Here's a nice story I think everyone will enjoy.
A couple of weeks ago I had an appointment at the
Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago,its part of
Northwestern Memorial Hospital and it was
because of a back problem I've been having for
a while,well anyway after I had my treatment
that morning my wife and I were in the lobby
waiting for the elevator to take us to the
parking garage that is part of the Institute,
and while we were standing there waiting
I noticed two people getting off the same set
of elevators as we did.

When I looked at the gentleman that got off with the
other person I thought to myself I think I've seen
him before somewhere,but I wasn't sure where or
when.So he just happen to be waiting for the same
elevator as my wife and I were,and I'm standing
there a couple of feet away still wondering.

Well we all got on the elevator together and its
starting to bother me,I don't know if this has
ever happened to any of you like this but my mind
was racing trying to remember where I seen him
before.Well the elevator reached the first level
and stopped,the doors opened and as he started to
walk off it finally came to me who he was and where
I've seen him and I have to say I've seen him
many times,he was none other than Sal Ferrera.

One of the finest music instructors the Cavaliers
ever had.What a surprise that was seeing him there.

I wish I would have remembered sooner I would have
introduced myself and said something to him,but
when I did remember it was too late.

After all this happened I was thinking to myself
what great times we had in Norwood and with the
the other drum corps we knew,plus the privilage
of meeting some very nice people along the way.

I have a question,is Sal Ferrera a doctor? I always
had the impression he was.

What did you do in the Corps? FrenchHorn

What years were you a Corps member? 1957 thru 1963

Sal Ferrara! A name from the past!

Sal is an engineer by training and was employed in that professiuon for a long time. Then, he left that and became the director of a low income housing organization in the Chicago area.

What did you do in the Corps? drummer

What years were you a Corps member? 1958- 1963

Yes, Sal has a PhD. And he is helping to instruct the Cavalier alumni corps this year.

I'm glad to hear you saw him walking, because he was recently put into the hospital, with I believe heart problems, so the fact that he's up and about is good.

You should have said something to him! Sal was a great guy, but often misunderstood (even in the Cavaliers). He was tough as nails, and wanted to win more than ANYONE in that organization, and it sometimes came across as arrogance when they did, but from Sal it really wasn't - he was just honestly proud of how hard they worked to get there.

He always said drum corps was crazy if you didn't win.

And considering he had NO musical training, and was actually a snare drummer in the original Cavalier corps in 1948, I'd say he worked VERY hard!

What did you do in the Corps? Snare, Drum Major, Drum Instructor/Arranger

What years were you a Corps member? 1970-73; 78-79

So what kind of engineer is/was Sal? In some fields of engineering it's difficult to have the time required to devote to a corps. It's not often 9 to 5 and can be 24/7 at times. Couldn't find him on the State of Illinois licensed engineers list.

I don't remember seeing him much except for judging us in 1966. Pennington once told me Ferrera hated Dancero because we sounded too much like the Blessed Sacrament hornlines of the early 60s.

I believe that Sal was an Industrial Engineer. Don't know where he worked.

He probably wasn't really fond of Blessed Sacrament ... they kept beating the Cavaliers!

What did you do in the Corps? drummer

What years were you a Corps member? 1958-63

Yes, I'd guess that from the mid-50s until the mid-60s, Sac was only corps that consistently topped the Cavalier's when they met at Nationals or on the rare occasion that they competed in non-national contests.