Peter Lambesis made a great comment on another Forum thread:

"I recall management and staff just being happy to have an additional warm body in the horn line. It would be a jackpot if they could even read music.

Makes you appreciate the patience instructors like Dick Snyder must have had. Work all day, drive 45 minutes to practice and try and teach a pack of loud teenagers of varying experience how to somehow play together.
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Yes, Peter. It is amazing. HOW did they do this ... and also, WHY?
Hard work. Must have been really dedicated people!

What instructors come to YOUR mind as great helpers, teachers and friends?

Let's hear your thoughts.

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What did you do in the Corps? drummer; quartermaster 1964-66, ass't drum instructor 1964-70

What years were you a Corps member? 1958 -1963

Here are several from my memory:

1. Rick Maass - M&M instructor for many years, corps manager from 1964-66. Great teacher, great drill innovator. Forceful, demanding, fair, helpful. A great friend and mentor to the corps members.

2. Dick Brown - drum instructor for many years from 1959-1974 (off and on). Excellent instructor, great writer, and a good teacher on life issues.

3. Frank Arsenault - drum instructor for the Imperials from 1955-59.
Brought great rudimental drumming technique to the midwest from the East .. also taught the Cavaliers. He was an amazing technician ... fearful in his instruction! Dick Brown wrote the music for him.

4. Bill Strauts ... drum instructor from 1964-66 and again later ...
former marching member... great friend .... helped rebuild the drum line with new members in the mid-1960s. Related well to the members.

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What did you do in the Corps? drummer; quartermaster 1964-66, ass't drum instructor 1964-70

What years were you a Corps member? 1958 -1963

Gosh .. here is one that we CAN'T forget .. Willie Widmayer!

Not only the corps founder, but the ONLY instructor for many years. Taught and nurtured many young people through the years. As the corps grew and matured, he was smart enough to bring in more technically proficient people to teach the corps.

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What did you do in the Corps? drummer; quartermaster 1964-66, ass't drum instructor 1964-70

What years were you a Corps member? 1958 -1963

George Munzer and Dick Snyder - both great guys who really cared about the kids. And Pete mentions them working with teenagers, but in the Cadets, most of the members weren't even that old! I was 10 when I joined, and my brother was only 8 - but we were marching field competitions. Amazing!

Bill Strauts - I can't say enough positive about Bill. He taught me in 1972 when I came up to the 'A' corps, and I had the honor of teaching with him in 1978. Very humble, never a mean word. I wish I could have spent more time with him.

John Tomascek - John gave me my love of "traditional" drum corps, as well as providing me with much history. I think I appreciated the activity as a whole more because of him.

Jim Roussell (Cavaliers) - the embodiment of what a Cavalier was supposed to be. He and my Dad made me who I am today.

Tom Float (Spirit of Atlanta) - the funniest guy I ever knew (and the filthiest). Amazing technician!

Jim Ott (Spirit of Atlanta) - he never knew how great he was. A terrific loss to the fraternity in 1980.

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

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

hmmmm ... I was speaking of IMPERIALS instructors, Bob.
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What did you do in the Corps? drummer; quartermaster 1964-66, ass't drum instructor 1964-70

What years were you a Corps member? 1958 -1963

Speaking of Imperials instructors, today I emailed the widow of Andy Teufel to ask her if she has any old photos, movies, or other objects from Andy's corps days. How Andy loved the Imperials! He and his older sister Dorothy (Dorothy Ann) and his late younger brother John were all in the Imperials color guard. Older brother Jim and youngest brother Denny were not in the corps. They all were Taft HS graduates. They are my first cousins. I spent a lot of time at their Sayre Av. house. Let's hope Andy's widow, Carol, has a thing or two to share with us.

But lots of instructors moved around. cliff Colnot taught the Cavaliers AND Norwood. Truman Crawford taught RA AND Norwood (and probably hundreds more, if you include arranging). Gary Moore was a long-time Norwood drum instructor who came from the Cavaliers. Tom Flowers came over from the Des Plaines Vanguard to teach Norwood in 73. The inspiration I got from Jim Roussell in the Cavaliers hopefully made me a better instructor (and DM) when I returned to Norwood in 78 and 79. Those of us who marched somewhere other than Norwood in 1980 certainly took part of the Imperials learning with us.

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

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

Bill,just to clarify about Dennis Tuefel,he was in
Norwood, with me,a little wild but a good person.

One thing that always stood out with Andy,he was
always,"Gung Ho" and also pure "Military"
through and through when it came to our field
performance,one of the best and most dedicated
members we had.

A Great Family!

What did you do in the Corps? French Horn

What years were you a Corps member? 1957 thru 1963

There can be little question about Dick Snyder, George Munzer, and Bill Strauts being everything that previous posters have said about them. Pete is absolutely right about Dick Snyder and with out him training brass players for the A Corps it would have folded much earlier than then it did. Only the infusion of young talent from the Cadets saved the Imps several times in the 1970's.

There is another instructor who deserves mention not only for his teaching abilities, but for his advice, friendship, and loyalty to the Imperials. Without Hank Grana, nothing that happened in the late 1970's and early 1980's would have been possible. My deepest thanks to Hank for his consul and for the lasting influence he had on all who were fortune enough to have been involved with him in during that period.

Jim is absolutely right about Hank Grana. He infused us with an energy and a sense of purpose that propelled us to greater heights in 78 and 79. I was in an interesting position, being the DM but also working WITH him as a staff member, and I learned a great deal. His favorite phrase - turn a negative into a positive - I still use with my teaching staff!

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

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

Hank Grana is one of the most positive people I know. Besides being an excellent judge, he developed a very good skill as a corps instructor and leader.

He also has the distinction of being a member of the last drum quartet from the Imperials to win a National Championship (1958 VFW).

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What did you do in the Corps? drummer; quartermaster 1964-66, ass't drum instructor 1964-70

What years were you a Corps member? 1958 -1963

I remember that (well, I remember seeing it in an old magazine). Wasn't Bill Strauts in the quartet as well?

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

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

1958 VFW National Champion Drum Quartet:

snare: Tony Demarco
tenors: Bill Strauts and Dick Stack
rudimental bass: Hank Grana

Tony Demarco was also the Individual Snare National Champion.
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What did you do in the Corps? drummer; quartermaster 1964-66, ass't drum instructor 1964-70

What years were you a Corps member? 1958 -1963

Too much emphasis on drums.

My list

Rick Maass--in my era Rick was Norwood Park as much as Don Warren was the Cavaliers and Sie Lurie was the Royal Airs. Only difference was that Rick was an M&M instructor and what today would be called "show designer."

Brian Pennington who changed the sound of Norwood and helped make us more competitive in 1965 and 1966.

Gary "Chops" Czapinski who assisted Rick in 1963 after aging out and was M&M instructor in 1964 and 1965 before moving on to what ended up being a DCI hall of fame career. My first year in the Imperials, I marched next to Chops who also helped with my transition to the corps from the Cadets.

Hank Grana. Others have mentioned him. During my time in the corps he assisted Rick and Chops and took over as M&M instructor. Hank's brother Frank also assisted him along with alumn, Steve Pawela.

Although neither were instructors, two of the "older" members helped me adjust to the A corps--Roman Blenski and Sam Tessitore. They were Baritones but the other brass sections had people like Steve Pawela, Ron Biver, Frank Grana and Denny Shannon (those guys also were part of families that had a long history with Norwood).

If I add Bill Strauts to my list every instructor mentioned was a Norwood alumnus but Brian. I'd say I was fortunate to be in the Imperials during the 1962 thru 1966 time period when the the instructors were very capable and they also had a history with the corps.

I also marched in the same squad with two DCI hall of fame members, Roman and Chops, and had two others, Rick and Bob Briske as instructor and manager. If I add Dick Brown who was the drum instructor when I moved up in 1962, there were five people affiliated with Norwood during my time in the Imperials who have been recognized by DCI.

There have been many top instructors and judges who came through Norwood. To the previous lists, you can add Marie Grana (Kas/Chopinski). I'm sure there are others.

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

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

Andy Teufel's widow, Carol, just emailed this to me, regarding any old photos, movies, etc., that she might have from corps days: "I'm afraid I can't help you with any pictures of Norwood. We lost everything
including our wedding pictures, when we flooded in 1980 something. We were afraid of a tornado, so we moved our special mementos out of the attic and
into the basement.....wrong move. All of my Mariners stuff was there also." Andy's dad (also named Andy) used to take lots of 16 mm movies. I would think that Andy the Imperial had them in later years. Gone.

What about Guard Instructors? The four years I marched there were two women that, in my opinion, changed everything about what color guards did on the field. They had the vision and the talent to change things which became the stepping stone of what today’s guards do. Tony O’Kelly and Marie Grana Kas had us doing things other guards could only copy. We were not just markers on the field for the rest of the corps!

What did you do in the Corps? Color Guard & Soprano

What years were you a Corps member? 1970 - 1973

I agree about Toni and Marie ... both were excellent instructors with great vision.

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What did you do in the Corps? drummer; quartermaster 1964-66; asst. drum instr. 1964-70

What years were you a Corps member? 1958-63

Anybody know whatever happened to Toni? She used to write a column for Drum Corps Digest, and I believe she was dating Charles Guider, the guy unfortunately lost in the bus crash. Marie later married Chops, but I don't know if they're still married. Donna is absolutely right about both of them - the guard was probably the strongest section of the corps in the early 70s.

And it's good to see you back, Donna!

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

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

Toni attended the corps reunion held a few years ago. She still lives in the Chicago area. I don't think she is doing any instructing. BTW .. I don't think that she was dating Charles Guider... that was someone else.

Marie and Gary "Chops" Czapinski are still married. Both do a fair amount of judging for WGI and DCI.
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What did you do in the Corps? drummer; quartermaster 1964-66; asst. drum instr. 1964-70

What years were you a Corps member? 1958-63

Donna, well said about the instructors. Bob, it was Robinette you were thinking of, not Toni.

Yes, you're right. I'm getting old...

Anybody remember the name of the column Toni wrote for Drum Corps Digest?

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

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

Happenin Set? I donated all my digests, otherwise I'd go look.

You don't have to - you got it! It was a very "groovy" column.

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

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

Thanks Bob, it is nice to be around!

What did you do in the Corps? Color Guard & Soprano

What years were you a Corps member? 1970 - 1973