The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
‘They’re going to know who we are’
Stony Creek Fife & Drum Corps will ‘definitely wake them up’ in showcase at Colonial Williamsburg, May 21
BRANFORD — It’s the best of the best. It’s a display of dazzling precision, of stirring sounds, of shrilling fifes, of thundering drums.
On Saturday, May 21, the Stony Creek Fife & Drum Corps will be among the elite groups from around the country to perform at the Drummers Call in Colonial Williamsburg, the annual showcase of fife and drum corps.
The event coincides with Armed Forces Day, which falls the week before Memorial Day.
The Corps has performed far and wide in its 146-year history: at President Eisenhower’s Inaugural Parade in 1957 and the World’s Fair in New York in 1964. The group took First Prize at the International Band Com
petition in Limerick, Ireland in 1980, played at the ceremony celebrating the reopening of the Statue of Liberty in 1985, and appeared at New York’s Lincoln Center in 2002.
That’s not counting the most recent trip to Ireland in 2018, which included participation in the St. Patrick’s Day Festival in Dublin.
But this is different. For the 26 members stepping onto the bus early Wednesday morning outside their home at Stony Creek’s Seaside Hall, “this is huge,” said Ken Avery, Corps spokesman and bass drummer.
Hosting the event will be the storied Colonial Williamsburg Fifes & Drums.
“They’re known for their top-notch musicianship and their historical authenticity,” Avery said. “Everything they do is to a T, their uniforms, their music — they’re playing the legit notes from that period.”
Even the ages of the members comport with history.
“Before radios, phones, or drones, the unique frequencies of the fife and drum were chosen for their ability to carry over long distances and cut through the fury of combat,” a passage on www.colonialwilliamsburg.org reads.
The musicians, “generally aged between 10 and 18, marched along with each company.”
That’s the case with the Williamsburg corps.
“The rumor is there’s a waiting list to get into this group from when kids are born,” Avery said with a chuckle. “That’s how elite they are.”
Not that the members from the Stony Creek Fife & Drum Corps making the trip are intimidated.
They’re accustomed to steep challenges, regularly braving stultifying heat in the countless parades they’ve marched in over the years.
Not to mention the renovation of their 125-year-old Seaside Hall headquarters back in 2010. Instead of accepting a hefty state grant, they opted to raise their own funds from various civic organizations, elevating the structure with cement piers, replacing the deteriorated foundation, and otherwise bringing the building up to code.
Above all, they’re ready, according to Avery.
With virtually no parades or musters for two years, “we had time to sit back and kind of regroup a little bit,” he said. “We’re more organized now, believe it or not, than we were in 2019.”
Then there’s their unique sound.
“We’re known for the thunder of our bass drums so I think that will definitely wake them up, that’s for sure,” Avery said. “We have a big corps going, so by the end of the day, they’re going to know who we are.”
While Connecticut boasts the largest number of fife & drum corps than anywhere else, he said, “when people think of fife & drum corps, they don’t really think of Branford, they think of the Deep River Muster,” the oldest and largest gathering of fife and drum participants and enthusiasts in the world.
“This might change that,” he said, adding that it also will provide an opportunity to recruit groups for a long-awaited national muster in Branford this August.
Avery said they’re expecting as many as 35 drum corps, including groups from Ireland and Los Angeles. The parade route will stretch from Eel Pot to Hammer Field.
For now, though, the focus is on the celebrated showcase in Colonial Williamsburg.
“This will give us a chance to see how we measure up to groups across the country,” Avery said. “And hopefully, put us on the map.”
To make a tax-deductible donation to the Stony Creek Fife & Drum Corps, visit https://stonycreekdrumcorps.org/.