The annual Kentish Guards Fife and Drum Corps Awards Banquet was held Saturday, January 20th at the Eleven Forty-Nine Restaurant in East Greenwich, RI, with 35 members and guests in attendance. This event is a time to both acknowledge members for their participation in the past year and also to say thank you to spouses and significant others for putting up with this "peculiar hobby."
At this year's banquet, the corps was honored by the presence of Colonel Paul Ferrara, Commandant of the Kentish Guards, RI Militia, and by the attendance of representatives of The Company of Fifers & Drummers, Scott Mitchell (2nd Vice President) and Corinne Mitchell (Secretary). We enjoyed the lively conversation and the chance to sit and catch up and not be distracted or hurried by a step-off time or a run to get into the chute!
At this event we like to take time to honor those members, old and new, who have given a sizable amount of their free time to participate in the events of the past season. The KGF&DC has a "points system” that was developed by our late "founding father" Maurice "Mo" Schoos. Members are awarded points for attendance at rehearsals and uniformed events and a yearly Service Award is given to those who attend more than 50% of gigs and 50% of rehearsals. The point tallies are carefully monitored by our long-serving Scribe, Colonel Richard Sheryka, former Fife Sergeant and former Commandant of the Kentish Guards, RI Militia. The member with the highest total is awarded the Gold Medal for this achievement, and the runner-up is awarded a Silver Medal. Those who attended enough events to qualify for the Service Award earn either the Medal with ribbon (for the first year's award) or stars to pin onto the ribbon for subsequent years.
As you can see, the KGF&DC has a good number of members who have dedicated- quite literally- decades of service to the Kentish Guards and to the Fife and Drum community as well. We've made wonderful friends with this group and hope to be able to do so for many more years to come.
Jon Buzzi, Kyle Forsthoff, and Richard Sheryka - contributors
2017 Service Awards
The following members earned the Service Award for the 2017 season:
Member | Years |
---|---|
Matthew McAllister | 1 |
Kyle Forsthoff | 3 |
Roy Lauth | 4 |
John Wedlock | 5 |
Tom Evans | 5 |
Jon Gilmore | 8 |
Bob Gilmore | 12 |
Chris Myers | 15 |
Bob DuFour | 21 |
Steve Squizzero | 28 |
Jon Buzzi | 30 |
Jim Enos | 40 |
Richard Sheryka | 44 |
2017 Silver Medal Winner
Chris Myers, 5th year, 3 years past Gold winner
2017 Gold Medal Winner
Richard Sheryka, 15th year, 7 years past Silver winner