Brian Pennington recently mentioned Rick to me .. reminding me that 2008 will be the 20th anniversary of Rick's death.

Rick was a great personal friend, as well as my FIRST (and, almost, ONLY) drill instructor while I was in the corps. The first time I met him on the drill field, he scared the HELL out of me! He was VERY imposing (BIG and loud!) He was very good at getting your attention when you made a mistake!

If you have read the corps history on the website, you already know that Rick marched as a bugler in the corps from the mid 1940s to 1951. Then, he helped with instructing. He became the drill instructor in the mid 1950s. HE created the famous sunburst drill! Many people attribute this to the Troopers .. but that is a mistake.

I think that he was the best M&M instructor around for many years!

Later, he was our corps manager for a few years in the early 1960s. He was also an excellent judge for CSJA and DCI for many years.

He made a lot of friends in drum corps and was inducted into the DCI Hall of Fame.

Anyone have specific memmories of Rick to share here?

What did you do in the Corps? drummer

What years were you a Corps member? 1958-1963

I remember a rehersal in LaPorte Indiana one afternoon. Rick was totally frustrated with the M&M instructor for not "cleaning the drill" in the closer. He told him to take a break and he went out to "clean" the drill himself. I stood there watching him work. There never was a person in Drum Corps who knew more about M&M than Rick Maass. He was a master at it.

What did you do in the Corps? Brass Instr. 1964-66

Brian, you are totally correct about Rick's ability to work M&M. I saw it as a member .. and I saw it in the results that he achieved with OTHER corps too.

And, I saw it in his excellence as an M&M JUDGE!

What did you do in the Corps? drummer

What years were you a Corps member? 1958-1963

Here is another memory I have of Rick Maass:

He was a great mentor of young corps instructors and staff members! He brought in people like Bill Strauts, Brian Pennington and Gary Czapinski to be instructors of the Imperials .. then he guided them, but let them bring their own creativity to the corps. He always encouraged them.

In fact, he did the same with other staff members .. assistant instructors, chaperones, business managers, volunteers, quartermasters, etc. He had goals and visions which he shared ... but also let each person operate individually. Under his direction, the corps improved greatly!
Unfortunately, internal membership, social and political pressures became insurmountable and the staff couldn't continue as a unit.

What did you do in the Corps? drummer

What years were you a Corps member? 1958-1963

Rick Maass was probably the only person who managed Norwood who knew drum corps and had an outstanding national reputation. I was fortunate to be in the corps for the three years he was manager (1964 through 1966) and 1962 and 1963 when he was the drill instructor.

He put together a young team of instructors in 1964 that developed very competitive corps through 1966.

What did you do in the Corps? Baritone

What years were you a Corps member? 1959-66 (Cadets 59-61 Imperials 62-66)

I went with Brian Pennington to the cemetery yesterday and recorded this tribute to Rick -one of the finest gentleman that I every had the honor to meet and be associated with. Not enough can be stated for his contributions to both drum corps and the professional engineering community.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t86FDIm9BEs

What did you do in the Corps? contra

What years were you a Corps member? 1959-1966

Brian and Will - that was a very nice gesture, one which Rick would have appreciated.

Will is also correct on several points: Rick's contributions were many and he was one of the finest gentlemen God ever created.

What did you do in the Corps? drummer

What years were you a Corps member? 1958-1963

Learning our new drill in the beginning of the
year,at the armory on north avenue,there was always
that anticipation wondering what Rick came up with.

We would gather together with him and than he would
start calling out names and that was the way we
would line up on the starting line and one thing I
remember him saying afterward is don't forget who
your standing next too.At first I thought he was
kidding,but he was serious about that.And believe
it or not it did help when we first started to
learn our drill.

He was a true "IMPERIAL".You could see and feel
how much he wanted us to win everytime we were
ready to walk out on that starting line.What
ever kind of Hell he put us through during our
weekly practices before the contest we had on the
weekend it was all for one purpose,"TO WIN".And if
anybody knew we could win it was Rick.

He not only was a great drill instructor but he
also had a great ear for music as well.There was
many times I can remember when he helped tune our
horns before a contest,he would go down the line
one by one and adjust the valves on everyones
horns.

It's funny when I think back after all these years
I can still picture him out on the practice field
with us screaming at the top of his lungs getting
red in the face because we were messing up for one
reason or another,not doing it the way we were
suppose too.

And even though Rick was large in stature and
could get on everyones case during practices,he
was also this very kind and gentle person as well.
And you could also see his humbleness come
through many times.

Rick had a good sense of humor too,and it wasn't
always all business with him,he did ahve this
lighter side to him,plus he was a very good story
teller as well.

Rick will always be missed,he was a very big part
part of Norwoods history.When you talk about
people past and present,Rick's name will always be
one of the first few mentioned.

Rick was "Legend in his own time"

What did you do in the Corps? French Horn

What years were you a Corps member? 1957 thru 1963

Here is another "Rick Maass fact": He spent over 25 years with our corps!

Check the 1960s segment of the "History" part of our site and see the pictures of Rick, especially that of him in 1944 in the brass line. He was also a drummer before that!

After marching to age out - he then became Musical Director (where he could direct the corps on the field) .. a different rule! .. then became marching instructor for many years! Corps Manager for 1964-66.

Great memories! He was a great contributor to our corps!

What did you do in the Corps? drummer

What years were you a Corps member? 1958-1963

Received an e-mail from Alan Maass (one of Rick's sons.) He thanked us for the cemetery video (BRIAN PENNINGTON) and for the website tributes to Rick.

What did you do in the Corps? drummer

What years were you a Corps member? 1958-1963

I should also mention that Rick was an excellent judge .. working for CSJA and DCI forever!

He was inducted into the DCI Hall of Fame a number of years ago.

He did teach a number of other corps too .. most notably the Baltimore Yankee Rebels senior corps .. and they won the DCA Championship when he designed their show.

What did you do in the Corps? drummer

What years were you a Corps member? 1958-1963