene
• Swan, Tom
• Wardlow, Rich (and Margaret Callaghan)
• Wargo, Mike
• Yates Breen-Simone, Rhonda
• Zepko, Joe
• Zepko, Marge
• Zepko Tvedt, AnnMarie
• Zolnowski, Aaron

New York:

• Breen, Steve (and Elissa Benes-NJ)
• Breen, Tom
• Karol Miller, Chris
• Karol, Skippy

North Carolina:

• Van Malden Westbrook, Michelle

Pennsylvania:

• Batista, Brian

Virginia:

• Fastuca, Michael

All for now - corpsdially yours from jo!

Monday MatchUps - Left Before The Rest

We're down to our last two Monday MatchUps before we start recycling back through names mentioned in previous editions of Saints Scribblings.

This week, the members listed below left the corps before our final season. The approximate years they marched can be found on the Member Roster page of the website.

They've not yet contacted us through www.saintsdrumcorps.com or the hotline. If you know how to reach them, please send me word at joparente.saintsdrumcorps@gmail.com. Thanks!

• Charles Breitweiser (drum line)
• Denise Holton (horn line)
• Christel Ihasz (horn line)
• Wayne Jones (horn line)
• Kathy Kaltenbach (horn line)
• Sharon Kennedy (drum line)
• Lori Kline (horn line)
• Marla Kravatz (horn line)
• Maria Krsna (color guard)
• Ann Marie Ksiazek (color guard)
• Gail Ksiazek (color guard)
• Jeff Kulik (horn line)
• Donna Kurucz (horn line)
• Theresa Leflin (color guard)
• Sal Malanga (drum line)
• John McGlynn (horn line)
• John Melasippo (drum line)
• Karen Mello (color guard)
• Steve Menafro (horn line)
• Phyllis Moore (horn line)
• Fran Nalepa (color guard)
• Joe Paone (horn line)
• Tom Paone (horn line)
• Glenn Purdom (drum line)
• John Purdom (drum line)
• Robert Rank (drum line)

All for now - corpsdially yours from jo!

Weekend Wonderings: Connections

Here it is, an almost-rainy Friday morning here in Central Jersey, and I'm thinking 'bout all of you.

This time, eight months ago, you might have been a passing thought or memory. Now? Well, you're even filling up my daybook! In some cases, we're connected more now than we were when we marched.

Let's see - this week alone, I've been on the phone with Lisa (and will see her today), Althea, Pic, and Jackie, and have exchanged e-mails with another dozen or so of you. I've been squeezing in my own consulting work (thanks, Pic, for the referral!) around Saints stuff. While it should really be the other way around, it's what needs to be right now with the mini-reunion coming up. How did the parents who helped run the corps back then do it all?

Each time I see the response counter go up in Survey Monkey, it's so much fun! Yes, I do realize that probably doesn't speak well of what my life is like, but I assure you that's not really the case. Even Richard (who probably won't be joining us) gets excited with me as I call across the hall to him with each new name (and stories to go with them!).

As I mentioned in an e-mail this morning, I'm blown away by how many of the Saints Are Marching In from places far and wide to join us on November 9th.

If you're still on the fence about joining us, now's the time to do it. Special note to the Florida folks: You can still grab flights from under $200 out of most of the major airports (and only $118 from Miami!) on Continental. There may even be better deals out there with some of the other carriers.

For those who will be with us, see you in two weeks!!! For the rest, we'll try our best to share pictures and words that will make you feel like you were part of it all ...

All for now - corpsdially yours from jo!

Tuesday Trivia / Reunion Edition - October 23, 2007

Here's this week's Reunion update (current through 8 am on Friday, October 26th) ... if you haven't yet sent in your check to Althea, do it now!

If you haven't yet registered, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR??? Details are out on the Alumni page of www.saintsdrumcorps.com.

If you think you've registered and your name is NOT on this list (note the date and time above), please send an e-mail to saintsreunion@gmail.com mucho pronto - gracias!

• Antol, Patty (NJ)
• Balderose, Mary (NJ)
• Batista, Brian (PA)
• Batista, Joe (NJ)
• Batista, Myrna (NJ)
• Batista Pasquale, Kathy (NJ)
• Berliner, Bill (CA)
• Bodzas, Jack (NJ)
• Boumpani Feretich, Kathy (and Michael) (NJ)
• Brady, Dave (CT)
• Breen, Steve (and Elissa Benes-NJ) (NY)
• Breen, Tom (NY)
• Burke Andel, Linda (NJ)
• Burke Boyne, Carol (NJ)
• Chesnovitz, Goober (NJ)
• Chesnovitz, Peter (and Teresa) (NJ)
• Chiocchi, Gary (and Lisa) (NJ)
• Chiocchi, Kenny (NJ)
• Chiocchi, Rocky (and Kim) (NJ)
• Comprido, Jim (NJ)
• Crafts, Peter (and Kim) (NJ)
• DeAndrea, Dave (CT)
• DeAndrea Aldiero, Karen (and Frank) (NJ)
• Dube, Danny (NJ)
• Durrua, Bill (NJ)
• Durrua, Ken (NJ)
• Fastuca, Maureen (NJ)
• Fastuca, Michael (VA)
• Fastuca Ravino, Lorraine (NJ)
• French Lyons, Priscilla (and Jim) (NJ)
• Happel, Debbie (NJ)
• Happel, Joann (NJ)
• Humcke Bogner, Robin (CT)
• Jackson Piccolo, Barbara (NJ)
• James, Verne (CA)
• Kadash, Ken (NJ)
• Karol, Chris (NY)
• Karol, Skippy (NY)
• Karpinski, Gary (NJ)
• Karpinski, Walter (NJ)
• Maloney Wagner, Lisa (NJ)
• Matelski, Mike (NJ)
• Matelski, Robert (GA)
• Mazar, Althea (NJ)
• Mazur, Mark (NJ)
• Meyer, Bill (NJ)
• Meyer, Eric (and Thea) (NH)
• Meyer DeLucia, Rene (NJ)
• Moon Lemmert, Terri (MD)
• Morosoff, Chris (and Terri) (NJ)
• Noel, Tommy (NJ)
• Normandia Dube, Denise (NJ)
• Parente, JoAnne (NJ)
• Parente, Karen (NJ)
• Person Eager, Cathy (NJ)
• Piccolo, Jim (NJ)
• Ponik Donnelly, Kathy (NJ)
• Ponik Sr, Rich (NJ)
• Ponik, Ferd (and Pattiann) (NJ)
• Reybert, Bill (NJ)
• Reybert, Marie (NJ)
• Reybert Bartlett, Debbie (NJ)
• Ribinsky Stanek, Nancy (NJ)
• Scotto, Mark (NJ)
• Skarzynski, Glenn (NJ)
• Skibo, George (NJ)
• Skibo, Joyce (NJ)
• Stover Dziowgo, Darlene (NJ)
• Swan, Tom (NJ)
• Van Malden Westbrook, Michelle (NC)
• Wardlow, Rich (and Margaret Callaghan) (NJ)
• Yates Breen-Simone, Rhonda (NJ)
• Zepko, Joe (NJ)
• Zepko, Marge (NJ)
• Zepko Tvedt, AnnMarie (NJ)

That makes 87 attendees so far from 10 different states (state of confusion excluded) - Rocky, thanks for starting the ball rolling back in March!

All for now - corpsdially yours from jo!