It would be very hard to narrow it down to one particular episode, there are still some parts of 1980 I can’t remember! One story does come to mind, though. I think it was 1984? The corps needed money (as always), and we were offered a chance to march a parade in Rhode Island on July 4. This was a tough decision at first because it was during the week and many people couldn’t get off. There was also the location. The parade sponsors agreed to pay for the buses and enticed us by supplying the corps with… BEER!
It was a done deal! They did make one small mistake. They gave us the beer before the parade! A couple of garbage cans full! Between the beer and the other “extra curricular activities” that normally went on, we were absolutely “shot” by the time we got to RI. People couldn’t find parts of their uniforms and when they did, they put them on backwards. There were some members literally stumbling to get to the parade route because as usual we got there late. We finally got there and proceeded down the route. We sounded terrible, but we were LOUD, and at the time, that’s all that mattered. The colorguard whipped flags and rifles around like they were in a jousting tournament!
I remember it was REALLY hot that day, so every time the corps stopped, Vinnie Conlin and myself would head out on either side of the street and beg for beer. We got pretty good at it, demonstrating how our horns worked and modeling our uniforms; all the while complaining how hot it was.
About half way through the parade, two people (might have been Pete China and Stan), surrounded Vinnie and told him he’d have to march back in the line with the bass section because he couldn’t march a straight line anymore. I remember Vinnie saying, “How come Dave doesn’t have to go, he drank as much as I did?” Answer: “Because he can still march.” Pretty good since I never was a marching machine! Only problem, I couldn’t talk! “Where’s Vinnie?” came out unrecognizable. The next week there was a picture of me in a local RI newspaper playing my horn – with the mouthpiece in my eye!!!
Dave DeAndrea, 1979-1982; 1984, 1986: Lead soprano. Favorite song – 1980 version “Send in the Clowns”
