Drawn from “Tyrone — City of Music,” reprinted from a 1994 Daily Herald article by Ed Keys, and from a scrapbook compiled by Cary Simpson for the September 2000 Reunion of the Gardner Guards.
Tyrone has always been a community devoted to music. Ever since the American Civil War, professional men and women of music made their home here, obviously drawn by the westward movement of the railroad. It was chosen because of the area’s mineral and timber wealth, which was to play a definite role in the establishment of the borough.
True to tradition, Tyrone grew and became one of the most important industrial towns along the mainline of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. In addition, it became a well-known community for the musical segment of society who found this area to be quite popular and well adapted to the entertainment field. Opera houses flourished, theaters became first-class musical centers, while local bandsmen entertained large groups of people in parks and town halls.
The most significant event in the music field came about in 1910, when the Tyrone Division of the P.R.R. announced the formation of a magnificent 50-piece band. The P.R.R. Band was important to the community and served the people of Tyrone for over a decade. It was to be the predecessor of a most unique and highly publicized musical organization at the turn of the century—the Tyrone Legion Drum and Bugle Corps of the Howard Gardner Post 281 American Legion Home.
The first American Legion Drum Corps
The Howard Gardner American Legion Post No. 281 of Tyrone brought many honors to the community with the first Drum & Bugle Corps organized by John G. Anderson. He presented the new organization with its first equipment consisting of 12 snare drums, a bass drum, and 24 bugles. (John Howard Gardner, the Post’s namesake, was born in 1898, worked for the railroad until WWI, and was killed in France during that war; later his body was moved to Bald Eagle Cemetery.)
The first director of the Corps was Prof. J. P. Potteiger, former director of the famous P.R.R. shop band. Past Commander Joseph A. Dickson was elected drum major and drillmaster. Past Commander Robert W. Owens followed him in 1925, and served until the late ’30s when he was succeeded by Past Commander Benjamin C. Jones. The next drum major was Past Commander James C. Warrender who served until the reorganization after World War II.
The corps was very active at all times; the first convention they attended was at Erie, Pa. in 1924. They took part in all patriotic affairs and community celebrations. With numerous invitations to participate in celebrations, the corps decided to purchase new uniforms after having used the olive drab uniform, tan Sam Brown belt and puttees, and nickeled helmet since their organization. The new uniforms, a West Point style, were purchased in 1931.
The corps attended state conventions in Erie, York, Philadelphia, Scranton, Harrisburg, Uniontown, and Johnstown. The national convention at Philadelphia in 1926 was one of the outstanding events in the early history of the corps. There the corps was invited to merge with the Clearfield state champion band to act as the official escort to Governor Gifford Pinchot. They paraded and held a ceremony at Independence Hall by planting 13 trees on the Mall in commemoration of the 13 original colonies.
The corps acted as host to its first drum and bugle corps competition in Tyrone on July 27, 1933. Twelve corps competed. On St. Patrick’s Day 1936, during the big flood, the corps lost most of its uniforms and equipment, but immediately got to work, and before long was re-equipped, re-uniformed, and “carrying on” as usual.
The Gardner Guards
The drum and bugle corps of the Howard Gardner Post No. 281 was reorganized in 1950. The name was changed to Gardner Guards and an official crest was adopted. The corps instructors of that time were Elmer Johnson, bugles; Zillian Rumberger, drums; John J. Clark, drill; and Robert Beckwith, drum major. In 1951, John Clark was named drum major and the Post purchased new uniforms for the corps. In 1952, the Post purchased a complete set of new instruments. That year the Guards led the way in organizing the Central-Penn Circuit, with J. Clark elected the first circuit president.
In 1953–54 the corps traveled far and wide to display their music and marching ability by competing in drill competitions. They appeared in Ohio, New York, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and from one end of Pennsylvania to the other. In 1954 the corps appeared in Stroudsburg, Pa., on the request of Tom Waring, brother of Tyrone’s famous hometown native, Fred Waring, as one of the feature attractions for the Varsity E Club. On the same program with such radio, movie, and TV stars as Jane Froman, Sterling Holloway, and Ruby Goldstein, the corps came away as the hit of the show when they drilled for 15 minutes on the Shawnee-on-the-Delaware’s beautiful golf course playing familiar music selections televised coast-to-coast.
In 1956, the corps reached one of its greatest heights when at the Department of American Legion Encampment in Philadelphia; it won the Pennsylvania State Class “C” Drum Corps championship and retained the crown in the summer of 1957.
Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Ed Sullivan
On January 20, 1957, the corps represented Puerto Rico, marching in President Eisenhower’s Inaugural parade. They not only won first prize as the best drum and bugle corps, but were also judged as the best musical organization in the inaugural parade. Thousands of people in Tyrone strained their eyes to see the Guards on their television sets but the TV networks completed the telecasting at 5 p.m. and the corps marched past the President just a few minutes after that.
With this new laurel in their hats, invitations came streaming in. Then perhaps the greatest honor of all, an invitation to appear on the Ed Sullivan Show “The Toast of the Town.” On this nationwide TV show, the corps presented an outstanding performance and was regarded by Mr. Sullivan as “one of our best top musical attractions.” Also performing that night at New York’s Studio 50 were Louis Armstrong, Theresa Brewer, and a guest appearance of movie star Gary Cooper.
In 1961, history repeated itself for the corps with a surprise invitation to appear in Washington D.C. for President Kennedy’s Inaugural Parade with the corps winning, for the second time, the Presidential Trophy for best appearing drum corps.
The Gardner Guards have appeared, since their organization in 1950, 272 times, of which 198 have been competitive. The corps has won 145 first place awards, 40 seconds, 11 thirds, and 2 fourths. In addition to the Class “C” State Championships in 1956 and 1957, the corps has earned the Class “B” Drill Championships in 1959, 1960 and 1961; and Central Pennsylvania Circuit Drill Championships in 1958, 1959 and 1960. The corps has traveled as a unit more than 40,000 miles representing Tyrone and its American Legion Post.
Disbanding, returning, and Altoona
The corps disbanded in 1969 and moved to Altoona the following year as the Altoona Guards. Early in 1975, the reorganization of the corps got underway in Tyrone under the name “Tyrone Guards.” They made their debut in the community’s Memorial Day Parade. In 1976, the corps marched in the National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington D.C.
In 1977, the Guards won the Pennsylvania American Legion Championship. In 1978, they won the Pennsylvania VFW Championship and staged a giant drum corps competition at Gray Field in Tyrone. That year Barbara Kelly, wife of bugler Keith Kelly, personally made all of the new uniforms for the Guards, in red, white, and black. In 1979, the Guards repeated their first place award at the State VFW Convention with the newspaper reporting “a company of 85 men and women from throughout Central Pennsylvania” as the Guards changed from an all-male group.
During this period, the Guards received citations from the United States Congress and the Pennsylvania House of Representatives before disbanding in 1981. Many of the disbanded Guards relocated to Altoona for the second time, garnering the name “The Keystone Regiment.”
In the summer of 2000, a committee was formed from past members of the Guards to plan the first reunion of all members and instructors who served in the corps from the 1920’s to 1981. The idea was spearheaded by Morris Levine, a corps charter member, and Cary Simpson of the WTRN Radio Network of Tyrone. Fifty past corps members and many family members gathered for the first reunion at the Tyrone Bull Pen Restaurant on September 23, 2000. Tyrone Mayor Patricia S. Stoner read a proclamation on behalf of the Borough of Tyrone proclaiming September 23, 2000 as Tyrone Gardner Guards Drum and Bugle Corps Day.
Share your memories