Ralph Pace Recollections
The 1971 season established Blue Rock as one of the Premier corps in the activity. The combined talents of Joe Marrella on drums, Red Winzer and Larry Kerchner arrangements, together with Ralph Pace and John Worstell on drill, it all came together in a wonderful way.
I recently had the opportunity to speak recently with Ralph Pace about how he came to be with Blue Rock and his experiences with the corps.
How did you get started with Blue Rock?
It was late summer in 1970. John Worstell and I were teaching at a Haddonfield Royaleer’s rehearsal one evening when Ted Sciarra and Larry Seeney drove up and, during a break, asked if we could talk. Ted then told me that he’d like me to take over the design for Blue Rock.
I asked him if he was serious, I’d always held Ted in such high esteem and couldn’t imagine replacing him. He told me that he felt he’d taken the corps about as far as he could and that it was time to turn things over to someone else and that we were the ones he wanted.
With that, we both said yes, of course, and that was that.
Blue Rock had just returned from VFW Championships in Miami (where we finished 11th) when John and I attended our first rehearsal. There were still a couple weeks until the final big show, the New Jersey State AL Championships. We set about working on eliminating as many ‘ticks” as we could such as changing stop positions from a traditional 45 degree angle to a variety of foot / heel positions and changing three man squads to two man. Along with other ideas, these changes essentially succeeded in taking away the “easy” judges ticks.
We were welcomed in by the Blue Rock members who worked hard at the changes we made and, two weeks later, Blue Rock won American Legion States, beating Blessed Sacrament who’d just placed 4th at Nationals.
What were the biggest challenges you faced when you walked in the door at Blue Rock.
The biggest thing was to get the members to start thinking outside the box, to trust us, and they did just that. But there were some challenges.
For example, when we first gave the “Elephant Head” to Chuck Quackenbush to use when making the “Elephant Call”, he sort of pushed back. I convinced him to try it once, told him that it’d get a great crowd response and he agreed to do that, try it once.
Soon afterwards, his picture, with the Elephant Head on his Contra was in the various drum corps papers and that was it. The audience loved it and, of course, Chuck was sold.
The members trusted us though and the result was the dream season of 1971.
People still talk about the 1971 Blue Rock show. How was that show developed?
Things were a lot different back then. There was very little coordination between the music arrangers and the drill writers. The brass and drum writers chose the music and handed it off to us to bring it to the field. I really don’t recall having any group meetings to discuss it before it was all put together.
Putting the show on the field required a different approach than had been used with Blue Rock in the past but we built it off of the marching technique that Ted had developed over the years. We had to push the members to believe in themselves and to push them beyond their own comfort levels. The result, when they bought in, was magic.
As far as drill development, it was then as it is now, really understanding the music, making it a part of your inner being, and then bringing it to life visually.
An example would be the horse race in Camptown Races. Listening to it over and over, it called for a Horse Race. So we formed the elongated circle and had the horse race. Here again, the performers trusted us and were willing to bring it to life.
Another would be the pinwheel off the field. If I had to do it over, I would have extended it out and, in future years with other corps, I did just that.
And, of course, the implementation of “The Box” is was another innovation that made Blue Rock stand out as a power even before entering the field. (Note: The box was a very tight formation with every performer in close quarters and moving as one into the competition area.) But beyond the impressive look of the entry, it was importantly used as a training tool for marching style, execution, as well as putting one foot in front of the other, and technique.
What are some of your recollections from the 1971 season?
I remember getting a call from John Worstell letting me know that Blue Rock had won CYO Nationals (by nearly 3 points). Unlike corps today, many of us had to work during the season and I’d been forced to miss that show.
Two nights later, when the corps was on the starting line at the World Open, the noise from the crowd and the other Eastern Corps was so loud that half of the corps couldn’t hear Vicki (Drummond – drum major). So on her initial command, half the corps started and the other half had to pretty much catch up. If you watch the video, you’ll see that things were just off, the drum line missed the 50 yard line and it took until half way through the show for it to all to come back together. By then it was too late to recover from a judging perspective and Blue Rock dropped to fourth.
And, of course, the penalties. The first was at Shriners which was a legitimate penalty. The girl with the American Flag came up to me after the performance and told me that she thought she’d messed up. I told her she was right. For some reason she’d stepped backward out of line at one point causing the penalty. She didn’t know why it’d happened, it just had. That resulted in a two point penalty and the corps’ first loss of the season (to the 27th Lancers).
The second penalty was at Dream. The Dream was a show I think everyone grew up wanting to win and we should have. The judge who assessed the penalty was out of position on the field and simply saw it wrong. Afterwards, when pressed, he admitted that he’d been wrong but said that, once assessed, he just doesn’t change things like that, even if he was wrong. We argued the point that we had 100+ kids out there who’d busted their butts to put on their best show and that fairness called for it to be corrected. But the penalty stood and, with another two point penalty, we again ended up being announced in second behind 27th Lancers (by a ½ point).
What was the thought process behind retaining basically the same 1971 show into the 1972 season?
While that is unusual today, it really was not out of the ordinary back then, at least we didn’t feel it was. Many corps, especially on the east coast, would re-do their shows a second year. As it turned out, while we kept the same program, most everyone else changed theirs. There really wasn’t much conversation around it at all.
Why did you leave Blue Rock post the 1972 season?
I really don’t recall all of the details surrounding that decision but after the season, John Worstell and I spoke and he asked me about taking over the Blue Rock designing going into 1973 and, after some conversation about drill ideas, I agreed. He took over Blue Rock and I took over designing at the 507 Hornets.
When John and I had conversations during the fall of 1972, we discussed having the 1973 show start with a thought “outside the conventional box” at the time, bringing the corps in from the far back right side of the field (as opposed to the traditional left hand starting line). While I don’t think that he eventually used the idea, I had wanted to leave Blue Rock with something unique in being the first corps to enter from that side.
The first show of 1973 was in Lancaster and I knew we had 507 ready, the show had already been complete a month before and I knew that Blue Rock was not quite there yet.
Hearing 507 announced ahead of Blue Rock was a mixed emotion for me as I was happy for our 507 kids but also have always had such deep feelings for Blue Rock.
You’ve written for so many high achieving corps and have had the opportunity to work with and mentor so many.
It has all always been about the performers, the kids. Getting them and, in some cases, their instructional staff and designers, to believe in themselves, to push outside of their own comfort levels. I have always been grateful that they’ve allowed me to be a part of their success.
I recently had the opportunity to speak recently with Ralph Pace about how he came to be with Blue Rock and his experiences with the corps.
How did you get started with Blue Rock?
It was late summer in 1970. John Worstell and I were teaching at a Haddonfield Royaleer’s rehearsal one evening when Ted Sciarra and Larry Seeney drove up and, during a break, asked if we could talk. Ted then told me that he’d like me to take over the design for Blue Rock.
I asked him if he was serious, I’d always held Ted in such high esteem and couldn’t imagine replacing him. He told me that he felt he’d taken the corps about as far as he could and that it was time to turn things over to someone else and that we were the ones he wanted.
With that, we both said yes, of course, and that was that.
Blue Rock had just returned from VFW Championships in Miami (where we finished 11th) when John and I attended our first rehearsal. There were still a couple weeks until the final big show, the New Jersey State AL Championships. We set about working on eliminating as many ‘ticks” as we could such as changing stop positions from a traditional 45 degree angle to a variety of foot / heel positions and changing three man squads to two man. Along with other ideas, these changes essentially succeeded in taking away the “easy” judges ticks.
We were welcomed in by the Blue Rock members who worked hard at the changes we made and, two weeks later, Blue Rock won American Legion States, beating Blessed Sacrament who’d just placed 4th at Nationals.
What were the biggest challenges you faced when you walked in the door at Blue Rock.
The biggest thing was to get the members to start thinking outside the box, to trust us, and they did just that. But there were some challenges.
For example, when we first gave the “Elephant Head” to Chuck Quackenbush to use when making the “Elephant Call”, he sort of pushed back. I convinced him to try it once, told him that it’d get a great crowd response and he agreed to do that, try it once.
Soon afterwards, his picture, with the Elephant Head on his Contra was in the various drum corps papers and that was it. The audience loved it and, of course, Chuck was sold.
The members trusted us though and the result was the dream season of 1971.
People still talk about the 1971 Blue Rock show. How was that show developed?
Things were a lot different back then. There was very little coordination between the music arrangers and the drill writers. The brass and drum writers chose the music and handed it off to us to bring it to the field. I really don’t recall having any group meetings to discuss it before it was all put together.
Putting the show on the field required a different approach than had been used with Blue Rock in the past but we built it off of the marching technique that Ted had developed over the years. We had to push the members to believe in themselves and to push them beyond their own comfort levels. The result, when they bought in, was magic.
As far as drill development, it was then as it is now, really understanding the music, making it a part of your inner being, and then bringing it to life visually.
An example would be the horse race in Camptown Races. Listening to it over and over, it called for a Horse Race. So we formed the elongated circle and had the horse race. Here again, the performers trusted us and were willing to bring it to life.
Another would be the pinwheel off the field. If I had to do it over, I would have extended it out and, in future years with other corps, I did just that.
And, of course, the implementation of “The Box” is was another innovation that made Blue Rock stand out as a power even before entering the field. (Note: The box was a very tight formation with every performer in close quarters and moving as one into the competition area.) But beyond the impressive look of the entry, it was importantly used as a training tool for marching style, execution, as well as putting one foot in front of the other, and technique.
What are some of your recollections from the 1971 season?
I remember getting a call from John Worstell letting me know that Blue Rock had won CYO Nationals (by nearly 3 points). Unlike corps today, many of us had to work during the season and I’d been forced to miss that show.
Two nights later, when the corps was on the starting line at the World Open, the noise from the crowd and the other Eastern Corps was so loud that half of the corps couldn’t hear Vicki (Drummond – drum major). So on her initial command, half the corps started and the other half had to pretty much catch up. If you watch the video, you’ll see that things were just off, the drum line missed the 50 yard line and it took until half way through the show for it to all to come back together. By then it was too late to recover from a judging perspective and Blue Rock dropped to fourth.
And, of course, the penalties. The first was at Shriners which was a legitimate penalty. The girl with the American Flag came up to me after the performance and told me that she thought she’d messed up. I told her she was right. For some reason she’d stepped backward out of line at one point causing the penalty. She didn’t know why it’d happened, it just had. That resulted in a two point penalty and the corps’ first loss of the season (to the 27th Lancers).
The second penalty was at Dream. The Dream was a show I think everyone grew up wanting to win and we should have. The judge who assessed the penalty was out of position on the field and simply saw it wrong. Afterwards, when pressed, he admitted that he’d been wrong but said that, once assessed, he just doesn’t change things like that, even if he was wrong. We argued the point that we had 100+ kids out there who’d busted their butts to put on their best show and that fairness called for it to be corrected. But the penalty stood and, with another two point penalty, we again ended up being announced in second behind 27th Lancers (by a ½ point).
What was the thought process behind retaining basically the same 1971 show into the 1972 season?
While that is unusual today, it really was not out of the ordinary back then, at least we didn’t feel it was. Many corps, especially on the east coast, would re-do their shows a second year. As it turned out, while we kept the same program, most everyone else changed theirs. There really wasn’t much conversation around it at all.
Why did you leave Blue Rock post the 1972 season?
I really don’t recall all of the details surrounding that decision but after the season, John Worstell and I spoke and he asked me about taking over the Blue Rock designing going into 1973 and, after some conversation about drill ideas, I agreed. He took over Blue Rock and I took over designing at the 507 Hornets.
When John and I had conversations during the fall of 1972, we discussed having the 1973 show start with a thought “outside the conventional box” at the time, bringing the corps in from the far back right side of the field (as opposed to the traditional left hand starting line). While I don’t think that he eventually used the idea, I had wanted to leave Blue Rock with something unique in being the first corps to enter from that side.
The first show of 1973 was in Lancaster and I knew we had 507 ready, the show had already been complete a month before and I knew that Blue Rock was not quite there yet.
Hearing 507 announced ahead of Blue Rock was a mixed emotion for me as I was happy for our 507 kids but also have always had such deep feelings for Blue Rock.
You’ve written for so many high achieving corps and have had the opportunity to work with and mentor so many.
It has all always been about the performers, the kids. Getting them and, in some cases, their instructional staff and designers, to believe in themselves, to push outside of their own comfort levels. I have always been grateful that they’ve allowed me to be a part of their success.