All Saint Raphael's Golden Buccaneers alumni are being called into action. The corps is reforming this Winter, getting it all together to actually march and play once again.
Your corps needs you there...and not just in spirit! I spoke with our beloved founder, Monsignor Louis A. DeProfio in January. He's excited about this reunion and is ready to help us celebrate this Summer. Our mission is to prepare this Winter to march in the Barnum Festival Parade in late June, 2004. This movement is only a few weeks old. But we've secured the use of borrowed bugles, a practice site (Christmas Village on Quarry Road in Bridgeport), drums and flags, and we have been invited to march by the Barnum Festival's parade committee and to present a standstill mini concert at the Champions on Parade event the night before the parade.
Our alumni corps, "The Park City Pride," involves alumni from the Buccs, PAL Cadets and other Bridgeport area corps. The initial response has been extremely positive with more than 70 alumni signed up so far ! Joe Genaro is involved arranging the music for the corps. We expect more than 100 alumni of area junior corps to participate in this one-time Bridgeport junior drum corps reunion event.
Sign-up now. Don't wait! The first of the five rehearsals will be March 14 at The Christmas Village auditorium on Quarry Road. And we have arranged for an open house for all our alumni the afternoon of February 22nd at The Three Corners Restaurant in Bridgeport. There'll be free pizza all afternoon. Don't miss it!
I'm sure, like me, you'd like to see the Buccaneers make a big showing for this special reunion corps event both with our numbers and our talent. So far the number of PAL Cadets and Buccaneers signed up is just about the same. There's nothing like a little competition. So I'd like to see our alumni out-number theirs in this parade, just for old times sake...if you know what I mean (smiles). And we can do it! Call any alumni you may know and help with the networking. I'm looking for contact information for all past corps members. Please contact anyone you know from the corps about this. Encourage them to answer the call. Spread the news. Most importantly, make sure you are there.
