When a rest stop turns into an encore?
by Jay Wise, Corps Historian
Not all bathroom stops on tour are the same. By far. In 1989, an unusual stop became an impromptu performance and a lasting memory.
1989 Schedule draft
After finishing an early July show in Philadelphia, Pa., the 1989 Bluecoats were making a daylight trip towards Bristol, Rhode Island and the Boston area for July 4th parades and performances. The trip along the I-95 corridor would take the corps through the heart of New York City. Executive Director Ted Swaldo, leading the caravan in his RV recalled, “I realized how close we were to Liberty Park in New Jersey and made the decision to go to the park to take a potty break and let the members see the Statue of Liberty.”
Recently unearthed photographs from the season give a glimpse of this unusual bathroom break on the road. Rather than the actual Liberty Park, the corps stopped just a bit south at Flag Plaza which is a much smaller layout than the expansive neighboring attraction. An 8-vehicle convoy of four buses, an equipment truck, a chuck truck, the souvenir trailer with pickup truck and admin RV was a lot for the park’s facilities. The parking lot had just 250 automobile parking spots and a short circular drive in front of the offices where the bathrooms were located.
The Park police objected to the arrival of the corps, as there was no place to park the fleet and the convoy size would choke the circular lot quite a bit. In those days the fleet of vehicles all carried the Canton Police Department Shield, and according to Swaldo, “after they found out we were founded by the Canton Police Department they called over their top executive and he said we could stay only if we performed.”
So perform they would. As they were. In street clothes. One staffer recalled, “Ted was more excited about this than we were.” The initial member reaction was mostly of curiosity and confusion, since this was not a scheduled performance.
The corps unloaded and marched off for an impromptu standstill performance midway through a 7-acre field that abutted the Atlantic Ocean with a view of the posterior of Lady Liberty just across the water. Beyond was quite the vista of the Manhattan skyline.
Some of the onlookers were quite surprised to see their afternoon of wandering throughout the open space riding bikes, flying kites and picnicking interrupted by a (literal) band of teenagers and college-aged kids with odd tan lines marching through their midst. Some stopped to watch, others kept going about their lives unconcerned with the flags being tossed and spun around them and the loud strains of “Johnny One Note” and “Sing, Sing, Sing” belting away in the distance.
After spending a little (very little) tourist time, the corps packed up, climbed back on the buses and set off for the Boston area. The excitement, at least for one bus and the equipment truck, and the memories were not nearly over for the afternoon.
In crossing the George Washington Bridge in the heart of NYC, the equipment truck and a bus lost visual sightlines of the caravan and radio contact had tremendous cross-chatter from the volume of traffic. An exit lane combined with the lack of willingness to allow late lane changes, the heavily veteran Bus 721 and equipment truck were forced to exit off the bridge into the heart of the Bronx.
In attempting to get back to the highway, the truck was involved in a minor fender bender and Bus 721 stopped along with the truck. The police became involved with a healthy delay when it was realized that the insurance paperwork for the truck was with the Director in the RV, now well through to other side of NYC, unaware of the detoured vehicles. In these pre-cell phone days it would take some time to sort out the mess, which included members on the bus getting a different tourist experience of the Bronx from window seats. The equipment truck driver, nicknamed Jolly Roger for both his name and healthy beard, got an unusual interaction with NYPD’s finest, as response to another call left them no choice but to temporarily handcuff the Bluecoats documentation devoid driver to a telephone pole so he would not flee the scene. By evening the fleet had rendezvoused at a Connecticut rest stop.
1989 Executive Director Ted Swaldo (far left) with family and volunteers.
As for the afternoon with Lady Liberty? Member reaction to the elongated pit stop was mixed. Some felt the on-lookers reacted as if the corps was an annoyance to their day but to others the chance to gawk at New York’s skyline and the Statue of Liberty worth the stop.
Said Swaldo, “They, and me too, were blown away, it’s one of my best memories.” It was an afternoon, and certainly for Bus 721, that would be long talked about and unique to the Drum Corps touring experience.
MONDAY MEMORY IS AN ON-GOING SERIES THAT STARTS OFF THE WEEK WITH
A LITTLE HISTORY BEHIND THE BLUECOATS ON OUR WEBSITE & SOCIAL MEDIA OUTLETS.
