My wife, Ruth, and I attended a gathering of corps alumni last weekend. It was a "smallish " group of about 2-dozen folks. We were hosted by Tom and Bobbi Walter at their home in Elk Grove for this party. This event and the similar regular meetings of the 1940s "Corps Club" serve as a good model for corps alumni gatherings.

The "Corps Club" is a group of NP alums from the late 40's and 1950s, which meets regularly (about every three months). They have been doing this since 1950! Parties, dinners, attending corps shows, etc. They are very close and help each other a lot.

While BIG alumni reunions and holiday parties are fun, they are often too big to allow alums to really talk and get to know each other. These smaller meetings are more laid back and can be a good alternative to the big reunion approach. Last weekend, we spent time chatting about life and families, not just drum corps. It was great fun and relaxing too.

Some of the folks there came a long way to be there: Mike Rhine (an avid NP fan and friend) came from Michigan, Ken VanVoorhees came down from Northern Wisconsin, John Anderson came in from San Francisco, and Sue Blenski came down from Milwaukee.

Other alums WANTED to be there but had other commitments: Denny Bialas, Gary Wigman and George Nichols couldn't make it because Denny's daughter got married that day. Vicky Boey Pennington wrote and said that she wanted to be there but had tickets to Wicked. Keith Normandin (active alumni team member) was going to drive in from South Milwaukee but had to cancel at the last minute. We missed them all.

We had a great time relaxing and talking. Great food. Had time to get caught up with each other’s lives. Wayne Mounsey (another active alumni team member and known as "Older Sarge") was there. Jack Bornhoeft, one of the ORIGINAL 1927 corps members, was an honored guest and great fun to talk with! It was interesting to hear their stories and recollections of the Corps from the "old days".

Cathy Gumm was there (we hadn't seen her in 43 years!!) It was cool to see Steve Pawela and Ken VanVoorhees chuckling like the old days, and Tom Grana and Jan Kramer/Grana stopped by to represent the Grana family. It was also great to see the Nelsons and Koenigs, and meet Ray Holtz's wife, talk with Tom and Bobbie and Rita, etc.

We'd encourage alums to consider planning more such alumni "small group" events and parties. Perhaps on a "decade" base: the event last weekend was focused on 1960s alums. The Corps Club is even more socially based. Alumni groups in certain areas could meet too: a Milwaukee or Wisconsin group, a Michigan group, etc.?

Doing such parties on a holiday might also make sense. The Christmas/New Years period is a good example, if scheduled to avoid conflicts with family holiday events.

What did you do in the Corps? drummer 1959-63; quartermaster 1964-66; assisant instructor 1964-70

What years were you a Corps member? 1958-1963