Parade World
By Harvey Berish
DCN Aug. 8, 1962

Happiness has returned to those of us in the Bronx with the first competitive appearance of our famous KINGSMEN....As many of you know they had a serious loss of personnel just prior to their first contest....however, lot's of patching up was done which included a one week wonder drill, whipped up by Carmen Cluna and the corps is again on its feet. Look for them at the State contest this season, they may retain their top 5 position. (And they came up from 15 to 5 in one year)..

The Floral Park Mainliners have written to tell me that they recently captured the Nassau County American Legion Championship and also ran off with top prize in the Nassau County Convention parade. Artie Hartman, the MAINLINERS' able manager, has also informed me that they have a good set of Gretsch drums for sale at a steal of a price, so all of you interested are invited to inquire about it from Art at the Floral Park, N.Y. , A.L. Post 334.

A comment on the great job the Braintree Drum Corps organization is doing....The Warriors, Braves and Tomahawks have quite a fine reputation in their area and a real solid Public Relations staff. Charles Flagg sent me the photo of the "feeder corps", known as the Tomahawks...looks like the Braintree area will have corps to come for many years. I will soon have a complete feature on the Braintree organization. But I want to thank them and congratulate them on the good job they are doing for corps promotion.

Speaking of corps promotion...... Looks like the U.S. Congress had too many other things on their mind for us this year....so let's not lose spirit.....let us instead work harder to achieve national and official recognition in the future....it's bound to come and I want to be a part of it when it happens!

My feature was to have been the Meridian Woodpeckers famous Fife and Drum Corps; however, Mr. Gilmore has requested more time and so I'll have to hold off on this for a while.

A note from Mrs. Andros of the St. George Corps in Massachusetts was most welcome.....the corps up there is progressing and they'll probably be down to join us again at the Greek Parade next year....I do hope that at that time, I'll get to meet her.....This year, I was so busy helping to coordinate the parade, I missed meeting her.

Thanks to Bob Freese of the Andrew Sabres Drum Corps for the post card from France. The Sabres won the Parade prize over 74 other units and I hope that someone in the corps was able to note any amateur musical units from other countries.... I have a hobby of writing to a few of them and I have received answers from corps in Mexico, Brazil, Sweden, Switzerland, France and Israel; also, one from Sierra Leone, Africa.

Also, thanks to Clyde Lower of Keene, New Hampshire for his letter concerning my recent column on the Lockport Illinois High School Band's visit to New York.....No, Clyde, I was not criticising the musical ability of the band....but, rather, the way in which our city officials went all out to honor an out-of-town musical group that had been here to advertise a product. When it comes to patting our own kids on the back, they are always too busy....However, someday soon, this situation will change....We are being noticed in some areas of New York and it's bound to happen soon.

Congrats to St. Rose of Lima's Imperial Lancers of Newark for the nice show they did in the parade for the opening of the new city hall in Garwood....I was able to catch a glimpse just as they pulled by. Here's a corps I predicted big things for 2 years ago....Watch them climb!

To put something into my column in an unusual vein, I'd like to comment on the Hershey show, which I did not attend, but which I heard and read about extensively in the past few weeks. I say what is done is done... However, I would hope that in the future, competent persons and alert judges might be able to rectify a situation such as the one that resulted.... I doubt whether many of the corps that appeared this year would be willing to go back here if they thought the same type of situation might result...One more comment....Only a few years back, there probably would have been an all out riot....but, thanks to the new breed of corpsmen, the results were analyzed and discussed in an intelligent mannor...Let's hope that the Skyliners, still in my opinion a great and powerful corps, will always act in the best of taste....I believe they acted right in this case and I am one of those who would back them on this, and I certainly feel many corps people are with me.....One thing we don't need is a farce or a comical contest at this stage...we are still developing and we must still prove our worth as a new medium of show business...My hat's off to the Big Town Men and the way in which they filed off...better they should entertain a crowd, then charge wildly at their tormentors.

Well, time to sign off....