Bruce: You had asked for stories about events or experiences from the Alumni and I was thinking about 1969.
It was a break-through year for the Sunrisers. It was the first time we put what we called “The Vibes” or Xylophone in the drum line. In 1969 there were military rules. No equipment was to be placed ever. All equipment used must be carried at all times and if dropped, not retrieved.
Cliff Diable (and there are many pictures – Moe Knox has some great ones!) was the first to carry the Vibes on the field and do a complete drill. He and some of the other members of the corps developed a brace to go over his shoulders and it had counter-weights that hung down his back so we wouldn’t be front-heavy. I believe that Tony White might be able to embellish on the development and implementation of this. After that year – all the other corps fell in line.
Also that year, the first girls guard in senior corps. I was fortunate to be a member. I don’t remember exactly, but I know that Bob Murphy or Frank Dorrittie or Gene Bennett Especially can fill in the blanks, but there was some disagreement between the Corps management and the male guard. The end-result was that the male guard walked out with less than two weeks before the Yankee Rebels Show in Baltimore Oriole Stadium (That stadium doesn’t even exist any longer!).
So the management read the rule books and discovered that nothing stated that the corps had to be all male. Since most of the girlfriends of the Sunrisers at that time were all alumni of Junior Corps and when the females aged out – we were done! So the call went out to all females who might be interested and nine of us responded. We worked vigilantly for about 10 days with Gene Bennett and learned the whole show. We wore Sunriser Shakos (with paper stuffed in the top as they were all too big for our heads). We borrowed skirts from the College Point Majestic Knights Color Guard and we wore the old Sunriser Jackets. Also too big, but we just kept wrapping them around and stuffed them into our cummerbunds with pins. Now footwear! Most of the girls came from guards that wore black boots but I came from the Massapequa Squaws who wore the low white boots. I had to purchase the black boots, which in those days were the stiff black riding boots. They were not conducive to marching. Therefore, to learn how to maneuver with them and soften them up, I wore them constantly. Since Gene Bennett didn’t know my name, as at that time the girls were only known as, Charlie’s Girlfriend, or Frank’s Girlfriend, he called me – Boots ! Thus, the nickname – Judy Boots !
We were put together with pins and newspaper and we worked hard and got on the bus for Baltimore with a combination of excitement and fear!
Then we got there and the skies opened up. It rained harder than I had ever seen in my life. The fact that the Sunrisers were going to go out with a girl guard for the first time in Senior corps history was a not so well kept secret but it was never confirmed. We arrived in Baltimore and had no dressing facilities. We dress in the bus at the last minute to keep the mystery going. We stayed in the bus until the last minute. When it came time for the Sunrisers to take the field, we were ushered in through the dugout and the whole Corps lines up on the starting line – they did have a starting line then – and they left a small opening in the middle. With a drum roll and slow beat, Gene Bennett then had each girl take the field about 10 paces apart. It seemed to take forever for us to take the field but it was a rush. We knew we had the support of the corps and we were really pumped.
As I previously stated, it was raining very hard and had trouble seeing our markers and the old Baltimore Stadium was round. We nine got totally confused and over-whelmed and lost our place several times, but Gene Bennett was there and we pulled it off. Being the experienced guard (albeit individually) that we were we faked it great. And as the phrase goes, ‘The rest is history’. Senior girl guards popped up the next year all over the North East. And the following year, the Sunrisers had a guard of almost 25 or 30 if my Memory serves me correctly. I stayed with the guard until 1975.
I’m sure a lot of the blanks in my memory could be filled in by other alumni, but this was one of the most enjoyable times in my life. I wouldn’t change those years for anything.
Drum Corps has changed and as far as I’m concerned, not for the best. I actually remember inspection! I’d love to see the drum corps of today compete with the restrictions and rules we had in the 1960’s.
Thanks for the opportunity to share!
Judy ‘Boots’ DiGabriele
