RENOVO PA 2008A great day for a paradeBy KEVIN RAUCH — For The Express 10/10/2008 RENOVO - The 60th Flaming Foliage Festival should have perfect
weather this weekend, with sunny skies and afternoon temperatures
reaching 70 degrees forecast today, Saturday and Sunday. Thousands of
people are expected to line the downtown streets of Renovo for
Saturday's Parade of Queens, which begins at 1:45 p.m. The 2008 drum corps season has come to an end as usual for Mighty St. Joe’s with a trip into the hills of PA to the small but amazingly gracious town of Renovo. What a gorgeous day, the perfect ending to another great year for the corps. May this tradition never end. Hats off to everyone that was able to make this trip especially those who weathered the somewhat tumultuous bus trip both on the way down and back. Certainly as we left the LeRoy Park & Ride most of us knew what we were in for but this year’s admission price of $10 was the best deal you could have received compared to the cost of Darien Lake or Sea Breeze. The ‘fall foliage’ was especially colorful at times and at others it was just a blur as we wound our way down routes 44 and 144. Even at one point Sully had to move to the rear of the bus from his upfront perch just to let his nerves calm a bit. The bus was reasonably full with the Contras in the rear (that doesn’t sound good, but it’s their normal spot). Bill M. and Dave P. were definitely ready for this trip. Hope they got the turkeys over the boarder for their Thanksgiving Celebration. By the way, a belated Happy Thanksgiving to all of our Canadian corps members and their families! Spider was upfront doing his job giving directions and advice. I think it’s time the corps bought him his own GPS. And there sure was a mixed bag of guard, percussion, brass, staff and family in between. Several others met us in Renovo as we arrived including John-John all the way from NC. What a surprise! As we prepped to get started the snare section got together to make a slight change to the street-beat and it really worked. Even got some response from Eddy and Hutch, two wanna-be drummers, who thought the new riff sounded cool. As we waited for our spot in line, watching several of the local school bands parade by us, I think most of us realized we would have to do a little extra to entertain the crowds that lined the streets this day. And that we did! Special thanks to Bob B. & Eddy for pushing the corps and putting on a show that the people are so used to from MSJ. The dancing was especially nice! Even though MapQuest labels the parade route as 1.1 miles, this sure seems to be much longer with a lot of time to play a lot of music. And that we did! Back to the starting point it was the usual for Renovo; wind down with friends, have a little ‘ice cream’ with friends, see some of the sites with friends, have a little more ‘ice cream’ with friends, talk a little bit about 2009 with friends and eventually run out of ‘ice cream’ with friends as the time came to get back on the bus with friends and head for home. There was a little delay as we waited to replenish the ‘ice cream’ cooler for the trip home. Thanks Sully! And Curt & Margaret! The trip home was a bit more enjoyable, as I recall, but almost twice as long. As we headed back through Wellsboro it always makes me want to try and convince Sully and the bus driver to stop, get out our equipment and play a little impromptu concert. The townspeople would love it and it would put a little icing on the cake for the end of the year. Could you just imagine playing in both of those towns on the same day? How much fun would that be? Maybe we should try and set that up for next year. We just need everyone to follow us at least that far! The pizza was good, as I recall. Thanks again Sully. And the rest of the ride seemed to last forever; some Stooges and Ironman for video entertainment and lots of laughs. It was good to get home….. I guess it’s time to wrap up 2008 now. May we always remember the good times we had this year. And may we never forget those that have passed including Big Bill, Mike Seabrook’s parents, Bob Bond’s mom, Charlie Flander’s Bridgette, Kathy Koch’s dad, the Codd-boys’ grandfather and all of those who have been a part of our lives both in and out of drum corps. May we look forward to adding new members like the ones who joined us in 2008 including Jim Bryant, Barb Fitch, Ruth Mendolera, Marge North, Rob Roll, Sarah Twamley, and Gary Westlund,. And may we take one last opportunity to congratulate ourselves, the staff and the management for another great year of “old-time, good-time” drum corps with Mighty St. Joe’s. And yes, one last congratulations to Larry Darch – World Drum Corps Hall of Fame and Donny Allen – Buglers’ Hall of Fame inductees. Hope to see everyone soon, practice on November 9th, and remember to bring a friend or family member. You all are our best recruiting agents. Hope everyone enjoyed the 2008 reviews and I look forward to doing this for years to come. Best regards and see you in 2009….. Bob |