April 20th, 2002 . . . Havertown, PA -- The Archer-Epler Musketeers celebrated their 70th Anniversary as a drum and bugle corps at their 14th annual Brass Reunion. For many in attendance it was a chance to relive great years of their lives, renew friendships and hear some of the most famous drum corps arrangements ever performed by many of the best talents in the activity.

Archie was founded two days before this concert some 70 years ago by the VFW 979 Post of Upper Darby. Lining the lobby of the high school were new and tattered scrap books of parades and competitions from both the senior and junior corps that the post has hosted through the years. For many years the corps fielded a junior corps, then a senior corps and then founded the first "alumni" corps in 1975.

From this start the "alumni" movement continues to grow year after year. Many of the old corps have now come back to find their roots and relive the camaraderie, spirit, pride and dedication to their organizations. At the same time, they are preserving the great music which they have made through the years and continue to thrill the fans who come out to see them.

With all due respect to today's junior movement, most of corps we saw tonight could teach the new kids a lot about performance. These corps remember what "blowing their socks" off means. If you have not been to one of these alumni concerts, and are a true drum corps fan, you are missing a piece of musical history that is just unforgettable. The sound generated by these groups is state of the art. The musicianship is superb and the arrangements are classic and, in some cases, very up to date.

Lambertville Volunteers celebrate 71 years
The evening started with the Volunteers celebrating their 71st Birthday. Formed by a local fire company in 1931, they competed as a junior corps during the '60s in the Northeast Marching and Maneuvering Circuit.

Drum major Ross Creveling ripped the small group through some great music: Chicago's Free, with some great solo work; Sing Sing Sing, with a single bass drummer that made the place rock; San Pedro Revisited; Birdland; Mr. Pinstripe Suit and One More For My Baby. It was an excellent blend of sound that filled the whole auditorium!

During the set up time before the Yankee Rebels came on, the announcer read the school rules.

"You can do almost anything you want here at Haverford High School," he said, "as long as it is across the street!" That got some chuckles. He then read some scores from a not-to-recent VFW drum corps competition; it was held in 1927. Not only was the year unique, but the punch line was that the contest was held in Paris, France!

Yankee Rebels play for Sept. 11 victims
The Baltimore Yankee Rebels' 70-plus group presented a show that was fast and furious. Southern trademark tunes like Dixie, Waiting for the Robert E. Lee and Alexander's Rag Time Band got the crowd clapping along. "Just a Closer Walk with Thee" featured lead sopranos Dave Highes and Robbie Ellis with Hall of Famer John Manlove on Contra.

The group played a stirring arrangement of America the Beautiful, arranged by USMC Retired Colonel Truman Crawford, to memorialize the victims of September 11. Drum Major Phil Gentile completed the concert with "American Folk Medley" and the Rebels' famous Requiem for an Era.

Director Joel Leson took the microphone at one point to dedicate their show to Reilly Raider Director Ed "Mukie" Mukalian, who passed away just this past week. The corps has a beautiful show with a big sound and great arrangements.

Steel City honors firefighters
The Steel City Alumni Corps is composed of the many former members of the corps from the Southwest Pennsylvania and Eastern Ohio regions. The Steel City Ambassadors was the big senior corps from that area back in the 1980s and the alumni is carrying on that tradition. The 50-member group played some superb arrangements of a number of fan favorites. Somewhere, Children of Sanchez, Black Saddles, America the Beautiful and Danny Boy. This show would have been great on the marching field as well. But the real show-stopper came when their honorary color guard was introduced.

Apparently Steel City was going to represent a fire company from the Philly area in the big State Fireman's Parade near Pittsburgh. That parade was canceled due to the plane crash caused by terrorists taking over commercial jet on September 11 near Pittsburgh. Introduced were members of the Washington Fire Company of Conshohocken, PA. That ignited the first of many standing ovations during the evening.

Archer-Epler recreates 'The King and I'
The hosts of the evening were on next. The 50-plus members of the Archer-Epler Musketeers presented such classics as the stirring Stars and Stripes Forever, Black Saddle, South Rampart Street Parade, Don't Get Around Much Anymore and their own We are the Musketeers. The Archer-Epler Musketeers are credited with presenting the very first theme-based show back in 1957. Tonight they recreated part of that show with their presentation of "The King and I." The original presentation featured members of their corps in the major parts. Tonight's presentation became real tear-jerker when those same parts were played by grandchildren of many of the members who originally presented the show...