A Visit to the Museum – X

It has been a busy few weeks at the Marching Pageantry Arts Museum.  Many generous donors have contributed to the collection while Curator Bill Ives readies for a number of live displays at upcoming contests. 

Bill was in attendance at the recent Belles of St. Mary’s alumni reunion function in Gloucester City, New Jersey.  On display were artifacts from the Belles and several other corps.  Recent Buglers Hall of Fame inductee Carol Ann Schaffer Fallon organized the reunion and was photographed with Bill and Howard “Whitey” Roberts.  Several items from the Belles were donated to add to the Museum’s growing list of uniforms, horns, guard equipment, jackets, t-shorts, program books, recordings, contest fliers, publications, newspaper clippings, and other memorabilia.  Paula Pine sent her light and winter corps jackets into the Museum.

Drum Corps World photographer Larry Eckert met Bill at a minor league baseball game in Allentown to deliver a uniform from the Warwick, New York Queens Village Queens, donated by Abigail Gass. 

Bill traveled to Milton, Pennsylvania for the Thunder on the Hill Alumni corps performance, which featured the Blessed Sacrament Golden Knights, Reading Buccaneers, Hawthorne Caballeros, Hanover Lancers, and New York Skyliners units.  The show, hosted by the Milton High School Band Parents, provided an opportunity to receive Duane Dewire’s 1978 Madison Scouts jacket, and a uniform, jacket, and helmet of the Milton Keystoners from Ken Smith of the Keystone Scouts.

Drum Corps World Publisher Steve Vickers sent in four boxes of paintings by Wayne Hiller and a number of colorful contest posters.  Hamburg Kingsmen Alumni brass arranger/instructor Stephen J. Cooley, a member of the Buglers Hall of Fame, presented me with two bags of old drum corps t-shirts at a recent rehearsal.  These will be delivered to the museum at a later date. 

At Jersey Surf’s DCI contest in Glassboro, NJ, a number of new items were on display.  Among these, a 1965-66 uniform of the VIPs and jacket worn by the late Joseph Wise, donated by Debra Tidwell-Peters, a Blue Rock Assistant Drum Major’s uniform, shako, gloves, and suspenders from 1971 and 1971 Shriners Banner donated by Irene Woj (who also brought along Dawn Drummond’s uniform boots), a “teacup” contrabass famously played by the late Chuck Quackenbush in Blue Rock’s 1971 Baby Elephant Walk production.  Also included was a 1978 vintage brass “G” soprano bugle, once used by the Bayonne Bridgemen.

Bill is also assembling another display to be shown at the Drum Corps International Championships in Indianapolis.  Among the items he’s bringing along are the “long coats” once worn by DCA’s Reading Buccaneers and Bushwackers, and DCI’s Bayonne Bridgemen and the Lake Shore Brassmen of Port Dover, Ontario.  These jackets were recently on display at Jersey Surf’s contest at Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey, and are scheduled to be available for viewing this weekend at the DCI East contest in Allentown, Pennsylvania   You can also see these unique uniforms and many other items next weekend in the convention center, located adjacent to Lucas Oil Stadium.  Chip Katze, Chuck Katze, John Paul Kuhar, and George Growcott were helpful in packing this display.

This year’s DCA Alumni Spectacular show in Rochester, New York on Sunday, September 3rd – part of the Drum Corps Associates Championship weekend, will again host a presentation of drum corps memorabilia from donors to the Marching Pageantry Arts Museum.  Some items have already scheduled for this presentation.  If you’re attending DCA championship weekend and wish to publicly donate items or cash as part of this presentation, please contact me by phone at 931.993.5800 or by e-mail at smanderman@united.net so that the schedule may be put together.

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 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”