Saturday blessed us with beautiful weather and a determination to lock down our show. The hornline began brass rehearsal at 9:30am under the expert guidance of Brass caption head Matt Krempasky, assisted by Gabe Gulino and Drum Major Jim Jordan. The drumline pulled together under drum gurus Dennis Delucia,Bob “Dubie” Dubinski, and Pat Scollin. Dennis, Bob, and Pat charted a course to get the most out of percussion time and challenged the drummers in the ranks to give 100%. The color guard formed up under Matt Hurley, Claire Kronenfeld, and Lisa Argul to accomplish all they could in their time together. Soon the west side of Bayonne came alive with the sounds of drums & bugles, plus flags flapping in the wind, and the clop-clop of rifles spun.

Matt has a way of commanding the hornline's attention and does a great job of explaining our goals musically, while still keeping a friendly atmosphere that makes it fun to be there. After warming up, we launched into reviewing our music and getting it ready for prime time. We worked on the pieces that make up “Great Moments in Drum Corps History.”

Executive Director George Lavelle, Jr. pointed out that we have a large hornline of experienced players, playing on G bugles, so we're ALEADY loud. Matt injected a little comedy into our instruction when he declared, “Do you know how to make our loud parts sound even louder? By playing soft part of the time. There's a new rule in drum corps that says we can play soft. Yes... it’s ACTUALLY permitted now!” Our previous indoor exhibitions in Pennsylvania let us break out and perform with intensity; now we're learning about control and how to finesse our parts to turn heads this summer.

As midday neared, we took a break, then began drill rehearsal at noon. Soon we broke out our drill charts and Drill Designer George Lavelle, Jr. put us to work cleaning up the visual part of our show, assisted by George Ruse, Bob Murray, Jerome Kimbrough, and Brian Law. The afternoon of hard work raced by, then we found ourselves back in sectionals to get our playing or equipment chops primed to perform in sync with the drill.

The hornline got together by the “stage” of the 16th Street Park. Larry Kerchner, brass arranger, arrived and reviewed our progress. Larry reworked the ending of “Mr. Clown” to give it an ending that was a bolder statement. We also reviewed the music we'd be performing over the next two days in Bayonne. Matt Krempasky knows we're afraid of Dubie's outbusts, so he warned us to keep our chatter to a minimum before “the maniac from Indiana” was forced to keep us in check! Program Coordinator Dennis Delucia explained the creative ideas that the staff have been discussing for the “Great Moments” part of our show. Dennis explained, “When it comes to corps that are no longer with us, we'll play their music respectfully. But corps that are still around, we can have some fun with it!”

Soon after, we reassembled on the yard lines; the guard, horns, and drums were soon swept up in a runthrough that helped build our endurance to perform our show from beginning to end. George Lavelle was proud of our hard work and the progress we'd made at day's end. George said, “Many of you, who were here at the formation of the new Bridgemen, can look back at the last few years and agree that we've surpassed our expectations for ourselves. And tomorrow, everyone will see and hear what we've accomplished!” He concluded the day's rehearsal by reminding us of how people will be bowled over by us on opening night (at Tournament of Stars) in a few weeks.

Sunday arrived as Day 2 of the Memorial Day weekend brought us back together for a performance at the Bridgemen Alumni Family Picnic. Rehearsals went VERY well; members and staff alike were wildly enthusiastic about how well we looked and sounded. The color guard premiered their new gold-and-black-checkered flags to the public, in tribute to the St. Andrew's era, for one of our songs. Special thanks to member Randy Ferry (of MSARP fame) for the beautiful flags his company created for us this year!

After ensembling together for a bit, we were charged up to perform in uniform for different generations of Bridgemen alumni and guests. We all had a good laugh when Quad player Dave Gambal proclaimed “We can win this!” We headed over to the Picnic grounds in single file and set up our arcs. We gave our all as the bold opening “Fanfare” statement grabbed hold of everyone and launched us into “Ritual Fire Dance/Sabre Dance.” The expressions on people's faces were priceless as they got caught up in this challenging piece's unyielding drive! Next, Drum Major John Richard led the charge to conduct the soprano extravaganza “Mr. Clown” and made sure the sopranos got all the acclaim they deserved.

More songs followed as we demonstrated the diverse show we've learned. This year's show weaves together Bridgemen classics and drum corps classics as we cover new ground for appreciative audiences this summer. Our alumni, family, and friends were grateful we had put on such a heartfelt show for them in the hot sun.

After soaking up all the applause, we filed out into the parking lot. George pulled us all together back at the equipment truck and commented, “My wife kept looking at me as if to say, 'WOW, you guys are really GOOD.' Ya think... maybe I won't get in trouble with her for a while!?” George outlined Monday's schedule for Memorial Day and set us free to enjoy the rest of the day.

Once we changed back into civilian clothing, we joined the party, already in progress. The rest of the afternoon was filled with good food and good company as we enjoyed our successes. A heartfelt thanks go to the Alumni Association for organizing a special event for us to connect with one another.

7:30am, Monday morning, brought us back together again in front of St. Andrew for our annual corps photo on the steps of the site that first launched the Bridgemen over 42 years ago. Jim Pona graciously agreed to be our photographer this day, forsaking his spot in the member portrait. Father Doherty, departing pastor of St. Andrew and one of our most eager supporters, joined us for the portrait. George Lavelle reminded us that Fr. Doherty gave us a home and practice facilities in the new era, ensuring that there could BE a new Bridgemen corps.

Around 10:00, we headed over for opening ceremonies to remember the fallen heroes of battles past. The somber ceremony was capped off by the Bridgemen hornline performing Larry Kerchner's touching arrangement of “Taps” that left the audience speechless.

This year, Commander Glen Flora (of Joyce-Herbert VFW Post #226) was a Marshall of the Bayonne parade and had the privilege of arranging for the Bridgemen to be near the front of the parade. We entered the parade sometime around 10:45 and headed up Broadway, greeted by the enthusiastic cheers of Bayonne's citizens. Some were seeing our distinctive yellow & black coats for the first time, while some were seeing them for the first time in decades. Kudos to the color guard for doing equipment work in the hot sun while wearing black from head to toe.

The sidewalk audience gave us a warm welcome and cheered wildly as we passed them. We stopped at the old bank/new museum at 9th Street and gave our awaiting alumni and fans a helluva show. We launched into Larry's creative spin on “My Favorite Things” to dazzle them, then gave them “The William Tell Overture” for good measure. It was a comfort to know we pleased our loudest cheering section.

We withstood the day's sun and heat along the parade route, to belt out “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” in memory of America's heroes whose lives were lost on battlefields here and abroad. Brian Law played the part of a spectator when he waited on the sidewalk for the hornline to go by and yelled out “C'mon, play a song!” John Riccardi pointed to a blank spot in the middle of the baritones and called out, “Hey look, we have a missing man formation for ya!”

At the Reviewing Stand, we set up and unleashed “In The Stone” for an awesome reception from the crowd. We left them with “Battle Hymn” to commemorate this day of remembrance.

Afterward, we circled up around Director George Lavelle and he thanked us for our concerted effort to entertain the people of Bayonne, and give a little something back to the community that supports us.

A bus brought many of our members back to the starting point of the parade. Many Bridgemen members and staff headed over to Glen Flora's VFW Post #226 to unwind. You could hear “oooh” and “ahhh” over the amazing military displays he's put together to proudly chronicle Bayonne's participation in past conflicts, in defense of our great nation.

The weekend concluded for us, and we walked away knowing we'd accomplished a great deal as we showed off how we're “Raising the Bar” this season.

Glen's VFW Post (on 9th Street, near Broadway) is hosting an awesome party for friends and family of the Bridgemen after the show. You'll eat and drink in the company of drum corps' consummate entertainers after a night of great corps shows.

See you June 23rd!