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FALL FESTIVAL 2013
Page 25
Super stars
Internationally renowned Fife & Drum Corps will perform
Visitors to the Fall Festival
are always enticed to the
booth on Main Street where
the aroma of roasting
almonds is irresistible.
This year, it may be an
internationally well-known
musician handing them that
bag of treats from the
Plymouth Fife & Drum Corps
booth. One of the best kept
secrets in the area, The
Plymouth Fife and Drum
Corps is an internationally-
renowned world class group
whose CD sales span the
globe and are popular in
England, Scotland, Germany
and even Japan.
Among the fife and drum
musical community, the
Plymouth Fife & Drum Corps
is regarded as one of the best
in the nation.
The group, which will also perform at noon Saturday,
Sept. 7, on the Kellogg Park stage, comprises youths ages 12-
18. Members are self-supporting and dedicated to preserv-
ing the ancient arts of color guard, fifing, and drumming
through live performances at parades, and other civic
events. Their music spans the 17th to 21st centuries with an
emphasis onmusic playedduring theRevolutionaryWar.
The teens practice every Monday evening year round
and their performance season includes 40-50 shows from
April to October throughout Michigan, Ohio and Canada.
The members also volunteer as Salvation Army Bell
Ringers, work at Gleaners Food Bank and help the Kiwanis
Clubwith thePeanut Days fundraiser.
Following the regular performance season the group
takes to the road for a 10-day tour performing at
Revolutionary War Historical sites and battlefields. In the
past these tours have taken the corps to perform in
Washington, D. C. in front of the White House, Capital
Building, the Lincoln and World War II memorials. They
laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in
ArlingtonNational Cemetery. The group took part in the re-
dedication of the Stature of Liberty in New York following
9/11 and they traveled to Shanksville, PA for a performance
at the 9/11Flight 93Memorial.
A rare invitation came to the group from3dUnited States
Infantry Regiment (The Old
Guard), the official escort to
the president, to visit their
base in Virginia for a private
concert. The corps per-
formed for The Old Guard
and then the groups per-
formed together. The teens
were allowed to perform on
the deck of the U.S.S.
Yorktown Aircraft Carrier in
South Carolina, and the Navy
Yard in Boston, MA home of
The U.S.S. Constitution a.k.a.
Old Ironsides. They were
even allowed to perform on
the hallowed ground inside
La Citadelle in Quebec City in
an area chained off to the gen-
eral public where absolutely
no one is allowed.
This year they traveled to
Pittsburgh and Philadelphia
to perform at Fort Pitt, Valley
Forge, Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell, Franklin
Square, Historic Rittenhouse Town and Fort Mifflin. They
then traveled northeast toDeepRiver, Connecticut to attend
the International Ancient Muster. Fife & Drum Corps from
all over the world attend this two-day event. Only 10 corps
are invited and this year, the Plymouth Fife & Drum Corps
was among the best of the best honored to perform. The
group received a standing ovation and rave reviews.
ABC News and many other national news outlets fea-
tured the Plymouth group as they performed in 105-degree
weather while wearing historically accurate all wool colo-
nial uniforms that weigh 10 pounds. One Associated Press
photowent viral.
Sales of Roasted Almond from the booth on Main Street
this year will help support the efforts of this internationally
known group.
Groupmemberswill also be selling their CDs andT-shirts
at the booth. The PlymouthFife&DrumCorps is a self-sup-
porting non-profit organization and funding tomaintain and
continue the group is generated from performance revenue
and through fundraisers suchas theRoastedAlmondbooth.
Information about the corps will be available at theMain
Street booth and is also available at www.pfdc.us. Music by
the Plymouth Fife and Drum Corps is also available at both
iTunes andCDBaby.com.