Plymouth Fife and Drum to perform in Boston next week
July 8 2022 PLYMOUTH VOICE.
Plymouth Michigan News
By: Dan Murphy
Charlestown Patriot-Bridge
Charlestown, MA. As part of its East Coast tour, which kicks off Monday, Michigan-based Plymouth Fife and Drum Corps (PFDC) will be performing on Wednesday, July 13, in Boston, making stops at three historic sites in Charlestown.
PFDC will perform at 10 a.m. at the USS Constitution. Their second performance follows at 1 p.m. at the Training Field, and immediately afterwards, the Corps will make its way to the Bunker Hill Monument for the second half of what Ryan Burkhard, president of PFDC, describes as a “combined performance” at the two historic sites. Finally, the Corps will perform at around 4 p.m. at Faneuil Hall in Boston. All of the performances will be free and open to the public.
“This will be the pinnacle of their East Coast summer tour,” said Burkhard of the Corps’ upcoming Boston performances. “They’ll play a variety of historic medleys and songs, and it will be a great tribute to the history of our nation in this area.”
The Boston performances are part of PFDC’s summer tour, which begins with stops at two historic forts in Upstate New York – first at Fort Stanwix in Rome, N.Y., on Monday, July 11, followed by a visit to Fort William Henry near Lake George on Tuesday, July 12.
After visiting Boston, the Corps has a day off before meeting up on Friday, July 15, for their last performance of the tour during the annual Deep River Ancient Muster in Deep River, Conn. – a three-day event featuring performances by 50 to 60 fife and drum corps, which has been called “The Granddaddy of All Musters,” as well as “A Colonial Woodstock.”
When this wraps up, PFDC will make its way back to Michigan, stopping along the way in Pennsylvania for an end-of-tour banquet, party, and mock-awards ceremony on July 17.
“The Corps is in its 51st year now, and we’ve been doing tours every summer, usually on the East Coast,” said Burkhard.
Last summer, however, PFDC make its way out west for a tour that brought them to Mount Rushmore instead.
PFDC has also performed at Independence Hall in Philadelphia; the Ellipse at the White House; the Statue of Liberty; and the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., as well as at various historic forts along the East Coast, said Burkhard.
The Corps comprises students, ranging in age from 12 to18, and is a self-supporting nonprofit “dedicated to preserving the ancient arts of color guard, fifing, and drumming through live performances at parades, historical and patriotic celebrations, concerts, cultural affairs, and other civic events,” according to the group’s website.
Based in Plymouth, Mich., PFDC was the first fife and drum corps established in the Midwest; it was formed by Mark and Carol Petty in 1971, with Donald Tripp supporting the development of the Corps as its first board president.
Plymouth Voice.
