Members:

Paul Litteau

Bob Thomas

April Gilligan Martinez

Jim Coates

Catherine & Tom Float

Jim Prime, Jr.

************************

Distinguished Professional Achievement    Lily Woo

President’s Award                                           Mike Woodall

International Award                                        Retha Cilliers

************************

Associates:

Richard Fischette

Thomas Norton

Dr. Joseph Cinzio

Martin Angiulli

George Growcott

Richard Hoppe

Congratulations!

Bios to follow.

Visit the MPAM/Hall of Fame booth

– Clifton NJ Grand Prix – July 12

– Newark DE DCI Delaware – July 29

– Glassboro NJ DCI Glassboro – July 30

– DCI Championships Indy – August 7-9

Join the Hall of Fame mailing list for:

– A Free Gift

– Info on how to Nominate a Candidate

– Scholarship Applications

– Special Offers and Events Notification

Any interested party is invited to recommend a candidate for admission to the WDCHOF.

The 2025 Deadline for submission is APRIL 15.

Find the Criteria and Submission forms here:

Becoming a Member: http://www.wdchof.org/membership/

Becoming an Associate Member: https://www.wdchof.org/associate-membership/

As you know, it has become customary for sponsors, friends, related businesses and fellow members to place congratulatory ads in the Banquet Yearbook acknowledging an inductee’s achievement, showing support for the HOF, or promoting a business or service. Here is a link to the 2023 Yearbook:

Should you wish to place a 2024 ad, here’s the process:

Any graphics, text, photos or artwork should be emailed to: topsop@msn.com

You may send a completed file, or we can do the set-up for you based on your submission. Text alone is acceptable, or any combination of the above.

Payment can be made here: https://www.wdchof.org/donate/

Rates:

Prime Placement –

Back Cover/Interior Covers    $300

Interior Placement –

Full Page                                     100

Half Page                                      50

Quarter Page                               25

The deadline for submission is September 30, 2024

Questions/Further Details:      topsop@msn.com

It seems that Mike Duffy and Ken Norman shared a birthday, same day and year. Somehow, it makes total sense that these two giants were born under the same star.

The old saying among drum corps veterans of a certain era was that if you never got to play Kenny’s “Auld Lang Syne” or Duffy’s “Battle Hymn” you got cheated.

Mike wrote for all the heavies in the early DCI days: Anaheim (’72 Champs), Blue Stars (’72 runner up), Troopers (perennial contenders), and dozens of the rest. He just about invented the “Sound of DCI”.

Those who knew him considered him a “hall of Famer” before there was a Hall of Fame. Rest his remarkable soul. Mike Duffy is irreplaceable.

Tim Stodd (SCV, Empire, Argonauts)

Drew Shanefield (Cadets, Crown, Cavaliers)

Donnie Van Doren (Cadets, Crossmen, Crown)

Anthony Di Carlo (Annunciators, Boston, DCI)

Marc Sylvester (27th, Garfield, WGI)

George Zingali (27th, Garfield, Star)

David Hill (Des Plaines, Finleyville, Dagenham)

Merle Perkins (Spirit of St. Louis, World Blues Hall of Fame)

Alan Thompson (Southern Knights, Southwinds, DCUK)

Debra Warga (Meadowlarks, Blessed Sac, Skyliners)

William Kennedy (St. Joseph’s Islanders, Interstatesmen, Caballeros)

Andy Lisko (St. Raphael’s, Bpt. PAL, Skyliners)

Bill Gaeckle (Little Falls, Garfield, USMC)

Robert Dubinski (Garfield, Bridgemen, Star)

Robert Fizette (Avant Garde, Reading Bucs, Skyliners)

Complete bios, and details regarding the 2024 Induction Ceremony will be available on www.wdchof.org

Any interested party is invited to submit a candidate for membership in the World Drum Corps Hall of Fame.

The 2024 deadline is THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15.

Find the Criteria and Submission forms here: www.wdchof.org

Click on “Membership” or “Associate Membership” for Criteria, then select the appropriate Submission form.

The son of Hall of Fame member Neal Smith (Class of 2008), Michael Smith is a 2-time recipient of the Hall of Fame Scholarship, support from which helped him achieve his MA from Boston College and PhD in English from Duquesne University.

Currently he is Program Officer of the Fine Foundation, in charge of grantmaking portfolios for arts and culture organizations. Michael also serves on the board of PA Humanities and sits on the Committee on Honors and Awards for the Modern Language Association, and the Finance Committee of the Franciscan Volunteer Ministry.

He has reviewed grants for the Whiting Foundation, and Cuyahoga Arts and Culture. His work on the poetry of Muriel Rukeyser and his interview with the esteemed Bertrand Westphal have been published in MDPI’s “Humanities” and the SJU Humanities Review, respectively.

Michael has taught at Marian Court College, Pine Manor College, Robert Morris University and Penn State, and consulted for philanthropy-based organizations like Aperio, LLC and Grantmakers of Western PA.

The WDCHOF Scholarship, in his words, allowed him to “concentrate more deeply on my academic work”. In facilitating grants for non-profit organizations in the Arts and Humanities, Michael demonstrates the far-reaching benefits to society at large of the support he received from the World Drum Corps Hall of Fame, a proof of the value of the organization itself.

By the way he lived his life, Bill McGrath defined the concept of “the Good Soldier”. The values and discipline he absorbed in Drum Corps as a member of the Chili (“Chai-lai”) Crimson Cadets and the Emerald Cadets/Emerald Statesmen (directed by his father, William, Sr.) shaped his attitudes about loyalty and responsibility. When his country called, he enlisted in the Marines, becoming both member and instructor for The Commandant’s Own Drum and Bugle Corps in Washington, D.C., from 1969 to ’71.

He went on to teach the Baltimore Yankee Rebels and Rochester Crusaders, both of them American Legion National Champions. Others who benefitted from his tutoring include the Rochester Phoenix, the Patriots, and Mighty St. Joe’s Alumni, where he both instructed and played in the snare line.

In addition, Sergeant First-Class McGrath served as percussion section leader with the 98^th Division US Army Reserve Band, from 1989 to 2006, and was recognized with the Army Achievement, Army Commendation, and Army Meritorious Service medals.

Bill adjudicated percussion for the Western New York Judges Association, NY Federation of Contest Judges, NY State Field Band Conference, NYSSMA, DCA, and DCI.

He was granted Lifetime Membership and Lifetime Achievement Awards by the US Association of Rudimental Drummers, and Honorary Membership in the National Association of Rudimental Drummers. He also holds membership in the American Patriots Rudimental Drum Club Hall of Fame, the Drumming for Veterans Hall of Fame, the Maryland Drum Corps Hall of Fame, and the Rochester Crusaders Hall of Fame.

In 1994, Bill McGrath was inducted into the World Drum Corps Hall of Fame, serving on that board since then as Historian, Chaplain, and Yearbook Editor…simultaneously.

Whenever a mission needed a leader, he was the first to volunteer and, even in his final weeks, he was determined to see to it that the 2023 WDCHOF Yearbook would be ready on time. Mission accomplished, …by Bill McGrath, Good Soldier.

Drum Corps will not see his like again, but we were all privileged to share the field with him.

Thanks to the generosity of the World Drum Corps Hall of Fame Associate Members, rising star Joseph Marrella’s acting career got an early boost. The scholarship grant he received from the organization helped support his studies at Boston’s prestigious Emerson College. Graduating Magna cum Laude, he earned his degree in Theatre Education with Acting Emphasis.

In addition to his Film, TV and Stage credits, he has provided acting coaching for high school programs and theater companies, and has worked as a monologue coach for My College Audition.

Joseph has appeared in several TV commercial features, like this one for Staples: https://vimeo.com/125835440

To learn more about him, see his complete bio here: https://www.josephmarrella.com/

The WDC Hall of Fame is proud to have played a part in Joseph Marrella’s success. May his star continue to rise.