Long Island News
By Rosemary Feliney
DCN Aug. 8, 1962 issue

Wish I could have gotten to all the parades held on the 4th out here on the Island. The one in Wantagh really got some nice nationwide coverage in Life Magazine. It's too bad they didn't have a drum corps in the pictures. What luck.....

Hello there Carol Merkel ... Hope this finds you better and no nurses jabbing you with needles.

Hear that the Riptides of Copiague, are holding a contest October 7th, more information to follow later.

When I make a mistake I don't do it have way. I jumbled up my dates and missed the great competition sponsored by the Hurricanes of Stratford, Conn. Call it coincidence, but I was going through Stratford the day the competition was being held, but I did get to see one corps practicing. Don't know who they were, but they were great ...... Oh well there's always next year.

Farmingdale Fire Department, sponsors of the Vanguards put on 2 drum corps shows this past week. One on the 4th of July and the other on July 7th... The one on the 7th was in connection with the 54th Annual Championship Competition of the New York State Fife and Drum Corps Association. I lost count after 25 corps - - I'd like to give you a run down on each corps which competed but space doesn't permit, so I will attempt to cover the corps who I haven't written about before.

The Vanguards Drum & Bugle Corps was organized on July 18, 1957, by the East Farmingdale Fire Dept. and entered competition in July 1958. Since that time the corps has accumulated a total of 105 trophies won in competitions and parades, holding the 1961 Suffolk-Nassau Champs and the Northeastern State Champs titles. The corps now consists of 24 buglers, 11 drummers (quite a number of females in the drum line, darn good too) an eight girl color guard, a twirler and majorette. Bugle instructor is Raymond Fardy, drum instructor Lefty Petrakis, color guard instructor is James Eddington, director - John Kipitsch, assistant director - Herbert Walther, business manager - James Shannon, quartermasters - Jack Myrato, Al Merrill and Cliff Oster.

Good Shepard Jr. Fife and Anciant Drum Corps with only 12 members (my guess at the average age of the members being about 10 years old) did a bang up job on "Golden Slippers" and "Seeing Nellie Home". Another new corps on the LI scene is the Commack Fire Department fife, drum & bugle corps who have been organized for only 16 weeks. Some of the other corps around the island had better watch out for Commack because within a year or so .... just wait and see....

St. Fideles of College Point really impressed the audience when their color guard came on the field carrying crossed flags and then bringing them up to order arms one at a time. It was the first time I've seen the Thunderstreaks of Bellmore and they really impressed me. Their drum major, Dorothy Rinaldi could teach a few other drum majors a trick or two. And when they play "If You Knew Susie" with their drum effect you feel like getting up and dancing. The bugle line of the Royalaires, St. Kames, N.Y. have what you call s-n-a-p. Another ancient fife and drum corps who appeared was St. Benedicts playing "Bells of St. Marys" and "The Mariners Hymn".

St. Dennis Coloniels, Yonkers, N.Y. play some mighty nice Irish and Scotch tunes. When I heard the Patriots of Lake Ronkonkoma were going to compete I expected to see a corps dressed in ancient uniforms (ancient style that is, better correct myself before I cause a ruckus...) but such is not the case. They wound up being a drum, bugle and glock corps playing Italian music. "Isle of Capri" to be specific.

I had hoped to make the competition in New Rochelle the same night, but the corps kept coming. Some of the other corps to compete, who we will write about in the next few issues were - Oakdale Satellites, Miraculos Medal, N.Y. Regimentals, St. Vincent Ferrer, St. Anselms Cadets, Sons of Liberty, St. Bridgets F & D Corps, St. Helena's, Westhall Rebels, Continentals, Samaritans, Dominicans, St. Joseph Patron, Oceanside Legionaires, and Bethpage Colonials. Now you can see why I didn't get to New Rochelle. If you think I saw a lot of corps that day wait until you hear about the program scheduled for July 21st, which I hope to get in for the next issue. It will be Lindenhurst with a parade at noon, a standstill comp at 2 p.m., a drill team and band comp at 6 p.m. and an M&M comp at 8 p.m. And all for one dollar? Wonder if they are holding a twist party afterwards.

Hear that the fad among Canadian Corps is corps buttons, decals, lockets, pins etc. One corps even has an authentically dressed doll 30 inches high and sells for twenty dollars.

Congrads to Massapequa corps for winning the drum and bugle corps competition at the firemens tournament July 4th. If anyone has information regarding the New York State Legion Convention parade and competition, please let me know the times and places.

A friend of mine just returned from California, and informs me that the corps out there are going at it hot and heavy and could really give our New York Corps some tough competition.

I'm working on a series which will put our corps instructors in the limelight so to speak. If any of you would like your instructor given the recognition he or she deserves, why not drop me a few lines telling me about him.

Walked past Carnegie Hall during lunch hour the other day and is it my imagination or are the walls still echoing with the sound of drums and bugles?
Guess that's about it for now.