A Visit to the Museum – XIV
There are a few items received at the Museum last year, which I neglected to include in this series. I will mention these here first, before moving onto the more recent acquisitions. Contributions to the Museum continue to be generously donated and I occasionally miss some items collected. We wish to continue to acknowledge our donors.
Back in August of last year, the Museum was donated a Connecticut Hurricanes uniform from the early 1980s by Roger Ames. Going back a decade or so further, Cecily Kulp contributed a pair of program books from contests run by the Emmaus Sentinels and Sentrymen winter colorguard. Miranda Moyer presented her skirt from Carolina Crown’s 2017 production. Bill and Jerry brought along a jacket from the Rhode Island Matadors and a $25.00 donation in memory of Chuck Quackenbush. Lee Howard’s jacket and overseas cap from the Hershey Chocolatiers were among these items received at last year’s 2023 DCI East contest weekend. Lou Blancato made a cash donation of $1,000.
September of last year included a Museum visit from Bud and Patti McCormick who brought along a number of sweatshirts and jackets from the City of Newark Marching 100, the Harmony Corps, Reading Buccaneers, and Hawthorne Muchachos.
And finally at last year’s World Drum Corps Hall of Fame induction ceremony and banquet, Kelly (Bumbacio) and Tom Blair contributed a complete uniform, including the tunic, sporn, spats, socks, tassel, and even a garment bag from the Bandettes All-girl corps from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada, in memory of Julie Bumbacio. Former DCA President Allen Buell brought some long sought-after artifacts from the Empire Statesmen of Rochester, New York: a white tux tail uniform jacket, two jackets, a 20th anniversary poster, and a license plate commemorating the corps, 1983 trip to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Also included in his stash were two jackets from the Rochester Crusaders.
More recently, Rich Wardlow has organized ten more binders of buttons for the collection. The Museum now is in possession of a total of 30 binders – yes, that’s 30 binders of ONLY buttons!
Helaine Dandrea made and interesting find on EBay – an 8-track tape (remember them?!?) of the senior corps portion of the 1971 Dream contest at Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City, New Jersey. This was custom recorded by the late Stetson D. Richmond. She was kind enough to make the purchase and donate the tape to the Museum.
More recordings in the form of Compact Discs were donated by former Bluecoats and Westshoremen Director Larry Hershman. Among these are recording of many junior and senior corps, including many recordings of the Serenade in Brass indoor concerts held in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania organized by Larry’s 5 Star Brass organization.
Scott Valentine mailed in several sets of DCA Championship and Northeast Circuit Championship record albums, a set of DCI Championship CDs from 2000, and a Latin Express license plate. The Latin Express is an ensemble of the Hawthorne Caballeros. Ralph Hamilton, Jr. brought by several more record albums, including one particular gem of the late John Dowlan performing the standard drum rudiments and other selections. Other albums included music from the Caballeros, Skyliners, the World Open, and the Brigadiers’ Music in Motion contest. There are currently over 3,500 record albums, tapes, CDs, and DVDs in the collection.
An interesting collection of VHS videotapes were added to the Museum archives by Blake Bergey. Among these are recordings of the Velvet Knights, Blue Knights, and the DCI Summer Music Games.
Debbi Reilly Jones, daughter of the late Archer-Epler Musketeers’ Jack Reilly, brought a number of items from her father’s papers. Among these were photos of the corps, a 1952 issue of The Drum Corps Herald, a Great Alliance of Senior banquet program from 1987, and a 1981 interview in the Philadelphia Inquirer with Archie’s brass arranger Ray Fallon.
An old drum case lid from the Interstatesmen was received in the mail from Joe Baker. This is a unique piece in the Museum collection.
Longtime members of the New York Skyliners Bob Fizette and Doreen Sandor spent an evening at the Museum to assist with the work there and took home a tote of Moe Knox photographs and four binders of patches to organize. Bob’s carpentry skills will be utilized to build shelves and make repairs as needed.
Three boxes were received from Bryant Cater containing a huge assortment of corps t-shirts and pullovers, program books, seat cushions, and other mementoes.
At a recent Jersey Surf camp, Chase Bartholomew donated 2012 Bridgemania and 2013 Soul Surfer uniform tops, as well as several program books, some Star of Indiana Yearbooks, various photos, and many issues of Drum Corps World in its old “newspaper” format.
Bill Friel also mailed his corps jacket from the Derry (PA) Patriots. Jay McMahon and John Hannigan came by the museum bearing a number of fascinating souvenirs. Among them, a bass drum head from the Cadets of Watertown (MA), and a Mayflower Circuit Class “A” championship banner from 1976 won by the Boston Crusaders.
Museum staff has made tremendous progress in sorting through video and audio tapes, which will ultimately transferred to more permanent digital mediums. Alexandra Tigeros-Diaz, Chuck Katze, and museum staffer George Growcott have been digging through 2,500 VHS and 3,000 audio cassette tapes.
The Museum collection is now fully insured, thanks to the generous contributions received over the last few months. In addition, the Museum is now a member of the Delaware County (PA) Chamber of Commerce. Contacts in the local business community will be useful in ultimately securing a permanent home and staffing for the Museum. A display was recently presented at the Chamber’s Business Conference. Museum Curator Bill Ives has been working had to build a rapport with business leaders in the local Philadelphia area community to assist in future plans to establish a permanent standalone museum facility.
The Marching Pageantry Arts Museum is currently located at the historic Archer-Epler VFW Post 979, 6736 Marshall Road, in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, just outside of Philadelphia. Bill Ives is President, CEO, and archivist of the museum corporation, an IRS 501(c)(3) charitable corporation. Donations of drum corps, marching band, and color guard memorabilia are always welcome. Cash donations are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law and may be made payable to:
Marching Pageantry Arts Museum
c/o Bill Ives
1024 Second Avenue
Media, PA 19063
The museum, a member of the American Alliance of Museums, is currently open on Monday evenings from 6:00 to 10:00 PM by appointment only. Bill can be reached by e-mail at ivesbill@mac.com or by phone at (610) 937-6555.
The Marching Pageantry Arts Museum – “A story worth telling and worth knowing”