by Gary J.Dickelman and

Tim O’Brien

To tell the story of theGolden Knights could easilyfill this volume. There arehundreds of memories of thegreat benchmarks during 21years of competition -- storiesof triumphs and defeats, ofsacrifice and hard work and oflong days spent rehearsing andtraveling.

There were places called theNewark Armory, the GermanHall, Marinello’s and Rut’s Hut.There were trademarks calledNational Emblem March,rudimental bass drums, CrazyArmy, the jazz concert and“Throw the ball, junior!”

To tell the story of theGolden Knights is to tell a storyof an indomitable spirit inyoung men and women who

would become “instruments ofgood.” It is the story of howthey -- how we -- were positivelyinfluenced for a lifetime. It isthe story of champions, heroesand dreamers.

In 1946, Monsignor JohnKiley formed a parade corps forthe boys and girls of BlessedSacrament Parish on ClintonAvenue in Newark, NJ, at thecorner of Van Ness Place. Thecorps consisted of bugles,drums, glockenspiel, color guardand twirlers. The BlessedSacrament Cadets wore purple,black and white. Their firstpublic appearance was onMemorial Day 1947.

Marty Nolan was directorfrom 1946 through 1956. Hewas joined by co-director VinnieWalsh in 1952, who remained inthat position until 1957.

Father Robert F. Garner, whowas assigned to BlessedSacrament Church in 1951 and

was moderator for the corps, was directorfrom 1958 through 1961, when Fred Dooleytook the reigns and held them until the corpsdisbanded in 1973. Garner was reassigned in1967; Father Joseph Stulb was moderatorfrom 1968 through 1973.

In 1950, girls were excluded and wouldnot be in the corps again until 1971. Thecolors were changed to black and gold. In1951, Garner brought with him a vision oftransforming the corps into a competingunit. Instructors Bobby Thompson (drums)and Bill Hayes (drill/bugles) were enlisted tohelp Garner shape his vision.

The corps entered competition in 1952with the nickname“Golden Knights.”They competed in sixcontests, including a14th-place finish outof a field of 37 at theLegion Nationals inNew York City.

In 1953, the corpsentered 16competitions. InReading, PA, the corpsdefeated a fine line-upof Pennsylvaniacompetitors to post itsfirst win ever.

An ecstatic Garner treated the corps to aswim at Seaside Heights to celebrate thevictory. On August 22, the corps again posteda first-place in Philadelphia. Included in the1953 schedule was the National Dreamcontest, where BSGK placed third, just 2.225points behind the winning Holy Name(Garfield) Cadets and 0.005 behind the sec-ond-place St. Joseph’s Cadets of Newark.

In 1954, the Golden Knights made theirfirst mark on the drum corps world, knockingoff the great powers one by one: St. Vincent’sCadets, Holy Name Cadets, St. Joseph’sCadets and the all-girl Audubon Bon Bons.At the 1954 VFW Nationals in Philadelphia’sMunicipal

Stadium, BSGK capped its dramatic rise tothe top by capturing its first nationalchampionship, just 26 months after its firstcontest. Such a feat has never beenduplicated, even when compared with corpsof the DCI-era with respect to the recognizedworld championship.

During the 1954 season, BS posted eightwins, 12 second places and seven third places.Included in the wins were the VFW NewJersey State Championship, the VFWNationals in Philadelphia, Legion Nationals inWashington, D.C., and the Eastern StatesChampionship. The “Cinderella Corps” haddefeated all of the great powers of the drumcorps activity.

In October 1954, John Scanlan wrote inMidwest Corps News, “By the time you readthis article, you will already know that . . .Blessed Sacrament . . . won the nationalchampionship of their class in the AmericanLegion. Perhaps the ‘Cinderella’ story of theGolden Knights will be told and retold for agood many years to come.

“Having seen their performancesthroughout the year, I felt they wouldprobably make a championship corpssometime in 1955 and I’m sure they will beamong the big five corps of the country for agood four years or more.”

The Golden Knights placed in the top fivein 90 percent of the 21 VFW and LegionNationals it entered through 1970, includingnine first places. From the first time thecorps stepped on to a competition field in1952 until the last in 1972, they placed firstor second in 82 percent of all shows entered.The character Garner instilled in his boystransformed young men into passionatechampions with trademark discipline,courage and leadership.

The “Cinderella” label quickly faded as the1955 season solidified BSGK as a power to bereckoned with. The corps won 11 of its 22contests that year and captured the AmericanLegion National title at Miami, FL.

In 1956,the recordincreased to15 wins outof 22contests. Itwas the yearof Californiaand anotherNationalLegion titlein Los

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Angeles’ Coliseum. Now they called the corps“The Golden Robots.”

The National Dream, New Jersey State ALand VFW, and Eastern States championshipswere added to the list of first places. Thecorps consistently competed with the powersof drum corps: St. Vinnie’s, St. Joe’s,Audubon, Holy Name, Chicago Cavaliers,Kilties and Most Precious Blood (Boston)Crusaders. So good was Blessed Sacramentin 1956 that, after traveling 3,000 miles infive days from LA, the corps appeared at theDream and, with no practice and with no onetouching any equipment during that time,posted a 90 to win handily.

Garner was a driving force who positivelyinfluenced and motivated each of the boys.He wrote, “(The corps is) an ‘instrument forgood’ and, like all instruments, it must beguided and used correctly or else its objectivewill never be attained.

“A young man who enters this highlycompetitive sport with the right spirit willone day leave its ranks having gaineddiscipline, self-control, stability, loyalty,courage, courtesy and leadership. It is theend result which we keep in mind -- themolding of character.”

The Blessed Sacrament Squires, the “littlecorps,” provided a training ground for GoldenKnights through to the mid-1960s. In theSquires and in BSGK, the instructors, staffand members recognized no one as a star.The strongest and weakest sustained hours ofclose-order drill. Those who came to watchthe champions were disappointed, as theymostly saw basic training.

Bobby Thompson, for example, drilled his

young drummers on technique and aunique style -- from how to hold thesticks and move the arms and how toposition the pinkies, to a mentaldiscipline that would ultimatelyintroduce five snare drummersplaying difficult passages as one.

The winning formula was simple:practice the right thing and win. Beconsistent; be strategic; don’t peakbefore it counts; be a solid sectionman, not a star. The “old guys”taught the “new guys” the hard lessons thatwere passed down from winning year towinning year.

The 1957 season was a rebuilding year forBSGK as many who marched the 1956 seasonaged out and were replaced by Squires. Thecorps won just six of its 23 contests,including the Dream and the Eastern StatesChampionships, but not without attending to

Garner’s mandate of building character. Thetitles were lost, but not without vintageBSGK performances that earned, respectively,fourth and third in VFW (Miami Beach) andAL (Atlantic City, NJ) nationals and secondplaces in the AL and VFW States.

At the Legion nationals, a veteran of thecorps was removed from the lineup on theday of the championship. But instead ofsulking in seclusion, he was at mid-field onthe back sideline that night as the corpsdefended its national title. Every time thecorps turned away from the stands andheaded backfield, they saw their fellowGolden Knight, clad in his corps jacket, hisfists clenched, exhorting his corps onward.

The Golden Knights truly came of age in1958, winning20 of 21contests andclinching bothnationals(Legion inChicago andVFW in NewYork City),both statetitles and theDream.

It was theyear that newuniforms were

introduced that embellished the familiar goldblouse with the trademark black and whitestripe. Innovation was introduced via anuncharacteristic tuned horn line (for drumcorps of the era) featuring a rich and melodicbaritone section, cross-through drill patternsand Thompson’s amazing drum section. The1958 Golden Knights set the bar for the nextdecade of drum corps.

Blessed Sacrament added 17 victories outof 21 contests in 1959, including another ALNational (Minneapolis) and VFW Statechampionships. The Cavaliers were comingof age in 1959 and had put on a magnificentperformance at the Legion Nationals.

Because of bad weather there was noretreat. The corps had to simply sweat outwaiting for the Cavaliers’ score to be postedon the board. The official slowly rounded thetrack in a Jeep. Gradually he ascended aladder and moved the name of every corpsdown one slot. He put his hand on the cardin first place, which read, simply, “BS.” Heslowly smiled and removed his hand, slottingthe Cavies’ card into second place.

An amusing story was communicated byCavaliers alumni in 2000, regarding the 1959contest. The event prompted them to createsong lyrics that would be heard on Cavaliers’buses as late as 1970 (to the tune of Starsand Stripes Forever):

“Be kind to the Knights dressed in gold,For we’ll soon be punching holes

in their armor.We’ll beat Blessed Sacrament’s fold,

Like we’ve beaten the Belleville farmers,Don’t laugh at the boys from the East,

For we know that they soon will be defeated,They’ll moan and they’ll groan to their priest,And Minneapolis revenge will be completed!”

The 1960 season was another rebuildingsummer in more than one respect. Almostthe entire baritone line aged out and Hayes --the horn and drill instructor who had helpedproduce seven national titles in six years and80 victories in 157 contests since 1952 --moved to Florida. The drum corps worldasked, “What will happen to the GoldenKnights now?”

Hayes was replaced by Jim Day on hornsand Jack Stecker on drill, who were notseasoned instructors of championship corps,but alumni of the Golden Knights. On theother hand, these young instructors had beenreared by Hayes, Garner and the countlessparents and volunteers who shaped character.

As for the rookie baritone line and manyother new faces, they were taken under thetutelage of veteran Golden Knights such asThe 1958 Blessed Sacrament Golden Knights (photo from the collection of Gary Dickelman).

The Blessed Sacrament Golden Knights at the 1964 National Dream in JerseyCity, NJ (photo by Moe Knox from the collection of Drum Corps World).

The Blessed Sacrament Golden Knights, 1955 at American Legion Prelims in Miami, FL (photo from the collection of Gary Dickelman).

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John Demko, who held extra rehearsalsnight after night and week after week,until the previous years’ excellence wasregained.

At Briggs Stadium in Detroit onAugust 24, 1960, the Blessed SacramentGolden Knights won their third VFW andeighth national title. Most of the drumline was 17 years old or younger. The twonew instructors demonstrated remarkablecharacter by welcoming Hayes back towork their corps on drill and bugles whilein Detroit.

The 1960 edition of Blessed Sacramentwon 18 of 19 competitions, including theVFW Nationals, two New Jersey StateChampionships and another EasternStates Championship. The corps had won56 percent of all contests it had enteredsince 1952 and had placed first or secondin a staggering 88 percent of its shows.

Competition mounted in 1961 and 1962 asthe Midwest corps began to flex theirdominance. Blessed Sacrament wouldcontinue to win more than 50 percent of theshows it entered, adding 28 more victories,including two New Jersey StateChampionships, an Eastern StatesChampionship and second and fourth placesin the VFW Nationals those years (MiamiBeach and Minneapolis).

The Chicago Cavaliers clinched the 1961and 1962 VFW Nationals, with a close secondplace by the Royal Airs in 1962.

BSGK was the first corps to fieldrudimental bass drums, an innovation ofThompson’s in whicha bass drum would beplayed with both hands, adding lower registerrudiments to accentuate the snare and tenorlines.

Unique visuals were introduced in thepercussion section, particularly by the snaresand rudimental basses. Techniques ofspinning sticks, hitting another player’s sticks

or drum and incorporating back-sticking andSwiss rudiments were among the manythings that fans paid money to see in theGolden Knights’ percussion section.

Blessed Sacrament’s horn line introducedthe jazz concert, producing a rich, mellowblend in hits such as Let’s Face the Musicand Dance, You and the Night and the Music,Witchcraft, Give Me the Simple Life and ColePorter’s In the Still of the Night.

But for all such innovation, there wasprecise execution that reflected the militaryroots of drum corps. The BS stylecharacterized Eastern United States drumcorps: difficult and entertaining piecesexecuted with precision. Photos and movingpictures of the day reveal a BlessedSacrament trademark -- judges listeningintently, with clipboards hanging limply attheir sides.

In 1963, the Golden Knights swept acrossthe East Coast, posting 21 straight winsduring the summer season. Included werethe American Legion Nationals (MiamiBeach) won for the sixth time and the firstWorld Open, where the corps was presentedwith a trophy for every caption.

The 1963 Legion title was BSGK’s ninthand final national win. The corps nonethelessremained a national contender.

The 1964 season was another rebuildingyear. But unlike 1957, many new memberswere not from the Squires. They appearedfrom New York City, the Jersey Shore, thePhiladelphia area and Connecticut. BlessedSacrament was the first of the elite drumcorps to embrace integration and pride itselfon a rich diversity of African Americans,Puerto Ricans and Asians.

Even in the early years of the corps, therewere several Asian, Jewish and AfricanAmerican members. Throughout hisministry, Garner worked to strengtheninterfaith and cultural ties. His valuesclearly permeated the BSGK organization asit embraced diversity through the civilrights era.

The 1964 and 1965 seasons producedchampionship BS corps that continued thegreater-than-50-percent winning streaksagainst increasing odds. The demographicsand economics of Newark were shiftingtoward the inevitable riots of 1967. Churchsponsorship was waning as it changed from aneighborhood parish, school and drum corpsto simply a meeting place for the corps.

There would be fewer parents, a smallermanagement committee and profoundly lesseconomic support. Still, the Golden Knightsremained a national power, defeating theCavaliers and Troopers at the 1966 Dreamand placing strong third and fifth places innationals that year (American Legion inWashington, D.C. and VFW in Jersey City).

The greater-than-50-percent winscontinued in an era of competition fromrising stars and powerhouses such as St.Lucy’s, Blue Rock, Boston Crusaders, St.Kevin’s Emerald Knights, St. Joseph’s ofBatavia, Kilties, Madison Scouts, ChicagoCavaliers, Chicago Royal Airs, ChicagoVanguard and Racine Scouts. BSGK defeatedall at one time or another through thisexciting era of competition.

Blessed Sacrament was one of the firstcorps to break the three-snare, three-tenormold in 1966 by successfully introducing fivesnares and five tenors. Cross-town rival St.

The Blessed Sacrament Golden Knights, 1963 (photo from the collection of Gary Dickelman).

The Blessed Sacrament Golden Knights at the 1968 NationalDream contest at Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City, NJ (photofrom the collection of Gary Dickelman).

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Lucy’s began the 1966 season withfive-and-five, but they cut back tofour-and-four and scored an 89 at the NewJersey VFW States.

In vintage form, Blessed Sacramentretained its five-and-five line and scored a 90to narrowly defeat St. Lucy’s and clinch thestate title. Blessed Sacrament ultimatelycaptured 19 New Jersey State titles in its 21years of competition.

For 1968, it marked yet anothertransitional year for Blessed Sacrament as itattempted to rebuild almost the entire hornline and color guard in post-riot Newark. Itwas the first year without Garner. It was thefirst year since 1954 that the corps did notcompete in the AL or VFW Nationals,primarily for financial reasons.

Still, the corps clinched the New JerseyVFW State Title and placed third or fourth in

the Dream, the CYO Nationals and the WorldOpen.

As the season progressed, the 1968 editionof BSGK proved to be spirited, motivated anddetermined to regain its footing in the lateseason and into 1969. The corps won onlyfour contests in 1968, but remained in thethick of things in August, when it counted.Rebuilding for BSGK meant growing thecharacter necessary to be a winner, notsimply increasing musical and marchingtalent.

There was a poignant, almost propheticmoment in 1969. H. Worth Ake, the writerfor Drum Corps News, had come to a Sundayafternoon rehearsal in November. As theEastern columnist for the publication, hisinterest was understandable. Equallyunderstandable was that his son, whoaccompanied him, was interested in joiningthe corps.

Blessed Sacrament in 1969 had justlogged another good year -- a third at theLegion Nationals in Atlanta, GA (afterwinning the prelims), a fifth in the VFWFinals in Philadelphia, a Dream victory and

another dozenvictories to gowith the 200-plus first placesalreadyregistered sincethe corps firststepped off theline in 1952.

What Akesaw that day,though, wasnotunderstandableto him. Heseemedperplexed as helooked aroundthe Blessed Sacrament School yard.

His expression telegraphed his thoughts:“This is the home of one of America’sgreatest corps?” He eyed the graffiti, thebars on the windows, the chain on thedoor, the peeling paint. He was in theravaged South Ward of post-riot Newarkwhere hard times prevailed.

Descending to the school basement,he entered what was the corpsheadquarters, known for 20 years as “TheDrum Room.” This 15 by 40 foot crevicewas the equipment room, the wardroberoom, the trophy room and, yes, thedrum room. What couldn’t be stashedon the shelves above, or stacked beneaththe double set of uniforms, was squeezedinto a cabinet below.

On the top floor the color guard wasdoing close-order on a splintered woodfloor. Drummers were pounding on aworn lunch table. Horn players werescattered, some learning a newarrangement, others learning eachother’s names. That’s how Novemberhad become then, when membershipcame from Philadelphia, Bridgeport,

Long Island, all five New York City boroughs,the Jersey Shore and all over North Jersey.

The four-man snareline, in fact,representedfour states;yet, despitethathandicap,they weresecond tonone.

Whenpracticeended thatnight,everythingbelonging tothe corpsnot carriedaway wouldbe locked upin that tinyroom, whichwas part of

the school’s boiler room. The younger Akedid not return the following Sunday.

Looking back, it is easy to understand whyan outsider would have been so perplexed.How does one explain how a drum corpscould continue to be a national contenderwith such a small staff, without properfacilities, no longer having parish backing,without a feeder corps and devoid of anyfinancial support?

Yet despite all those obstacles, thefollowing season, 1970, saw the corps in theblack and gold right there in August, againchallenging for national honors.

Another Blessed Sacrament tradition wasthe “Bee Hive.” The name derived from theprimary activity of a room where members“discussed” corps business. Those who fellshort of the bar would be completelysurrounded by the rest of the corps, as in abeehive, with fists flying, voices wailing andimportant lessons learned over a briefinterval of time.

You might have lost tenths in acompetition, or perhaps you didn’t carry yourweight by selling candy or raffle tickets asrequired to raise money. No, we did notphysically hurt each other, but the lessonswere quickly learned. As in a true beehive,

The Blessed Sacrament Golden Knights, 1970 (photo from the collectionof Gary Dickelman).

The Blessed Sacrament Golden Knights, 1970 (photo by Ron Da Silva from the collection of Drum Corps World).

The Blessed Sacrament Golden Knights, 1971 (photo by Moe Knox from the collection of Drum Corps World).

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we were all workers with missionsthat needed to be upheld. Therewould be no stars or slackers, onlychampions.

There were heroic efforts, suchas the World Open in 1964 whenthe corps won the preliminaries,but placed a close second in thefinals. There were the super jobsperformed in 1966 at the VFWNationals in Jersey City and theLegion championship inWashington. There was the Dreamwin over the Cavaliers, Troopersand Kilties.

There were outstandingperformances at the 1967 LegionNationals in Boston and 1969Legion Nationals in Atlanta, whereagain BS captured the prelims,only to be turned back by a narrowspread that night. The corpsquipped that its preliminary victory

resulted from the good fortune of badweather, which relegated the competitionto a parking lot. After all, BS practicedon asphalt most of the time, on apotholed lot sandwiched between adecaying wing of Newark’s BallentineBrewery and the incredibly pollutedPassaic River. Members recall beingsickened during rehearsals by the smellof decaying hops or the river -- or both.

The 1970 edition of the corps wasperhaps the last great corps in terms ofwinning, but certainly not the last interms of spirit and character. Thatsummer the corps was second in theVFW Nationals prelims (Miami Beach) byjust two-tenths of a point and theyplaced fourth in finals.

The corps won the World OpenPrelims and earned a very close secondin the finals. But it was at the 1970Dream that BS was given its final tributeby the drum corps world. When thecorps started into its exit at RooseveltStadium that humid afternoon, theovation by 20,000 fans, which had beenbuilding throughout the show, was soloud and so sustained that the exitnumber, Free Again, simply could not beheard above the din.

Maybe they sensed that they werewitnesses to the end of an era. It seemeda final salute to a legend and it was thelast hurrah, the final Dream BS wouldwin. It was the beginning of the end of adream begun 20 years earlier in a rectoryon Van Ness Place.

In 1971 and 1972, the GoldenKnights strove against increasinglyinsurmountable odds to maintain therich heritage. As the corps reorganizedfor the 1971 season, it was clear that itcould not field a color guard. Only thelower brass remained intact from the

great 1970 season. It was decided that girls would fill the

color guard ranks. A large guard was quicklyassembled from championship organizationssuch as the Colleens, the Mellodears, theMeadowlarks, the New Jersey Royalaires andthe Paterson Sentries. In the spirit ofdiversity that characterized BSGK, the girlswere welcomed, albeit reluctantly by somewho struggled with tradition.

In spite of the challenges of changingfrom the all-male culture, the shift occurredand the gold and black got on with theprogram, fielding a large and talented guardfor its final two seasons.

Blessed Sacrament was one of three corpsin 1971 to break the drum corps mold andpresent a “total show” that would define thenext era of the activity. The Golden Knights’“King and I,” Cavaliers’ “Circus Show” andMadison Scouts’ “Alice in Wonderland”covered new ground and suffered unintendedconsequences of doing something new.

The 1972 edition of BSGK showed markedimprovement over the 1971 season. Thehorn line completely recovered to a qualitythat rivaled the 1970 corps. The color guardwas large and effective. BSGK broke newground in drill and music.

Ironically, the drum line, which had beenthe hallmark of glory years, had the greatestchallenge. The last victory of the GoldenKnights was recorded by the 1972 corps,which carried on the tradition by steadilyimproving and by capturing several firstplaces.

The last contest appearance of the BlessedSacrament Golden Knights was in Ridgefield,NJ, in September 1972. The last song playedwas When You Wish Upon A Star. Thetradition that began on a June day inWildwood, NJ, ended on a chilly Aprilafternoon in the upstairs of the German Hall,an Irvington, NJ, establishment where the

(Above) The Blessed Sacrament GoldenKnights, 1971 (photo by Moe Knox from thecollection of Drum Corps World).

The Blessed Sacrament Golden Knights senior corps, 1975 (photo by from the collection of Gary Dickelman).

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corps gatheredfor its finalrehearsals. Thecorps simplydid not havethe people orresources toput out acompetitiveunit.

Fred Dooleyand JohnDemko put thequestion to the30 loyalmembers there.“Should BScontinue as aclass B corps?”The answer was a painful, but unanimous,“NO!”

The Blessed Sacrament Golden Knightswere winners of nine nationalchampionships and 19 state championshipsduring a period when New Jersey wasconsidered the Mecca of the drum corpsworld. The corps won 11 National Dreamtitles in 14 appearances, a record thatremained unsurpassed for the history of thecompetition.

The Golden Knights won the first WorldOpen and placed first or second in more than82 percent of all contests entered from 1954through 1972. BSGK won nine of 13nationals from 1954 through 1963 andbetween 1954 and 1970 placed in the top fivein 19 out of 21 nationals. From 1958through 1963, BS placed first an astonishing112 times in 135 contests.

A 1993 Drum Corps World article titled“The winningest corps in history!” said, “It isimportant to recognize that only two corps inhistory with more than 100 first places alsowon more than 50 percent of all contests theyentered. The two corps are the Blue Devilsand the Blessed Sacrament Golden Knights,having won 53.84 percent of all the conteststhey entered.”

The GoldenKnights wereinducted intothe DrumCorps Hall ofFame in 1965.Ironically, intheir finalseason, theybecame afoundingmember corpsof Drum CorpsInternational.They would notcompete in the1972 DCIChampionshipat Whitewater,WI, and, as ofthis writing,the GoldenKnights remain

the only founding member corps to havenever appeared at a DCI WorldChampionship.

In 1975, the Golden Knights werereunited as a senior competing unit andmade a respectable showing in DCAcompetition. But the former junior corpsmembers who committed to a single year tolaunch the senior corps voted against fieldinga senior corps in the long term. However, thecorps continued to organize annual reunionevents starting in 1983.

In 1990, several alumni suggestedreforming the Golden Knights as afamily-oriented, traditional drum corps. Theunit welcomed alumni and anyone with aninterest in good, old-fashioned drum corps.The Golden Knights re-emerged early in 1991as a parade and exhibition corps.

Alumni and former BS instructors DickBurns, Tony Sepe, Don Interdonato, JackBoyko and Al Cohen came forward to launchthe corps with the trademark tunes of thejunior corps, including National EmblemMarch, America the Beautiful, Witchcraft andIn the Still of the Night.

Membership increased as the word spread.A new organization emerged that was

completely diverse in all respects,including age, race, culture, sex anddrum corps roots. The familiar gold,black and white uniforms wererecreated.

The corps has continued its richtradition by maintaining amembership of more than 100,including 70-plus buglers, 20-pluspercussionists and 20-plus colorguard. About 50 percent of the corpsconsists of BSGK alumni, with othersfrom St. Lucy’s, St. Vincent’s, theBoston Crusaders, St. Kevin’s andother corps. Members also hail fromCanada, Tennessee and Georgia. Thecorps practices once a month andaverages 15 appearances a year.

Today’s Golden Knights strive topresent an organization of excellence, but ina relaxed atmosphere where members feel ahint of the past while enjoying thecamaraderie of the new organization.

The corps continues to reach for -- andtouch -- the stars as it carries on a richtradition and pays homage to the glory thatwas -- and is -- the Blessed Sacrament GoldenKnights. A complete historical record can befound at www.bsgoldenknights.org.

Gary J. Dickelman was amember of the BlessedSacrament Golden Knightsfrom 1968-1971. He assistedin forming the Golden Knightsalumni corps in 1990. He hasbeen an active member since2000, playing contra bass and

arranging and teaching the horn line. In his professional life, Dickelman is a

senior partner for Christensen/RobertsSolutions of Woodbridge, CT, where hecreates computer systems that human beingscan actually use.

He is a contributing author of two booksand author of numerous articles for industryperiodicals and guest editor for “PerformanceImprovement” journal.

He is owner and webmaster forwww.ESPScentral.com and serves on thefaculties of George Mason University andBoise State University. He can be reached atgdickelman@EPSScentral.com.

Tim O’Brien was a member of the BlessedSacrament Squires from 1954-1956 and was in the GoldenKnights from 1956-1963, thenserved as assistant director,1968-1971.

O’Brien graduated fromSeton Hall University in 1964.He has been a professional

journalist since 1970 and recipient of severalNew Jersey Press Association awards forinvestigative and enterprise reporting.

He has been with American LawyerMedia, LP since 1986. He and his wife residein New Jersey.

This chapter is based largely on his “ANot-So-Brief History of the Golden Knights,”prepared for a BSGK reunion in 1983.

The Blessed Sacrament Golden Knights alumni corps, 1999 (photo by Dale Eck from the collection of Drum Corps World).

The Blessed Sacrament Golden Knights alumni corps, 1999 (photo by Moe Knox from the collection of DrumCorps World).

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